BENEATH A "CRUEL SUN": DAILY LIFE UNDER THE JAPANESE
1. Japanese Military Administration
This was the supreme governing body of Syonan-To. The Gunseikanbu was installed as the overall governor of Malaya and Singapore while Singapore was designated a special municipality (Tokubetsu-si). At the apex of the Tokubetsu-si sat the Mayor. Singapore had two mayors, the first Shigeo Odachi and his successor, Kanichi Naito. Ultimately, the Gunseikanbu held the reins of power. Through the Tokubetsu-si, the Gunseikanbu issued orders and was responsible for general policies to maintain the economy of Syonan-To. However, the hidden tensions of inter-group rivalries erupted into the open. As a result, policies became stagnant as feuding factions undermined each other and prevented smooth governance of Syonan-To.
2. Law and Order
The Gunseikanbu, in a bid to stop looting from developing out of control, caught the perpetrators and beheaded them. Following that, the decapitated heads were driven onto metal spikes and displayed in Dhoby Ghaut (near Cathay Cinema), Anderson Bridge, the Railway Station and Kallang Bridge. This sent a stark and powerful message to the populace. Looting quickly came to a stop and looters who still had their stolen goods quickly burned them in order to escape sure death. The Kempeitai (also known as the military police) was the most feared and hated of all the law enforcement agencies. This reputation of cruelty and brutality was not necessarily unfounded. The Kempeitai gained this reputation for carrying out the Sook Ching operation at the beginning of the Occupation. The Kempeitai also fostered an environment of fear, paranoia and mistrust through its network of informers and spies. The surveillance of the people was never completely stopped. The Kempeitai made use of the jikeidan (Voluntary Vigilance Corps). The people had to report to the jikeidan for all matters. Should a local want to go out of Syonan-To, this individual had to provide the reasons for travelling, destination and length of stay. Upon arrival at the destination, this individual must report to the jikeidan of that area. The jikeidan had been described as an information-bureau of the kempeitai. Law and order was generally well maintained for the very reason that there was such an enormous and heavy blanket of fear over the general populace. Information was also well-controlled. Radio sets were tuned to only the local stations and then sealed. Those caught listening to foreign stations would be brought to the Kempeitai headquarters and tortured. Ordinary people were enlisted into the Auxiliary Police System under the ankyosyo system. This system placed the responsibility of ensuring good behaviour squarely in the hands of the community. Everywhere people were being watched or trailed. Fear was pervasive.
3. Food Shortages and Control
3.1. Food Shortages and Poverty
As pre-war Singapore had to import the majority of its food and consumer products, shortages occurred when its main sources were cut off by the cessation of Singapore's entrepot trade. Within ten days of assuming control of Syonan-To, the Gunseikanbu determined a price ceiling for major food items sold in Syonan-To. A kati of rice which cost $0.06 in December 1941 rose to $75.00 in August 1945; white sugar rose from $0.08 to $120.00 over the same period. The havoc caused by shortages was not met by the rationing system. The Gunseikanbu tried to resolve the issue of food shortages by encouraging the people of Malaya and Syonan-To to be self-sufficient. Schools were encouraged to grow vegetables in the garden and people were gradually encouraged to change their traditional diet of rice and other food to food sources such as tapioca and sweet potato which lacked a balanced ratio of nutrients. Besides growing one's own food, those who could afford it turned to the black market to supplement their needs. The black-marketeers risked execution if caught and the loss of income as well. One serious consequence of black market activity was the ever increasing cost of living for the local people. With an out-of-control black market, the real wages of the people of Syonan shrank to minuscule portions. Ingenuity was the order of the day as Syonan residents, forced by circumstances, resorted to inventing clever gadgets - from charcoal buses and taxis to cigarette rollers - to meet the needs and alleviate the poverty in their lives.
3.2. Food Control
In Syonan-To, the Gunseikanbu seized all holdings of rice, sugar, salt, flour and milk for redistribution to the military leaving a portion for the public. On 1 August 1942, the rationing system was refined further. Syonan residents holding identification certificates (ankyosyo) received Rice Purchasing Cards. These cards recorded family details and were the passport to buying rice. No rice would be sold unless the purchasing cards were produced. However, rationing coupled with corruption rendered the whole system as inefficient and unproductive as the shortages became more pronounced and rations became more inadequate. The allocation of rice for the public was reduced from 11 million kg in 1942 to 5.25 million in November 1944. In 1942, each person was entitled to 20 katis of rice per month. By February 1944, this had reduced to 8 katis per male per month (females received 6 katis). People working with Japanese firms or the Gunseikanbu-sanctioned companies often received their pay in the form of extra rations. For that purpose, working was a much-welcomed incentive.
