
Friday, March 30, 2007

Thursday, March 29, 2007
Re-reading Laurence Rees' Horror in the East

'Comfort' house 'manager' enshrined in Yasukuni
Historian documents Japan's role in sex slavery
Japanese gov't behind enshrining war criminalsFukuyama on Shinzo Abe's Japanese nationalism
Deniers of history rapped by Japan's own media
Japanese FM Aso raps ‘blond’ envoys in Mideast
Mr. Nakasone's WWII ' Rest & Recreation Centre '
Muruyama warns Japan against 'militarist' revival

Well, there are certainly many similarities among individuals in different societies all over the world but very often only the supposedly characteristic differences of our groups are exaggerated and even fantasised in negative light in political rabble-rousing.
General Pace visits Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum
Visiting a graveyard during Chinese New Year
A multiethnic, multinational campus in China
In memory of my Jewish teacher Herb Feith
Overcoming cultural barriers in Down Under
As teachers' 'good boy' in Monash High School
Monday, March 26, 2007

General Pace visits Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum
New China's gratitute to Dr. Norman Bethune
Re-reading Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China
Epoch-making Long March's 70th anniversary
On top of Yellow Flower Mound in Guangzhou
Visiting site of First Opium War (1840 -1842)
Meeting USA National War College delegation
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Taro Aso's gaffe dossier grows longer, thicker

Shinzo Abe: history denier or visionary leader ?
Ex-PM warns Japan against ' militarist ' revival
Nakasone's WWII ' Rest & Recreation Centre '

Japanese military's WWII sex slaves in its occupied territories which were officially advertised as 'Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' and which spanned from the Korean Peninsula to China (including 'Manchuria' and 'Formosa'), the Philippines, Indonchina, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia, are also euphemistically called 'comfort women' by rightwing Japanese. Now, the new foreign policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ideologically controversial administration is being publicised and promoted as an 'Arc of Freedom and Prosperity'.
Shinzo Abe: history denier or visionary leader?
Japan's FM Aso raps ‘blond’ envoys in Mideast
WWII 'comfort' women stage protest in Taipei
Canada criticises PM Abe's sex slavery stance
Ex-PM warns Japan against 'militarist' revival
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Bush ' threatens ' to veto Quit Iraq resolution

Bush: 'Iraq withdrawal may spark 9/11 repeat'
Howard warns against 'premature' Iraq pullout
M'sia : US troops must be pulled out from Iraq
JCS Chair General Peter Pace's visit to China
Pace calls for closer military ties between China, U.S.
Chinese leaders welcome Marine Gen. Pace to Beijing
Friday, March 23, 2007
Japan's FM Aso raps ‘blond’ envoys in Mideast

Japan's minister of health rapped on women
Japan's defence minister wants to visit Iraq
Japan to extend air support for U.S. in Iraq
Japan's sentiment against Iraq War growing
Hundreds in central Tokyo protest Iraq war
Bush administration's 'Israelization' of Japan
Thursday, March 22, 2007
WWII 'comfort' women stage protest in Taipei

Canada criticises PM Abe's sex slavery stance
Meanwhile, Canadian FM Peter MacKay has also reportedly added Canada's name to the list of countries that have criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for denying that Japan forced foreign women into military brothels during the Second World War.
ROK MP: PM Abe defamed sex slaves as "liars"
Global solidarity with Japan's WWII sex slaves
Japan's sex slavery row spreads to Netherlands
'Comfort women' in Japanese-occupied Malaya
Grandmother Lu Chai Ping salutes 9/1 martyrs
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
ROK MP: PM Abe defamed sex slaves as "liars"
South Korean newspaper Chosunilbo today quoted a Korean legislator Yoo Ki-hong as revealing that Japanese PM Shinzo Abe once effectively defaming Japan's WWII sex slaves as "liars". Earlier, International Herald Tribute reported on 6 March that nearly two dozen elderly Filipino women called Japan's prime minister "a liar" after he said there was no evidence that women were forced into front-line brothels by Japanese troops during World War II.
South Korean activist enters Japanese embassy to protest
PM Abe's sex-slavery comments marginalize Japan at talks
Ex-PM says Japan ' morally responsible ' for WWII sex slavery
Dutch FM calls Japan's envoy to account for WWII sex slavery
WWII 'comfort' women were 'raped': U.S. ambassador to Japan
South Korean activist enters Japanese embassy to protest
PM Abe's sex-slavery comments marginalize Japan at talks
Ex-PM says Japan ' morally responsible ' for WWII sex slavery
Dutch FM calls Japan's envoy to account for WWII sex slavery
WWII 'comfort' women were 'raped': U.S. ambassador to Japan
M'sia : US troops must be pulled out from Iraq

