Page 95 - Stories from our Grandparents

uring her childhood days, Mdm Kupama had a few uring the Japanese Mdm Tan Ah Tang
memorable takeaways from her school as well as family occupation, Mrs Lee was Born 1930
life. One of the many unforgettable experiences was when about 10 years old. It was By Lee Jie Xuan
Dher mother gave birth to her younger sibling. This was Dsaid that during the period Millennia Institute
due to the reason that she was the only one around by her mum’s of time, news of the atrocities
side when Mdm Kupama’s mother was about to give birth. committed by the Japanese soldiers had created fear within her family.
She mentioned that the people who worried the most were women as it
Being the sixth child out of ten, this event was memorable for Mdm was believed that most of the atrocities committed were against women.
Kupama as her younger sibling, the seventh child, was about to be
brought into the world then and she was able to witness the entire “In Hokkien, Mrs Lee told me that during the time, she lived in
procedure. Born in post-war Singapore, Mdm Kupama was living
through some of the after effects of the Second World War. Besides Hougang, Singapore, there was a big “Longkang” where people
that, she lived growing up days in a government cottage house which were gathered from other places of Singapore and shot.”
was offered to people who worked for the government.
However, she stated that there were not many atrocities committed by the
In the early years of independence, Mdm Kupama was allowed the Japanese soldiers in the area. This was because of the fact that there was
right to education and hence, she was at least able to complete her a Japanese civilian living in the area (after the interview, I went to do some
primary education. Having heard stories about World War 2 from her research and found out that there were in fact Japanese people living in the
late mother, Mdm Anggamal, who went through that tough period, Hougang area as early as around 1862, and that today, there is a Japanese
Mdm Kupama reflects on them and says that we should never take Cemetery Park in Hougang that contains the remains of the Japanese
whatever we have now in the present days for granted. who lived in Singapore, from civilians to soldiers who were executed after
being found guilty of war crimes during the occupation) and according to
She added that our ancestors fought extremely hard and Mrs Lee, the Japanese civilians managed to convince the invading soldiers
even skipped meals just in order to let us enjoy the fruits that the people living in the area were friendly. “Life was as usual” she said,
they reaped and that we do not face the same torture mentioning her experience hiding in air raid shelters as they were afraid of
as them. When asked if she has any advice for the next the bombs being dropped.
generation, the first of few things that came to her mind was
to be grateful and have a growth and positive mind-set. When asked if she had witnessed any atrocities
committed by the Japanese soldiers, she said that
“Understanding that the world is becoming even more most of the time spent during that period was in her
competitive and stressful, Mdm Kupama said that as long house where she hid, and that she heard that “people
as the strong drive of achieving more and contributing were force fed water before the Japanese soldiers
back to the society is deeply instilled in our new jumped on their stomachs”. Lastly, she mentioned
generation, Singapore will be brought to greater heights.” a Japanese officer who received complaints by
the Japanese living in the area, regarding his men
harassing the local women in the area. He managed
to keep all the soldiers in the base.

Mdm Kupama
Born xxxx
By Janani Ramachandran
36 Grandma Stories Grandma Stories 37
Millennia Institute