Page 109 - Stories from our Grandparents

story that my grandmother
remembers from the
Mdm xxxx A Mdm xxxx Born 1938
Born 1938 time the Japanese invaded By Tan Hui Xuan,
By Bryan Pay Singapore was when she Millennia Institute
Millennia Institute was about 4 years old. The Japanese
soldiers were conducting the Sook
Ching operation to get rid of those
suspected to be anti-Japanese. y grandmother was 4 when the war happened. She doesn’t
recall much, but she recalls the horrifying things that
With their main targets being the Chinese, my grandmother’s family happened. She remembers running back and forth to the
at the time was also under suspicion of being anti-Japanese. This is Mhouses of her various relatives in order to avoid bombings.
the reason why every single time the Japanese made their rounds
around the small island, her father would send her to their Malay “Being a young child, she couldn’t understand what was going
neighbour’s house to hide, so in case there were any dangers, she on and why she had to queue for food, and why food rations
would still be safe. However, there was this one time my grandmother ran out by the time she got to the front. Her family learned to
mentioned that she would never forget was when the Japanese
soldier, a young man around the age of twenty, barged into her go earlier next time, and she’d accompany her sister to collect
neighbour’s house to check around for anything suspicious. food rations.”

“My grandmother was told to hide under the bed with She recounts how her family had to live off yam, tapioca, and sweet
their youngest son, who she remembered was about potatoes, since it was easier to grow them (yam and sweet potatoes)
as compared to rice. Tapioca was introduced when the people
six years older than her, as the Japanese soldier looked were sick of the monotony. She recounts how they were instantly
around everywhere. When he entered bankrupt when hyperinflation occurred. She remembers the sounds
the room they were in, her friend had of newlyweds begging the Japanese soldiers to let them go.
to cover her mouth and nose so that When asked why she still remembered the sound of their begging, she
the Japanese soldier wouldn’t hear simply said, ‘it was brutal.’ She was told to be careful with what she said
their breathing.” and what she did, as the Japanese had introduced Sook Ching, a purge of
purification. She remembers being absolutely terrified. She wasn’t able to
She elaborated on how terrifying an sleep at night, wide-eyed and listening to any footsteps outside the door.
experience it was and that even though she was young, the
memory stuck with her for the rest of her life. Luckily, the She was later told to not worry, as the Japanese seemed
Japanese soldier left without finding anything incriminating to round up only men. Loud noises scared her. Ironically,
against her neighbours. After the war, she learned that the she prefers the volume of the television to be turned on
high now. This is my grandmother’s story. She doesn’t recall
reason her father sent her to their neighbour’s house was to
protect her and talked about how grateful she was to him much, but when she does, she tells me about it.
for the risks he was willing to take to keep her safe.

50 Grandma Stories Grandma Stories 51