US troops must leave to restore peace in Iraq - Syed Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia today renewed its call to the United States to pull out from war-torn Iraq to give a chance to Iraqis to solve their internal woes by themselves without any foreign meddling.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar told the Dewan Rakyat that as along as foreign troops were still in that country, there would be unhappiness among Iraqis and lead to more violence, thus jeopardising efforts to restore peace in the oil-rich nation.
"What's important now is that Iraqis must think as Iraqis and not on ethnic lines. As long as there is foreign occupation, there'll be no peace in Iraq.
"Hence, the United States must withdraw its troops from Iraq. Iraq's domestic problems must be resolved by Iraqis themselves," he told Datuk Ronald Kiandee (BN-Beluran) during question time.
Kiandee had asked for Malaysia's views to resolve the Iraqi conflict with the continued presence of US forces in Iraq. Today marked the fourth anniversary of the US attack on Iraq.
Earlier, replying to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (BN-Gua Musang), Syed Hamid said Malaysia held to its stand that foreign troops' presence in Iraq and Afghanistan did not help end the conflict there but made it worse instead.
"We feel stationing foreign troops has worsened the situation as no solution is in sight to end the dispute in Afghanistan.
"Increasing foreign troops in Iraq also does not solve the problem either," he said.
As Chair of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Malaysia hoped the international community would take a new approach to find a lasting solution to resolve the Afghanistan conflict, he added.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ex-PM warns Japan against 'militarist' revival
Japan needs a conscience, not more evidence
Bush administration's 'Israelization' of Japan
Rise of thought ' police ', extremists in Japan
Japan's rightwing nationalists recruiting youth
Yasukuni Shrine visit and Japan's history test
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Global solidarity with Japan's WWII sex slaves
This blogger has signed with his real name a global petition addressed to Speaker of the House of the United States Nancy Pelosi to give support to House Resolution 121-1H on Japan's WWII sex slavery. I would also like to draw your attention to author and Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in the Philippines M. Evelina Galang's blog Laban! Fight for 'Comfort' Women to hear the voices of still surviving 'comfort women' in the Philippines seeking for justice.
Japanese-occupied Malaya's ' comfort women '
Support for House Resolution 121-1H growing
Australia must still urge Japan to face history
Ponnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway
Grandmother Lu Chai Ping salutes 9/1 martyrs
Children & Families of Far East Prisoners of War
Japanese-occupied Malaya's ' comfort women '
Support for House Resolution 121-1H growing
Australia must still urge Japan to face history
North Korea to attend sex slavery conference
Asian sex slavery row spreads to Netherlands
Coercion of sex slaves again denied by Japan
An Indonesian criticism of Japan's immaturityPonnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway
Grandmother Lu Chai Ping salutes 9/1 martyrs
Children & Families of Far East Prisoners of War
Chinese PM Wen Jiabao to shorten Japan trip
South Korea's Yonhap today reported that China's premier Wen Jiaobao has decided to shorten his planned trip to Tokyo in response to Japan's denial that its government and military forced Asian women into sexual servitude during World War II. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge or July 7 'Incident' which saw the full-scale invasion of mainland China by Japanese forces as well as the beginning of the Nanjing Massacre.
South Korea urges Japan to address colonial past
Thousands of North Koreans rally in Tokyo protest
South Korea urges Japan to address colonial past
Thousands of North Koreans rally in Tokyo protest
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Asian sex slavery row spreads to Netherlands

Japanese professor calls Abe’s historical stance ‘bizarre’
ROK: Japan must 'face up to history' on sex slave coercion
Friday, March 16, 2007
Coercion of sex slaves again denied by Japan