3.3. New Settlements: Endau and Bahau
In August 1943, a mass evacuation from Singapore was ordered as a precaution against the possibility of the island becoming a war front again. This exercise was also to ease the worsening food shortage situation. People were encouraged to settle outside Singapore. The settlements were intended to be agricultural and self-sufficient in rice and other produce. Two such settlements that eventually took place were located at Endau (New Syonan settlement) and Bahau (Fuji Village settlement). The two schemes were administered under the charge of the Overseas Chinese Association and Eurasian Welfare Association respectively. Many settlers volunteered to go there because of the shortage of food and the promise of release from the oppressive atmosphere of Syonan-To. Thus, Endau was a settlement for Chinese while Bahau became a settlement for mostly Eurasians and some Catholic Church members. While Endau became a moderately successful project because some of the settlers were actual farmers, the Bahau settlement was a failure. The financing and management experience of the OCA leaders was considerable and the Endau settlement developed rapidly. Owing to the background of the Chinese settlers, some of whom had farming experience, many adjusted better in Endau compared to their counterparts who settled in Bahau. Bahau's failure was a multi-factorial one. Most of the Eurasians were not farmers and more crucially, the soil in Bahau was mostly clay that was not suitable for the cultivation of crops. To compound matters, the Bahau settlement was plagued with malaria. Mamoru Shinozaki, who was the Japanese official in charge of coordinating the new settlement projects, was unable to rush adequate medicine to the Bahau settlement in time to save some of the stricken. With the end of the Japanese Occupation, these settlers soon made their way back to Singapore to pick up the pieces of their former life.
4. Propaganda
Japanese propaganda attacked Western exploitation of Asia and the West's lack of respect for Asian peoples and cultures, and portrayed Japan as the liberator and leader of a newly united Asia. For the first year and a half during the Japanese Occupation, the cinemas continued to show western films. From 1 September 1943 onwards, however, cinemas were prevented from showing western films and Japanese propaganda films were shown in place of the previous type of films. The first screening in Syonan-To was "The Union Jack is Down", a film about the campaign to take Hong Kong. Subsequent screenings included "On to Singapore", and "Opium War". Increasingly, the cinemas took on the form of the English news daily, the Syonan Shimbun. The main thrust was to propagandize the Japanese war efforts. The British in counter-attacking Japanese propaganda, made use of the Force 136 elements and towards the latter half of the Japanese Occupation, dropped leaflets from planes to strengthen the belief that the return of the Allies was not far off.
5. Education
In essence, all education as carried out under the British colonial government came to a temporary halt at the onset of war. After the Japanese had taken over the government, education slowly inched its way back into Syonan-To. English schools were re-opened after 25 March 1942 whilst Malay and Chinese schools were re-opened on 8 April 1942 and 23 April 1942 respectively. By June 1943 about half of the primary schools in Malaya were back in operation and enrolments were nearly 80% of the pre-war level but in 1944 the number of students attending classes fell sharply owing to a rise in the incidence of malaria and other diseases and also due to the fact that children had to assist their families to grow food. The Japanese language was taught in schools. However, instruction of subjects like mathematics, physical geography, science, physiology and hygiene continued as usual in English and Malay as the students had not attained the necessary proficiency level in the Japanese language. Despite the Gunseikanbu's exhortation to learn Nippon-go, the education policy was ultimately a failure since there were not enough Japanese language teachers to go round the schools. In addition, a significant number of students left school to help their family to work at companies that paid them in the form of extra food rations when the local situation worsened.
6. Sports and Other Recreation
Under the initiatives of a prominent Singapore resident, Mr G.H. Kiat, a Japanese Professor by the name of Nakajima, and Mamoru Shinozaki, a recreation club by the name of Syonan Sports Association was formed in September 1942. This Association was to be the hub for all sporting activities in Singapore. Boxing tournaments (for both men and women) and other sports matches were often organized, supported and held at the Great World Arena in Kim Seng Road. Soccer, hockey and badminton were some of the other sporting activities as well. Also new was the Syonan Symphony Orchestra which played popular Japanese melodies and carefully selected Western classical pieces. While some of the people participated in sports, others went to the movies to see the limited repertoire of propaganda films, and participated in gambling at the amusement parks.
7. Transportation
Transport was a major problem. Many vehicles had been damaged during the battle for Singapore. Ingenuity saw the introduction of charcoal as fuel for buses and taxis to meet the crippling shortage of fossil fuels. As the war continued and spare parts became increasingly difficult to obtain, bicycles became a necessity for those who had to move about.
8. Manufacturing
Japan wanted to transform Syonan from a "mere centre of entrepot trade" into a "highly industralized, self-sufficient port city". For the first time in their lives, residents of Syonan manufactured their own soap, tooth-powder and brushes, shoe polish, frying pans, tyres, welding sets, bottles and other items. Japanese-sponsored factories and foundaries churned out tens of thousands of spades, shovels, rakes and hoes from cast-iron scrap, old pipes and steel plates. Though few of these wartime industries survived, their emergence in Syonan showed the inventiveness and level of creativity of the local population and their Japanese mentors.
The Syonan years made a deep impression on those who, a generation later, assumed leadership of an independent Singapore. They developed a realization that, in a crisis, Singapore must rely upon its own resources and a determination to ensure that the island would never again be occupied and exploited by others.^^^
