2-WWII+Malaya+&+Singapore+OT

What were the circumstances in the Occupied Territory that compelled the policies implemented by the occupying power there? How was policy shaped to address these circumstances?
 * Malaya and Singapore: Occupied Territory **
 * Erica Mason, 2 **

On December 8, 1941, Japan launched an invasion on the British colony of Malaya. Malaya had large amounts of resources that Japan desperately needed for its military. Britain had a military force of 100,000, but they lacked supplies and were not used to fighting in the tropical, jungle climate. Japan quickly defeated the British, and by February 15, 1942, Japan was in control of Malaya and Singapore. Japan had a three stage plan for creating its Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere. First, they would quickly remove all western influence from Southeast Asia; in Malaya and Singapore this first stage was complete. Then, they would fortify the territories, and hold on to them. Japan imposed military rule, and many people had to adjust to “life under Axis occupation and repression (Cavendish 422).”

Singapore and Malaya had tens of thousands of Allied soldiers, women, and children. There were also large numbers of natives, and Eurasians (Europe and Asian parentage) in the islands. Japan wanted rule without opposition. The Japanese felt the Europeans (especially British), Eurasians, and Chinese living in Malaya and Singapore could be helping the enemy. The Japanese also felt in some ways inferior, as they were shorter than the Europeans, and had a yellow skin color compared to the white Europeans. They thus set up a brutal regime to keep the occupied peoples in the areas. By putting the Europeans through hard labor with a lack of food, the Europeans became sickly, weaker, and tended not to stand up straight, making the Japanese feel less inferior.

Under the Imperial Japanese Military rule, all Europeans in the area became Prisoners of War (POW). Most were sent to the Changi Prison, Semarang barracks, or the Sime Road Camp, to participate in difficult physical labor. They were given little food, and made to work until collapse. This caused the POWs to become weak; they began to stoop, causing them to no longer tower over the Japanese. Many of the POWs were sent to build the Thailand Burma railroad, which quickly became known as the Death Railway. Some 500 people died for every mile of railroad put down, culminating in 100,000 deaths. Japan killed many Eurasians, because their parents had “collaborated” with the enemy. The locals were forced to bow before Japanese soldiers, and the school children had to sing the Japanese National Anthem every day. This was to humiliate the locals; anyone who didn’t bow was beaten and potentially killed. By using brutal tactics, most people submitted to the Japanese. Through “sook ching,” meaning purge through purification, 50,000 Chinese were massacred in Singapore. The Japanese didn’t want anyone to support China at trying to remove Japanese rule, and thus killed the Chinese living in Singapore.

This site contains pictures of the Changi POW prison camp: []

This site contains pictures of Singapore during the Japanese invasion and occupation: []

Malaya also had plentiful resources that the Japanese army needed to continue fighting. As a result, Japan went about robbing Malaya of their raw supplies. This resulted in many locals starving.

The local governments in Malaya and Singapore, and much of Southeast Asia supported the Japanese occupational governments. However, most of the people did not. Japan did not rule by popularity, but instead by brutal force, with hatred and violence.

What were the effects of the occupation of your territory on the occupying power's war effort?

Occupying Malaya and Singapore was beneficial to Japan. Japan had the goal of creating a Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere, and to complete this goal, Japan needed to occupy Malaya and Singapore. Because Britain was tied up in Europe, Japan did not face a large amount of resistance, and easily took over Malaya and Singapore. To conquer the lands, Japan used less force than the British (under 100,000 troops). Once captured, the goal was to fortify and keep control of the territories. Using Japanese troops to control Malaya and Singapore did not take away from the rest of Japan’s war efforts – especially as Japan had expected the invasion would have taken many months longer than it did. They faced less resistance than they expected, meaning invading and occupying the territories was not a great burden.

Occupying Malaya and Singapore gave Japan access to valuable natural resources and supplied them with a lot of free labor. Without the resources from Malaya, Japan would have had difficulties continuing the war. Without the labor, Japan would not have been able to build the Thailand Burmese railway as quickly. The occupation of Malaya and Singapore was very important to the Japanese war effort.