Burden of accepting historical responsibility
Rise of thought 'police', extremists in Japan
Yasukuni Shrine visit and Japan's history test
As China rises, so does Japanese nationalism
US perspectives on rise of Japan's nationalism
Japan's rightwing nationalists recruiting youth
Thursday, March 15, 2007
China explains its 17.8% military budget hike

Defence budget rise: China's own view
U.S. doesn't see China as strategic foe
M'sia: China poses no threat to region
Cheney criticizes China's arms buildup
Brighter side of Sino-Japan bilateral relations


Sino-Japan youth concert held in Beijing
Chinese Culture Festival opens in Japan
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Japanese PM apologizes for WW II sex slavery
According to China's official news agency Xinhua, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has "expressed unfeigned apology to 'comfort women' who were forced by Japan's then military government into sex slavery during World War II" in a TV program of NHK earlier this morning.
ROK media : Japan also had M'sian sex slaves
Ponnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway
Salute anti-fascist martyrs, patriots of all races
Recognise CPM's contributions, sack Zainuddin
Grandmother Lu Chai Ping salutes 9/1 martyrs
ROK media : Japan also had M'sian sex slaves
Ponnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway
Salute anti-fascist martyrs, patriots of all races
Recognise CPM's contributions, sack Zainuddin
PAS: Communist party helped secure Merdeka
British Army WWII veteran defends Chin PengGrandmother Lu Chai Ping salutes 9/1 martyrs
Saturday, March 10, 2007
China-led multinational naval fleet drill ends


Scientific, futuristic dimension of New China
U.S. doesn't see China as strategic adversary
M'sia understands China's military budget rise
2 stone-age views on women in 21st century

Visiting a graveyard during Chinese New Year
Suriani's Malay memoirs now out in Mandarin
Communist Eng Ming Ching memoirs out now
Abu Samah, Minah at the Great Wall of China
Malayan women in anti-colonial armed struggle
Grandmother Lu Chai Ping salutes 9/1 martyrs
Friday, March 09, 2007
Scientific, futuristic dimension of New China

Primary schools in S'pore to teach Mandarin
New China positions for next transformation
Passion of reading among youths in Shenzhen
A mammoth, crowded hypermarket of books
My post-graduate students in SYS University
A multiethnic, multinational campus in China
New China's truly gigantic, futuristic campus
Moral progress in culture, arts in New China
Social liberation from ignorance, superstition
U.S. doesn't see China as strategic adversary

China calls for enhanced co-operation
Defence budget rise: China's own view
M'sia: China poses no threat to region
Howard on practical Chinese relations
Cheney criticizes China's arms buildup
Thursday, March 08, 2007
M'sia understands China's military budget rise

China joins 26 countries for naval war games
China's defence budget set to unnerve West
Australia, China enhance confidence building
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Japan reiterates apology to former sex slaves

