101 years ago, on September 16, 1923, in Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, the love crystallization of 20-year-old Lee Jinkun and 16-year-old Cai Zhiniang, was born.
September 16, 2024, is the 101st anniversary of the founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Looking back at the time when Singapore was occupied by Japan in World War II, Lee Kuan Yew helped the Japanese work. Many people are not very clear about why Lee Kuan Yew worked for Japan at that time, what unit he was in, what kind of work he did, and whether he did a good job. This is described in detail in the book "The Biography of Lee Kuan Yew" (published by Ling Xiang and China Friendship Publishing Company in 2014).
图源:Murugan Idli Shop脸书
As a last resort
Many people did not know the inside story of Lee Kuan Yew's work for the Japanese, accusing Lee Kuan Yew of being a "traitor and traitor." In June 1989, Lee Kuan Yew told a reporter from the United Kingdom Broadcasting Corporation about the incident, saying that he was solely for making a living, and although he was doing things for the Japanese, he did not play a role and could not be regarded as a "traitor and traitor."
During the Singapore occupation by the Japan, Lee Kuan Yew was unable to go to school and had no regular job, and he first began to study Japan history, but he could not make a living by studying Japan history. Besides, he is not too small, he should share the burden of the family for his parents and support himself with his own hands.
At that time, the Japanese arranged for Singaporeans to go to reclamation, and the original list to participate in reclamation was Lee Kuan Yew's father Lee Jin-kun, and Lee Kuan Yew was ready to replace his father to go to reclamation. Li Jinkun was in the oil business at the time, and because the Japanese needed business personnel to manage oil, Li Jinkun was not arranged. Lee Kuan Yew was ready to replace his father to go to the farm, but he couldn't replace him, he had nothing to do, and the boring days made Lee Kuan Yew feel like a year, and the family was not wealthy, his father's business was light, and it was very difficult to support a large family.
Just when Lee Kuan Yew was feeling at a loss, his mother, Choi Zhiniang, brought back a copy of the "Zhaonan Daily" one day, and after the Japanese occupied Singapore, they changed the name of Singapore to "Zhaonan Island" and the "Nanyang Shangbao" to "Zhaonan Daily", which became the organ of the Japanese military headquarters.
"Yomiuri" recruitment
"Nanyang Shangbao" was originally founded by patriotic overseas Chinese Chen Jiageng, after the Japanese came, Chen Jiageng ran to Indonesia, the newspaper was taken over by Li Yurong, the former editor-in-chief Fu Wumeng still served as the editor-in-chief, for the Japanese to host the "Zhaonan Daily", he said to Lee Kuan Yew: "Japan's official news agency, Yomiuri Shimbun, wants to recruit Japanese translators, you go and give it a try." Lee Kuan Yew was disgusted when he heard the "Shonan Ilbo", and even more disgusted with the Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan, and he said to his mother: "People call the Shonan Ilbo a traitor newspaper, and if I entered the Yomiuri Shimbun, I would not be able to wash it away by jumping into the Pacific Ocean." His mother, Cai Zhiniang, persuaded him: "Guangyao, it is not so clear these years, and now there are many people working in institutions run by Japanese, as long as we act in good conscience and do not do anything harmful to Singapore." Your Japanese is good, these days.
It's nice to earn a bowl of rice to eat. At this time, my father also walked in and said: "Working in the news agency is a beautiful difference that many people are willing to do, helping Japan people to do things and being a traitor are two different things, you first get a job, have a bowl of rice to eat, and talk about other things slowly." Besides, if you can go in and work, you can also learn a lot about the internal situation of the Japanese army, and calculate the general ledger in the future, then it will be of great use! His father's words reminded Lee Kuan Yew that indeed, if he could work in a news agency for Japan, he would not only be safe, but also understand the situation of the entire world war.
So, he immediately decided to apply for the exam. The translator exam for the Japanese was simple, and Lee Kuan Yew chose two messages on the day of August 8, 1942, broadcast by the Voice of United States: "United States Marines landed in the Solomon Islands" and "The Japanese airfield on Guadalcanal was occupied by Americans." Lee Kuan Yew, with his excellent foundation in Japanese, translated these two messages from English into Japanese in just 20 minutes. The Japanese were satisfied and immediately decided to hire Lee Kuan Yew.
Works greatly well!
