My Longkang

At The Japanese School

It was lessons the whole morning. The language of instruction was Japanese. The teachers were soldiers or so it seemed to Ah San. I cannot verify the truth. I only have Ah San’s tale. They were good. They enforced discipline. No one dared to steal.

The Japanese expected the boys to live a very regimented life. The Japanese expected the same of themselves. Ah San said the Japanese soldiers were very particular about ‘face’. Each time the students saw them they had to bow or be given a blow or kicked.

He recalled an incident where a soldier who had committed an infraction was asked to kill himself With a sword.

The soldiers were not happy to be in the school as it was a humiliation to be there and not on the battle fields. As time went on, the soldiers started to trust the boys more.

The boys were allowed time out of the school at certain times of the week. The food wasn’t good or enough but the boys knew that outside the school the situation was no better.

There was a Japanese soldier who seemed very tough but in reality a very loving man…… firm but basically a very kind man and absolutely fair.

I felt bad when I saw Ah San had been hurt when I doubted the truth of his story. He told me he had never told his children any of the stories. It had hurt too much. There were tears in his eyes. Oh my God…I felt like an absolute moron.

Ah San’s Impending Execution

He told me there was a market previously called Sia Boi . I did not manage to trace it. On one of the occasions he was let out, he helped a stall-keeper with his stall. He said the stall was near that market and beside the Prangin River.

As payment for helping him, he was given a piece of salted fish. He took it back to the school. He hid it under his mattress.

He ate very little rice that night and hid some of the rice from his plate in his pockets. He intended to eat the rice with the salted fish later in the evening.

However, there was a surprise check that night immediately after dinner. He was caught with the rice in his pocket. That was a crime equivalent to stealing. He tried to explain to them but it was futile. Neither would it have mattered…I think.

Two soldiers escorted him back to the barracks. They searched his bed. They found his salted fish. He was given a severe beating. The Japanese soldier whom he admired did nothing to help him. He was arrested and tied up . Hands tied behind his back and legs tied with a piece of rope so that he could walk but could not run.

Details became hazy after this. Ah San became emotional and many details were left out or perhaps I was too distraught to remember.