ROK media : Japan also had M'sian sex slaves
Ponnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway
Visiting a graveyard during Chinese New Year
Salute anti-fascist martyrs, patriots of all races !
60th Anniversary of Anti-Fascist War's Victory
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
ROK media : Japan also had M'sian sex slaves
According to a news report in today's Yonhap News in the Republic of Korea (ROK) or South Korea, historians have now confirmed that there were 'comfort women' and 'military brothels' in Malaysia, besides China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. A 1993 signed commentary in the Internatinal Herald Tribute exposed that "Kuala Lumpur alone had about 20 military brothels" while Cambridge historians Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper reveals in their book, Forgotten Armies - The Fall of British Asia, 1941-1945 (London, Penguin, 2004), that in 1995, some 3,500 letters were received by “a Malaysian political party” alleging the extensive existence of comfort women but “none has been published”.
An Indonesian criticism of Japan's immaturity
Philippines' ex-sex slaves call Japanese PM 'liar'
Abe's denial upsets Australian 'comfort woman'
An Indonesian criticism of Japan's immaturity
Philippines' ex-sex slaves call Japanese PM 'liar'
Abe's denial upsets Australian 'comfort woman'
An Indonesian criticism of Japan's immaturity
Today, Indonesia's mainstream newspaper Jakarta Post editorialises critically against Japan's "immaturity" and "childish attitude" in atempting to deny its wartime atrocities against the people of Asia, including Indonesia which was then known as 'Dutch East Indies'.
Japan is still the world's second most powerful economy, however, in about a decade China is likely to pass its neighbor. Many Japanese still do not believe that China will surpass Japan's economy, but this should not be used as an excuse for denying its past.
Japan's immaturity
In his campaign before taking office in September, prime minister candidate Shinzo Abe promised to create a "beautiful Japan". Many Japanese voters and the international community hoped that Abe, the first Japanese prime minister born after World War II, would not follow his predecessor Junichiro Koizuimi's lead and continue visiting the Yasukuni war shrine, which honors the country's war dead, including some war criminals. Koizumi's insistence on carrying out the controversial visits damaged Japan's relations with its neighbors, especially China and South Korea.
Japan has repeatedly apologized for its actions during World War II, including a formal apology on the issue of sex slaves issued by Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in 1993. And Japan has done a lot since the war to ease concerns that it would again embark on the dangerous path of its past military adventures. The country has consistently shown its sense of international responsibility to build a better world, especially in the economic field.
But from time to time, Japanese leaders have continued to tarnish the country's image with irresponsible statements about Japan's role in World War II.
Expectations were high that a younger Japanese leader like Abe would be able to lead the country to an acceptance of its history. But it took only six months for Prime Minister Abe to show the world he is no better, if not worse, than Koizumi in confronting the country's wartime history.
Abe's statements Thursday and Monday, which belittled the accuracy of historical facts, including Japan's own military documents, that Japan did not force thousands of women during World War II to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers came as a shock for the international community.
"There is no evidence to prove there was coercion, nothing to support it," Abe told reporters Thursday. In parliament on Monday, Abe again spoke about the issue of sex slaves (Japan prefers the relatively softer term "comfort women"). "There was no coercion such as kidnappings by the Japanese authorities. There is no reliable testimony that proves kidnapping," Abe said, as quoted by international news agencies.
About 200,000 young women, mainly in China, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia, were forced by the Japanese military during World War II to sexually serve Japanese soldiers.
Abe was apparently irritated by the U.S. Congress, which issued a non-binding resolution demanding an apology from Japan and recognition of its wartime involvement in sexual slavery.
Japan is still the world's second most powerful economy, however, in about a decade China is likely to pass its neighbor. Many Japanese still do not believe that China will surpass Japan's economy, but this should not be used as an excuse for denying its past.
It is difficult for people around the world to understand why, nearly 62 years after the end of World War II, Japan still cannot honestly accept its wartime record and continues to maintain this "childish" attitude whenever it is asked to examine its past. The self-denial is so acute that no one can cure it except Japan itself.
After its defeat in World War II, Japan quickly regained its economic power. Now Japan is the world's second most powerful economy after the United States and the world's largest creditor in terms of official development assistance.
The world needs a prosperous, strong and peaceful Japan. Continuing moves to corner the country over its wartime past could backfire by triggering a new nationalist movement in the country. Indeed, there are already worrying signs of this happening.
But Japan should also help itself. If after 62 years, Japanese leaders are still trying to deny history, we should feel pity for the country. Japan has played a major role in the global economy, but why is it still unable to accept the realty of its past? Others can only help when Japan itself is willing to stand up and take an honest look at itself and its wartime actions.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Japanese-occupied Malaya's 'comfort women'

Meanwhile, Cambridge historians Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper write in their book Forgotten Armies - The Fall of British Asia, 1941-1945 (London, Penguin, 2004) that in 1995, some 3,500 letters were received by “a Malaysian political party” alleging the extensive existence of comfort women but “none has been published”.
According to an estimate cited in a memorial service by the Chinese community in Kuala Lumpur in 2003, during the Occupation, about 70,000 people of all ethnic communities were killed, while another 80,000 perished as the result of tortures and imprisonments and also an additional 300,000 died because of malnutrition and physical exhaustion in performing forced hard labour.
In the total number of those who perished, an estimate of 300,000 were Chinese. That figure represented 17 percent of the then entire Chinese population in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.
Also, in an estimate presented by Professor P. Ramasamy in a 1984 study of Indian Malaysians' socio-political development from a historical perspective, " 60,000 Malayan Indians died while working for the Japanese on the Siamese 'Death Railway' ".
In addition, after the fall of Singapore, thousands of British, Australian, Indian and other soldiers and commanders were interned as imperial Japan's prisoners of war in, among other places, Kuala Lumpur's Pudu Prison, Singapore's Changi Prison as well as POW camps in Northeastern China (formerly known as Manchuria).
Picture of Japan's WW II sex slaves in Malaya
Ponnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway
Visiting a graveyard during Chinese New Year
Salute anti-fascist martyrs, patriots of all races !
Recognise CPM's contributions, sack Zainuddin !
Children & Families of Far East Prisoners of War
Chin Peng's case postponed again to 30 April