The Japan Yomiuri Shimbun (Branch) in Singapore was actually an organization of the Japanese military that specialized in monitoring Allied radio and communications; due to the limitations of the war environment and technical conditions, the results of reconnaissance and monitoring were not good, and they were often intermittent, leaving many gaps in the middle. Lee Kuan Yew combined the intermittent words with the meaning of the context and his personal speculation and analysis. This work was an easy task for Lee Kuan Yew, who was fluent in English and Japanese. At the weekly appraisal meeting, the director of the news agency praised Lee Kuan Yew for his outstanding assignment and for his timely, accurate, and prompt translation.
From the heart, listening to Allied broadcasts and translating Allied materials every day was a pleasure for Lee Kuan Yew, and before coming to the news agency, listening to Allied radio at that time still had a "sense of guilt", and his heart was pounding, for fear that the Japanese would come to find trouble when they heard about it. Now, you can listen generously, and the more you listen, the more praise you get. Therefore, Lee Kuan Yew was highly motivated to work, and even on Sundays, he insisted on going to work to listen to the Allied radio. Japan often give him a thumbs up and say, "Mr. Guangyao, your work is very good!" “
Lighten the load
Because Lee Kuan Yew had a salary at that time, and it was a higher salary at that time, his father's financial burden was reduced a lot, and his mother did not have to go outside to help with the kitchen, she could stay at home to do some housework, and her mood gradually improved.
The convenience of his work enabled Lee Kuan Yew to be well aware of the situation in the two major battlefields of Europe and Asia, and he had to introduce the situation of "World War II" to his family every day. The Chinese military and civilians persisted in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and annihilated many Japan invaders. On February 2, 1943, the Soviet army won a complete victory in the 200-day Battle of Stalingrad, which brought a fundamental turning point in World War II. On March 9 of the same year, Italy announced its surrender.
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed in Normandy, France. In April 1945, Soviet troops invaded Berlin and Hitler committed suicide. On May 8, Germany signed the instrument of unconditional surrender, the end of the war in Europe, and so on.
Japan surrendered
On July 26, 1945, the United States, China, and Britain jointly issued the Potsdam Proclamation urging Japan to surrender unconditionally, and on September 2, Japan signed the instrument of unconditional surrender, officially announcing to the world: unconditional surrender.
Source: Zhang Zhesheng Facebook
The successive victories of the Allies on the battlefield made Lee Kuan Yew feel that it was no longer appropriate to go to work for a news agency in Japan. After leaving work on July 26, 1945, Lee Kuan Yew said to his parents, "I'm going to quit." The parents didn't react for a moment and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Only then did Lee Kuan Yew realize that his expression was too serious just now, so he said with a smile: "The situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for Japan, and many Chinese reporters in the news agency have run away, and I am not ready to do it anymore." The mother understood her son's mood very well, and she hurriedly said: "Japan people are fat, no matter how good it is, don't remember it." I think it's better for you to leave as soon as possible, so that the Allies don't have to take over, and then it's too late. ”
The father thought about it at this time, and the son ran out of the news agency to live, saying: "Then run, run to the Cameron Mountains in Malaysia to hide, you can live in your cousin's house." As soon as he said it, his mother was busy packing his bags for Lee Kuan Yew, and instructed Lee Kuan Yew: "Take the textbooks of Raffles College with you, and treat it as if you were going to Cameron to review your homework, and after the battle is over, the university should also start." ”
Source: Ken SP Tan Facebook
Our country, we govern ourselves
The beauty of Cameron is beyond words, and when Lee Kuan Yew arrived, he seemed to have stepped into a paradise, and during those days, Lee Kuan Yew was in a good mood and felt that he was living in a carefree life. However, Lee Kuan Yew soon became carefree here, and on September 2, 1945, when Lee Kuan Yew heard the news of Japan's surrender, he immediately bid farewell to his cousin and returned to Singapore. Upon returning to Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew saw an exciting scene: the United Kingdom warship sailed into Singapore Harbour again, and a British soldier climbed onto the roof of the town hall to pull down the Japanese plaster flag and replace it with a United Kingdom rice flag.
The occurrence of World War II was a misfortune for humanity, as well as for Lee Kuan Yew and other families, but there are two sides to everything, negative and positive; There are losses and gains. Lee Kuan Yew also matured after suffering the devastation of the war.
图源：Thomas Tho脸书
During the Japanese occupation, Lee Kuan Yew saw the Japanese on the street signs and remembered what Japan people said: Your country is yours and mine. He angrily said to his friend: This is absurd logic! This is our country, which must be managed by ourselves.
About the author: Tian Baiqiang, former senior reporter of Anhui Workers' Daily, China, currently lives in Singapore
* The views expressed in this article represent those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Singapore Eye
HQ丨Editor
HQ丨Editor
Tian Baiqiang丨Author
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