The occupation boosted Japanese morale; by being able to beat the British so quickly, they felt stronger about themselves. The occupation hurt the natives and Europeans morale. Colonial men had the duty of protecting the natives and the colony, and they failed. Natives took great offense at having to bow down before the Japanese. The Japanese did not like the Europeans or the natives, so by taking control of their lives, they showed the world Japanese strength, and likely felt more powerful themselves. Further, by controlling and weakening everyone in Malaya and Singapore, it was less likely that resistance groups could form; meaning Japan’s efforts would not be affected.

What were the motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance and collaboration? How did this affect the Occupied Territory after the war?

Although most people in Malaya and Singapore lived in fear, or were subject to forced physical labor, some managed to form resistance groups. The Europeans were motivated to recover from their humiliating defeat, and also wanted to save their comrades from the brutal labor camps. The natives were motivated to fight back because they did not want to be disgraced by the Japanese any further, and additionally wanted to protect their families. The British were involved in training natives in guerilla warfare. The British Special Operations Executives taught Singaporeans and Malayans combat skills. The Malayans were good fighters, and formed the Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese army, with 7000 men. During the occupation, they killed 2600 Japanese soldiers. However, they lost 2900 of their own men in the process. The resistance did little to affect Japan; however it did help the occupied peoples psychologically. Resistance movements were not as strong in East Asia as they were in Europe, opposing Germany, because the Allies were unable to bring as much aid to East Asia. As Japan began to be defeated, more people began to resist.

Other forms of resistance came from refusing to obey the Japanese, such as by not bowing down to passing Japanese soldiers. However, this often resulted in beatings and even death for the resistors. In the Changi prison, some of the Europeans created radios to listen to world events. If they were caught with the radios, or even suspected of using radios, they were beaten or even killed.

After the war ended, Britain regained control of Malaya and Singapore. Japan was forced to provide financial assistance to Singapore after the war. The resistance was limited, and did not affect the Japanese rule very much. As a result, Malaya and Singapore did not change much after the war; Britain took power again. However, the war did help bring about decolonization. Over the next few decades, Singapore and Malaya would become independent of Britain.

What were the effects of occupation on women & youth in the Occupied Territory? Use case studies to illustrate.

Occupation was bad for everyone in Malaya and Singapore. While many of the men, whether British or native, were sent to complete physical labor, many of the women and children were subject to imprisonment, malnutrition, and prison camps. Many of the women were additionally raped.

Few Europeans had the chance to leave East Asia before the Japanese invasion. In Singapore, by the end of 1942, 2361 colonial men were imprisoned, along with 369 women and 61 children, in the Changi prison. The prison was meant to hold 600 people; it held 3000, leading to very bad sanitation, and a food and supply shortage.

Many of the young women in the two territories hid. They feared being raped and even sexually enslaved by the Japanese soldiers as “comfort women.” Many people suffered from losing their family and friends to Japanese brutality. In an interview with a woman who survived the occupation stated that she had lost her husband, her new born son, and all of her family’s wealth. Many declared that the Japanese loved to kill people and to rape women. In another interview of a woman who had lived in the territories during the Japanese occupation said that “My sister was raped” and that “the [Japanese soldiers] also asked my brother in law to get for them 4 or 5 women. They told him that if he didn’t bring them, they would chop off his head.” The Japanese used cruel treatment against everyone in Malaya and Singapore.

Many children had to give up schooling at young ages in order to work, due to a food shortage. However, Japan did set up schools to teach Malayan and Singaporeans Japanese. Children attended the Japanese schools, and were forced to sing the Japanese national anthem every day, a great insult.

Archer, Bernice. //The internment of Western civilians under the Japanese, 1941-1945: a patchwork of internment//. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. Print.
 * Bibliography**

Bishop, Ryan, John Phillips, and Wei Yeo. //Beyond description: Singapore space historicity//. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Blackburn, Kevin. "Reminiscence and War Trauma: Recalling the Japanese Occupation of singapore, 1942-1945." //Oral History// 33.2 (2005): 91-98. //JSTOR//. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Bowman, John S. . //Colombia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture//. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Print.

Cavendish, Marshall. //History of World War II - Vol. 2//. New York: Mashall Cavendish, 2005. Print.

Stirk, Peter M. R.. //The politics of military occupation//. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Print.

Tsao, Sarah, and Geraldine Chan. "Japanese Occupation." //ThinkQuest//. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. [].


 * Erica Mason, 2 **