1989 Malaysia-CPM Peace Accords in letters
Picture of Japan's WW II sex slaves in Malaya
Soldier confirms wartime sex slavery
Sex slave denial angers South Korea
‘Comfort women' survivors to hold rally
Australia's 'comfort women' slam Japan
Abe war slavery denial sparks protests
Ex-sex slave calls for Japanese apology
U.S. congressman rebuts Japanese PM
U.S. official derides Japan war brothels
Japan pushing to block U.S. resolution
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Ponnusamy remembers Japan's Death Railway

By MUTHAMMAL PALANISAMY, originally published in The Star on 26 Feb 2007 as Unsung Heroes; the above picture of the Bridge Over the River Kwai is taken from a 2002 BBC programme on WWII
No one has recognised the sacrifice of the people in the Death Railway of Siam. Did they not die for their country?
IT WAS World War II and the year was 1942. The people of Malaya were going through a living nightmare. The promise of freedom came from every possible quarter.
M. Ponnusamy and his friends, all young men working as labourers in Cashwood Estate, a small rubber estate in the outskirts of Ayer Tawar, a small town in Perak, were enraptured with the tale of the great Indian freedom fighter, Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose.
“Haji needs young boys like you. Together we will fight with the Japanese to free our motherland, India, from the clutches of the British! When India is free, you will be free, too. You will all be heroes and your future would just be wonderful in this country!”
The recruiting agents talks convinced these simple boys who were looking for a way out of their dreaded existence. They immediately volunteered to join the fight for freedom.
Initially many young men volunteered, mesmerised by the sweet talk of the recruiting agents, but later many were taken by force to work for the Japanese, in the name of freedom.
These “volunteers” were loaded into lorries and taken to the Taiping railway station with no idea as to where they were being taken. Once in the train, fear and doubt set in. All the people in command were Japanese and the majority of the recruits were Indians with some European soldiers, engineers and estate managers. All the recruits were treated like animals. Each coach was packed with hundreds of them and they kept pushing in more.
The coach Ponnusamy was in stank of vomit and faeces. People around him were fainting. They were not given any food and anyone who asked for food was severely beaten.
In the same coach was another Ponnusamy, a close friend of the young M. Ponnusamy. He, too, was young and had left behind a young wife and an ailing mother. Together the two Ponnusamys were headed for a future and destination which neither knew.
Ponnusamy could not remember the names of any of the towns that they passed but after what seemed like ages, they came to their final stop. Someone told Ponnusamy that this was Siam (now known as Thailand). He could not remember the name of the place they were in.
The Japanese soldiers told them to start work immediately. They were going to build a railway line all the way from Siam to Burma. The Japanese would then use it to conquer Burma which was still under British rule and then enter India to liberate her from colonial rule.
Ponnusamy and his friends were too exhausted and sick to comprehend all these. All they knew was they had to work almost non-stop for the Japanese to achieve their noble mission of liberating Asia. Food was just some soup with bamboo shoots. Anyone who stopped work from sheer exhaustion was beaten. Many fell ill, and they were either left behind or killed. No medical attention was given to them.
Ponnusamy’s job ranged from that of a scavenger to an undertaker. He remembers seeing European prisoners naked and begging for food and cigarettes from the Japanese bosses. He saw many people lying around, groaning in pain from open sores and wounds crawling with maggots. Sometimes he would be so exhausted that he would just collapse anywhere he was, to sleep for the night. He had even slept with corpses, some of them decapitated, using their headless bodies as pillows. Exhaustion overcame fear!
The workers often suffered from diarrhoea. To treat them, a “doctor” came with a bamboo stick and a bottle of medicine. The doctor dipped the stick into the bottle and inserted the medicated end of the stick into the anus of the patient, or rather, the victim. It was to stop him from purging but instead he stopped breathing. Ponnusamy felt sorry for them. Then one day his friend, the married Ponnusamy, died!
Torture, hunger and continuous work had taken a toll on him. He had left behind a young wife and a mother in Perak. Just before he died, he begged his good friend to take care of his wife and mother as he knew that he was not going to survive. The living Ponnusamy was not married. Out of love for his dying friend he promised him that he would fulfil his dying wish if he got out alive. What a great heart he had! Tears welled up in Ponnusamy’s eyes as he recalled this event which took place more than 60 years ago.
Miraculous escape
So this Ponnusamy decided that he had to live and go back to keep his words. From that very day, he planned his escape but it was not going to be easy. He planned for a few months, getting weaker by the day from the beatings by the Japanese. His body was weak but his spirit was strong.
One day the opportunity he was waiting for came. He had stolen a pair of trousers and a shirt from the Japanese and was ready to escape. He had a piece of bread and a tin of water to last him in his mission (im)possible as no one escaped the Death Railway, as it later came to be known.
