Excellent resolution to the controversy. Both the inappropriate “Syonan” and the pretentious “Gallery” dropped. I think we would have been poorer without this controversy, so all’s well that ends well. I am reminded of what Shanice Lishan Foh said in the comments of my previous post on the misnaming, “hey this make us all think about our history”. I can’t agree more.
Shanice Lishan Foh: Finally more people are looking at the Old Ford factory! How many years have gone by and we have forgotten about this place ?
Tell your kids :
We were name Syonan-to during the Japanese occupation because the Japanese name us like trophies… those 3 years 8 months were painful….
The British surrendered to Japanese forces on 15th February 1942 at the Old Ford factory…..we were helpless…
Are we going to let someone name us differently again ? NO !!
We will defend our country and homes ourselves !
Majulah Singapore !
*it is thought-provoking…
I read many comments… I was at 1st thinking why such an insensitive name ? Someone is going to be hurt real bad…
and then someone said about the crooked letter ” O ” in the syonan signage , hey this make us all think about our history….
February 15 is the day when the British surrender to the invading Japanese forces in Singapore, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of one of the darkest period in our island nation’s history — the Japanese Occupation (1942 to 1945).
Many of S’pore’s past leaders, such as Lee Kuan Yew and David Marshall, were young men during that period. They experienced the hardships, felt the hunger brought on during that period, and lived through the uncertainties with some narrow escapes.
Recording his Japanese Occupation experience in his memoirs, The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Lee wrote that a few days into the Occupation, the Japanese carried out the Sook Ching operation to cleanse the local Chinese population of anti-Japanese elements. He reported to Jalan Besar stadium together with his family friend and helper, Koh Teong Koo, for registration and screening. He narrowly escaped being one of the many Chinese rounded to be massacred in the operation.
“Soon after the Japanese soldiers left my house, word went around that all Chinese had to go to a registration centre at the Jalan Besar stadium for examination. I saw my neighbour and his family leave and decided it would be wiser for me to go also, for if I were later caught at home the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai, would punish me. So I headed for Jalan Besar with Teong Koo.
As it turned out, his cubicle in his coolie-keng, the dormitory he shared with other rickshaw pullers, was within the perimeter enclosed by barbed wire. Tens of thousands of Chinese families were packed into this small area. All exit points were manned by the Kempeitai. There were several civilians with them, locals or Taiwanese. I was told later that many of them were hooded, though I do not remember noticing any.
“After spending a night in Teong Koo’s cubicle, I decided to check out through the exit point, but instead of allowing me to pass, the soldier on duty signalled me to join a group of young Chinese. I felt instinctively that this was ominous, so I asked for permission to return to the cubicle to collect my belongings.
He gave it. I went back and lay low in Teong Koo’s cubicle for another day and a half. Then I tried the same exit again. This time, for some inexplicable reason, I got through the checkpoint. I was given a “chop” on my left upper arm and on the front of my shirt with a rubber stamp. The kanji or Chinese character jian, meaning “examined”, printed on me in indelible ink, was proof that I was cleared. I walked home with Teong Koo, greatly relieved.”
Images of Sook Ching screening centres, taken at the Syonan Gallery.
Yaccoob said the name Syonan wasn’t used to glorify Japanese Invasion and Occupation. Does he really understand what Syonan means in the full context in the first place?
There is a slight mis-translation in lingo context. Most English translation puts it as “Light of the South” but this is not the wholesome context. In Chinese and Japanese context, “Light” means “Pride”… for example, if a person had won the Olympic Medal and he comes from a school, then the school will say “我校之光”, simple English translation means “the light of my school” but in essence, in this context, it basically means he is “the pride of my school”! Look at it in the wholesome context, he has brought SHINE to our school.
Thus, Syonan is basically a term used by the Japan to mean This the the Glorious Pride of Japanese Empire! So how can Yaccoob comes to the conclusion that by using this name for the Memorial, he is not GLORIFYING the Japanese Invasion and Occupation?
Secondly, I get even more FUMED by the photo below:
It says “Syonan Gallery : War and its LEGACIES”
Now, WHOSE LEGACIES are we talking about here? Syonan, the Japanese Glorious Legacies? Atrocities like raping, torture, sufferings, massacred and killings… all these are “LEGACIES”? Isn’t this glorifying the Japanese Glorious Victorious Invasion and Occupation?
14 Februari
gugur seorang pahlawan sejati
Leftenan Adnan bin Saidi
demi mempertahankan ibu pertiwi
dari serangan Jepun bertubi-tubi
Bukit Chandu tempat terjadi
biar putih tulang jangan putih mata
menjadi pegangan semua anggota
titisan darah terakhir dengan rela
walau bekalan peluru hampir tiada
menentang musuh dengan waspada
meneruskan perjuangan walaupun cedera
inilah pertempuran paling sengit di Singapura
sedarlah rakyat Singapura sekelian
keberanian ketaatan Leftenan Adnan
tidak ada pada diri pejuang sekarang
bukan kerana wang atau kedudukan
demi negara jiwa dikorbankan
wajar beliau diagungkan
diingati zaman ke zaman
dikenang setiap tahunan
menjadi ikutan generasi akan datang
As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore.
THE MEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE BATTLE OF SINGAPORE
“The ruse having failed the Japanese, about two hours later, staged a determined attack in overwhelming strength. Although the defenders fought bitterly with grenade and automatic weapons they were unable to hold the hill. Many of the men and all the officers ( except Second-Lieutenant Abbas ) died in the close and at times hand-to-hand fighting which developed.
A number of the captured survivor were massacred by the Japanese. Lt. Adnan who, along with his brother officers, fought gallantly in this action was shot down and bayonetted by the enemy. His body was then hung upside down from a nearby tree; no one was allowed to cut it down for burial.
All the other Company posts having been overrun, Lieutenant Abbas – the only surviving officer – tried to save the remnants of his platoon from virtual extinction. The Japanese were outflanking and closing in from the front and the wide drain of burning oil at the rear blocked his retreat. He and four of his surviving men fought their way to the drain and leapt through the wall of flame. Two fell into the blazing oil and were pulled out badly burnt. The remainder including Lt. Abbas eventually reached Battalion Headquarters where the grim fate of ‘C’ Company was made known.”
– From ‘History of The Malay Regiment’ by Dol Ramli*, published in Singapore, 1955.
*Tan Sri Dol Ramli was born at Dunlop Street and grew up in Tasek Utara ( Farrer Park ). He received his early education at the Kampong Gelam Malay School before admission to the Raffles Institution and later at the Raffles College. The book above was based on his academic research whilst he was at the University Malaya ( Singapore ). He is regarded as the Father of Malaysian Broadcasting.
