Chen Lirong  & Chen Xiao Feng (Sec 212)

Assignment: Could the Japanese be forgiven for their wartime occupation?

   No.   The people have not forgiven the Japanese.   The people remember the whole generation of Singaporeans who suffered the Japanese Occupation.   Our grandparents went through great humiliation, suffering and did not have the necessities of life.   Throughout the Japanese rule, the people were constantly living in fear because the Japanese took harsh action to establish control over the people.   Those who were caught looting were shot overhead, and their heads were displayed at public place.  

   Barbed wire was also put up across road to form roadblocks.   The Japanese guards would make the people passing by bow to them as a sign of respect.   Anyone who did not do so, would be slapped, kicked or punished in some other ways.   The local civilians went through difficult time too as there was a serious shortage of food and other goods.   As a result of war, it was difficult to get supplies from other countries.   Very few ships brought food stuffs to Singapore because of fuel.   Ships from Britain, America, Australia and other Allied countries could not bring foodstuffs and other goods to Singapore because these countries were at war with Japan and many of their ships were sunk by the Japanese.  

   Due to the food shortage, essential food stuffs like rice, salt and sugar were controlled.   Ration cards which limited the simple diet made people find out food substitutes for those items which were scarce.   Tapioca and sweet potatoes were used as substitutes for rice and palm oil or coconut oil were used as cooking oil.   Many people suffered from have malnutrition and diseases as they did not not have a well-balanced meal.   The shortage  of medicine worsened the health conditions.   People sometime turned to the black market to get the basic necessities but the things are sold at very high prices but the things and those who could not afford the prices afford those prices often went without them.

   The situation was made worse by the way the Japanese issued money.   It was called 'banana notes'.   Whenever the authorities needed more money, they will print more notes.   Later, the notes were printed on poor quality paper without serial numbers and were easy to forge.   As a result, the value dropped.   The money was worth so little that the phrase 'banana notes' come to mean 'useless money'.   Those were the reasons why the people have not forgotten the Japanese, especially the war survivors.