He got up early one day and hid in an abandoned coach, waiting for all the people to start work and to see if he was being missed. He sat inside the coach for hours, fearing for his life. Until then, Ponnusamy had never prayed. But on that day he wanted to pray. He lifted his eyes to the sky to pray but the sky was full of fighter planes zooming about. He was in a dungeon, and he didn’t know how to pray and whom to pray to.
All of a sudden, a little sparrow flew into his coach and fell half-dead on his lap. He took the bird in his hands and, looking into its half-closed eyes, said, “Little bird, it looks like both of us are in the same situation and death is staring in our faces. I’ll help you live and you see if you can do something for me.” Saying this, he fed the bird some breadcrumbs and water. After some time, the bird flew off into the sky.
Ponnusamy said that the bird was like a messenger sent by God and he knew then that he was going to make it back home. The bird surviving and flying off free was a good omen. Later in the evening he got out of the coach and started moving on the railroad, southbound. During the day he hid in the jungle and at night he moved. All the time he felt that the bird was guiding him.
He made it home sick and half-dead. The people he had left behind in the estate were no better off. He saw some women wearing big yam leaves around their waists and bodies. Some stayed indoors most of the time as they had no decent clothes to cover their bodies with.
As Ponnusamy related this story to me, he insisted that the bird was sent by God to help him. “I prayed. But my prayer was not a selfish one. It was sincere and selfless. I wanted to escape to fulfil the promise to my friend. So God came in the form of a bird and helped me. God will come in any form to help the destitute if the prayer is sincere”, he said.
This great man married his friend’s wife and looked after his mother, thus fulfilling his friend’s dying wish. He now has a large family, and is surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, most of whom are Muslims. There is no question of Hindu or Muslim in his family. They are a model family in our society. He is a great man. One does not have to go anywhere to learn tolerance, honesty, determination, generosity and open-mindedness. We can see all that in the lives of people like Ponnusamy and learn what life is all about.
Today Ponnusamy leads a happy life but he is sore that, till today, no one has recognised the sacrifice of the people in the Death Railway of Siam. His friends have all died in vain. Did they not die for their country? Have they all become a chapter in history never to be written but forgotten?
As he said: “Who were we working for? Who is responsible for all these atrocities? Will I ever know the answers? My friends died without knowing why or what they were dying for. Young sons snatched from their mothers, husbands separated from their wives, and young children deprived of their fathers. Dreams and hopes smashed. Future denied. All for what and for whom? Can anyone tell me please?”
I can only write this man’s story. That much I can do for him.
No one has recognised the sacrifice of the people in the Death Railway of Siam. Did they not die for their country?
IT WAS World War II and the year was 1942. The people of Malaya were going through a living nightmare. The promise of freedom came from every possible quarter.
M. Ponnusamy and his friends, all young men working as labourers in Cashwood Estate, a small rubber estate in the outskirts of Ayer Tawar, a small town in Perak, were enraptured with the tale of the great Indian freedom fighter, Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose.
“Haji needs young boys like you. Together we will fight with the Japanese to free our motherland, India, from the clutches of the British! When India is free, you will be free, too. You will all be heroes and your future would just be wonderful in this country!”
The recruiting agents talks convinced these simple boys who were looking for a way out of their dreaded existence. They immediately volunteered to join the fight for freedom.
Initially many young men volunteered, mesmerised by the sweet talk of the recruiting agents, but later many were taken by force to work for the Japanese, in the name of freedom.
These “volunteers” were loaded into lorries and taken to the Taiping railway station with no idea as to where they were being taken. Once in the train, fear and doubt set in. All the people in command were Japanese and the majority of the recruits were Indians with some European soldiers, engineers and estate managers. All the recruits were treated like animals. Each coach was packed with hundreds of them and they kept pushing in more.
The coach Ponnusamy was in stank of vomit and faeces. People around him were fainting. They were not given any food and anyone who asked for food was severely beaten.
In the same coach was another Ponnusamy, a close friend of the young M. Ponnusamy. He, too, was young and had left behind a young wife and an ailing mother. Together the two Ponnusamys were headed for a future and destination which neither knew.
Ponnusamy could not remember the names of any of the towns that they passed but after what seemed like ages, they came to their final stop. Someone told Ponnusamy that this was Siam (now known as Thailand). He could not remember the name of the place they were in.
The Japanese soldiers told them to start work immediately. They were going to build a railway line all the way from Siam to Burma. The Japanese would then use it to conquer Burma which was still under British rule and then enter India to liberate her from colonial rule.
