If no attempt is made by the Malaysian government to pay respect to those who suffered working for the Japanese in the infamous ‘Death Railway”during World War 2, this historical episode stands the chance of being forgotten completely.
On Sept 16, 2017, the Penang Hindu Association and the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (PHEB) jointly organised a talk to pay respect to those who perished and survived in the Death Railway ordeal.
A few of those who survived, all in their 80s, were present to share their experiences.
According to historian Michael Stenson, about 130,000 labourers were forcibly recruited by the Japanese to work in the Thai-Burma Railway in the early 1940s.
About 80 percent of those recruited were Tamil labourers, mostly from the plantations. In this respect, the estate kanganis and staff who became “loyal” to the Japanese were the main recruiting agents.
During my field work in the plantations in the 1980s in places like Raub, Seremban and Asahan, Melaka, I was told by some survivors that the estate staff often gave false information to the Japanese to prey on the newly married couples.
The newly married males would be forcibly recruited leaving the wives vulnerable to the advances of the staff.
Those recruited worked under horrific conditions. Many died like flies due to diseases such cholera, snake bites and hunger.
At the end of the war, following the defeat of the Japanese at Imphal, only about 30,000 labourers came limping back into the country.
Of those recruited, the vast majority perished working for the Japanese under the most difficult and inhumane conditions imaginable. Only a few trotted back into the country to tell tales of horror, suffering and extreme sadness.
What is most tragic is that the governments in UK, Japan and Malaysia have not “lifted a finger” to acknowledge the suffering of the victims and families of those subjected to work in the Death Railway.
I am not sure whether the Japanese government has taken the responsibility to acknowledge or even apologise for the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War 2.
Yes, the Malaysian government is not responsible. But surely, “a caring government” could still acknowledge the suffering of those who became victims of Japanese imperial aggression.