War Memory and the Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore

Chapter 7: Malay Warriors and Pemuda

Malay Warriors and Pemuda 207 Chapter 7 Malay Warriors and Pemuda Kimigayo (Japanese) Kimigayo (English) Kimigayo wa May your reign Chiyo ni yachiyo ni Continue for a thousand, nay eight thousand generations, Sazare-ishi no Until the pebbles Iwao to narite Grow into boulders Koke no musu made Lush with moss “Student researchers … took note of the excitement shown by respondents when they were asked to comment on … school life under the “rule of the samurai” … some of them would burst into impromptu humming of a few bars of Japanese songs”.1 While adult Malays had to deal with shortages of rice, salt, sugar and clothing, unwelcome exhortations to “grow more food” for sale, or unpaid service in the local Jukeidan (law and order force), many of their children took readily to Japanese education.2 At 8 o’clock every morning, Japanese time, teachers and students would assemble on the school field. Facing Tokyo, they sang the Japanese anthem Kimigayo. Kimigayo is all solemnity and emotion , part-hymn, part ode to the Emperor, proceeding with slow, wavelike rises and falls. The song was capped off with saikere, a deep, reverent bow. That done, the school day could begin. At language, technical and other Japanese specialist schools — including those giving short courses to administrators — there was also military drill. Students found gardening added to the curriculum, both for the good of the soul and because of shortages — and heavy emphasis on Japanese seishin (spirit). Students might also learn sumowrestling or other Japanese games, or (for Malays) silat. The aim was not just to impart useful knowledge, but to mould mind and body: to 207 208 War Memory and the Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore obey, and for ongoing struggle with Western forces. A struggle-based ethos prevailed, in which willpower was expected to overcome obstacles, and the individual was taught to subsume their needs and identity in those of the collective.3 This education was underpinned by a vision of “Asia for the Asians”, in which Japan perched atop a hierarchy of Asian peoples. This was paternalist, with Malay sultans being left in place in their peninsular states, and the advancement of local administrators to places vacated by Europeans. Chapter 2 (pp. 39–40) looked at these events through the eyes of Mohd Anis bin Tairan, who in 1942 was a 10-year-old living in an attap-roofed house at Siglap, on Singapore’s east coast. He remembers 1942 as a time of British defeat and Chinese tragedy in the sook ching, but also as a time of opportunity for Malays. Anis had been born amidst increasing Malay nationalism. In the 1920–1930s, many Malays felt threatened by Chinese population growth and economic success. British desires to increase Chinese rights further fuelled Malay fears that they might lose their predominance in the peninsula. These coincided with the growth of new types of Malay. More Malays were being formally taught as teachers — at Sultan Idris Training College at Tanjong Malim (founded 1922) — and the burgeoning Malay press meant more journalists.4 Malay Associations sprung up which, in 1939 and 1940, held the first pan-Malayan meetings of Malay Associations. The sultans also became more assertive of their rights, and that their British Residents were just advisers — as the treaties stated — not colonial overlords. Some exerted pressure for a Malay military force, which helped to persuade the British to form the Malay Regiment in 1933–1934. In addition, young teachers and journalists formed more radical associations, including the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM, Union of Malay Youth). The latter had branches all over Malaya within a year of foundation in 1938. The KMM included recent immigrants from the Netherlands Indies, who encouraged an anti-colonial tone. As such, a few of the KMM were contacted by, and helped, the Japanese in 1941. After British defeat, others, such as the KMM-affiliated village head in Anis’ village, were given responsibilities. For a few months after British defeat, the Japanese gave the KMM free reign to extol Malay nationalism and a Melayu Raya (Greater Malaya or Indonesia). Soon, however, they decided it was better to keep such fervent men on a short leash. They banned KMM in June 1942, and Malay Warriors and Pemuda 209 integrated many of its leaders, first into Japanese departments then, from late 1943, into Japanese-controlled volunteer forces. This Japanese recruitment of Malays exacerbated a paradox...