Ponnusamy and his friends were too exhausted and sick to comprehend all these. All they knew was they had to work almost non-stop for the Japanese to achieve their noble mission of liberating Asia. Food was just some soup with bamboo shoots. Anyone who stopped work from sheer exhaustion was beaten. Many fell ill, and they were either left behind or killed. No medical attention was given to them.
Ponnusamy’s job ranged from that of a scavenger to an undertaker. He remembers seeing European prisoners naked and begging for food and cigarettes from the Japanese bosses. He saw many people lying around, groaning in pain from open sores and wounds crawling with maggots. Sometimes he would be so exhausted that he would just collapse anywhere he was, to sleep for the night. He had even slept with corpses, some of them decapitated, using their headless bodies as pillows. Exhaustion overcame fear!
The workers often suffered from diarrhoea. To treat them, a “doctor” came with a bamboo stick and a bottle of medicine. The doctor dipped the stick into the bottle and inserted the medicated end of the stick into the anus of the patient, or rather, the victim. It was to stop him from purging but instead he stopped breathing. Ponnusamy felt sorry for them. Then one day his friend, the married Ponnusamy, died!
Torture, hunger and continuous work had taken a toll on him. He had left behind a young wife and a mother in Perak. Just before he died, he begged his good friend to take care of his wife and mother as he knew that he was not going to survive. The living Ponnusamy was not married. Out of love for his dying friend he promised him that he would fulfil his dying wish if he got out alive. What a great heart he had! Tears welled up in Ponnusamy’s eyes as he recalled this event which took place more than 60 years ago.
Miraculous escape
So this Ponnusamy decided that he had to live and go back to keep his words. From that very day, he planned his escape but it was not going to be easy. He planned for a few months, getting weaker by the day from the beatings by the Japanese. His body was weak but his spirit was strong.
One day the opportunity he was waiting for came. He had stolen a pair of trousers and a shirt from the Japanese and was ready to escape. He had a piece of bread and a tin of water to last him in his mission (im)possible as no one escaped the Death Railway, as it later came to be known.
He got up early one day and hid in an abandoned coach, waiting for all the people to start work and to see if he was being missed. He sat inside the coach for hours, fearing for his life. Until then, Ponnusamy had never prayed. But on that day he wanted to pray. He lifted his eyes to the sky to pray but the sky was full of fighter planes zooming about. He was in a dungeon, and he didn’t know how to pray and whom to pray to.
All of a sudden, a little sparrow flew into his coach and fell half-dead on his lap. He took the bird in his hands and, looking into its half-closed eyes, said, “Little bird, it looks like both of us are in the same situation and death is staring in our faces. I’ll help you live and you see if you can do something for me.” Saying this, he fed the bird some breadcrumbs and water. After some time, the bird flew off into the sky.
Ponnusamy said that the bird was like a messenger sent by God and he knew then that he was going to make it back home. The bird surviving and flying off free was a good omen. Later in the evening he got out of the coach and started moving on the railroad, southbound. During the day he hid in the jungle and at night he moved. All the time he felt that the bird was guiding him.
He made it home sick and half-dead. The people he had left behind in the estate were no better off. He saw some women wearing big yam leaves around their waists and bodies. Some stayed indoors most of the time as they had no decent clothes to cover their bodies with.
As Ponnusamy related this story to me, he insisted that the bird was sent by God to help him. “I prayed. But my prayer was not a selfish one. It was sincere and selfless. I wanted to escape to fulfil the promise to my friend. So God came in the form of a bird and helped me. God will come in any form to help the destitute if the prayer is sincere”, he said.
This great man married his friend’s wife and looked after his mother, thus fulfilling his friend’s dying wish. He now has a large family, and is surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, most of whom are Muslims. There is no question of Hindu or Muslim in his family. They are a model family in our society. He is a great man. One does not have to go anywhere to learn tolerance, honesty, determination, generosity and open-mindedness. We can see all that in the lives of people like Ponnusamy and learn what life is all about.
Today Ponnusamy leads a happy life but he is sore that, till today, no one has recognised the sacrifice of the people in the Death Railway of Siam. His friends have all died in vain. Did they not die for their country? Have they all become a chapter in history never to be written but forgotten?
As he said: “Who were we working for? Who is responsible for all these atrocities? Will I ever know the answers? My friends died without knowing why or what they were dying for. Young sons snatched from their mothers, husbands separated from their wives, and young children deprived of their fathers. Dreams and hopes smashed. Future denied. All for what and for whom? Can anyone tell me please?”
I can only write this man’s story. That much I can do for him.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Film banned in M'sia to be screened in S'pore

