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Dr Shue Tuck Wong - Professor of Geography (retired) at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada

Shortly after Japan invaded Malaya, December 8, 1941, and the fall of Singapore, February 15, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army initiated the Sook Ching (liquidation) policy of killing the Chinese in Singapore. This large-scale elimination scheme wiped out approximately 25,000 to 50,000 Chinese, and subsequently extended to Malaya where another 50,000 to 75,000 civilians were slaughtered.

   Although there was killing in virtually every state during the Japanese Occupation, the state which suffered the most was Negeri Sembilan. Nearly 5,000 Chinese were massacred in five districts during the month of March 1942. In Jelebu district alone, the Japanese soldiers killed a total of 1,474 out of 2,000 Chinese from Jelulong village, in less than a day on March 18,1942.

   Despite the continuous claims for compensation filed to the Japanese government by the survivors of the massacre in Negeri Sembilan,not a single cent cent was paid to the survivors and their families over the last seventy-two years. Given the ugly record of Japan's war crimes in Malaya, Singapore and the other South Pacific countries in World War II, should Japan be allowed to continue in silence, or should she even be considered for membership in the U.N. Security Council? If postwar Germany can make amends with the Jewish people for the Nazi crimes of the Holocaust, why can't Japan do likewise?

Professor Wong has also written a general article about the Japanese Occupation of Malaya prior to the previous article. See Shue Tuck Wong, "Tiger Under the Rising Sun: The Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1942-1945," Asian Profile, Vol.25, No 6
(December 1997), pp.455-471. Here is the abstract.

   Between 1940 and 1950, Malaya underwent a period of trial -- a period which greatly influenced the course of future political development of the country toward federation in 1947 and the eventual evolution of Malayan nationhood in 1957.
Although there were some Chinese demonstrations against the Japanese aggression on China in 1937, hardly any visible form of nationalism was manifested by the Malayan population on the political scene until 1942. British colonial policy  was mainly interested in resources development and in protecting the rights of the Malays from encroachment by the Chinese and the Indians. Politics was discouraged under the British protectorate government as it was considered a threat to British power. Consequently, whatever nationalist sentiment was expressed by any communal group, whether by the Malay or the Chinese, was only in a mild form. This passive outlook, however, changed when Japan invaded and conquered Malaya. The Japanese Imperial Army took over the reins of British rule on February 1942 and administered Malaya until September 1945. Thus for three-and-a-half years the Tiger was under the Rising Sun (Tiger was the Symbol of Malaya). During this period, the Japanese Military Administration had inculcated into the plural society a sense of Asian consciousness -- a  national awareness which ultimately paved the way for the political independence of Malaya in 1957.

  I have testified my views on my experience living under the Japanese Occupation. See The Star Link: http://rage.com.my/survivors-contribution or by Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1uyZy4X9jo

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