Film Banned In Malaysia To Be Screened At Singapore Film Festival
SINGAPORE, March 2 (Bernama) Apa Khabar Orang Kampung, a documentary by Malaysian filmmaker Amir Muhammad banned in Malaysia, will be among films to be screened at the 20th Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) in April.
According to the organiser, the 75-minute documentary which carries the English title Village People Radio Show was among the films confirmed for the festival which runs from April 18 to 30.
The film features interviews with dozens of members of the banned Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). Living in exile as farmers in southern Thailand, the men recount the days of military struggle in candid interviews.
The sequel to Amir's Lelaki Komunis 'Terakhir' (The 'Last' Communist) was premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier last month, about a week before the Malaysian Film Censorship Board announced that it has banned the documentary.
The board cited seven reasons for the ban, including one about the film showing "blatant" criticism against the Malaysian government for offering rehabilitation terms which the CPM members could not accept.
The board also said that the film distorts historical facts and tries to belittle Malaysia's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, for the failed Baling Talks with the CPM in 1955.
Amir had appealed to lift the ban and the result will be known by next week.
Besides Amir's film, the festival would also screen two films by another Malaysian filmmaker, James Lee, entitled Things We Do When We Fall In Love and Before We Fall In Love Again.
Some 160 films from 40 countries will be featured at the annual festival.
Let us not erase our past
Public calls to lift ban on Amir's documentary
Director Amir seeks to lift ban on history film
Dr. Abraham's new book impresses Chin Peng
Visiting graveyard during Chinese New Year
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Public calls to lift ban on Amir's documentary
Director Amir seeks to lift ban on history film
Film on Malay Reds now screened in Germany
Amir to produce another ' Red ' documentary
I have seen Amir's Chin Peng film. Have you ?
Another " half-past-six " statement on history
Amir to speak in S'gor Chinese Assembly Hall
British Army WWII veteran defends Chin Peng
Forty six years after "defeating" Chin Peng ...
In search of more dimensions of true history
Rounding up reactions to Chin Peng film ban
Real public has not seen Chin Peng film yet
Approved film on Chin Peng is now banned
Looking forward to watching Chin Peng film
Makcik Suriani Abdullah's memoirs out soon
