Japanese Occupation

Here are some very interesting questions which I want you guys to think and contemplate on to exercise your brains and get your creative juices to flow (here I mean REALLY THINKING DEEPLY...).

We will be discussing some of these questions in class this week but I don't want to limit discussions within lesson time and the classroom sphere. We will use this space then to further develop your argument and your ideas.

So here goes:
(a) Why did the Japanese use fear and terror to rule the people in Singapore?
(b) Were the Japanese successful in winning the hearts and minds of the people in Singapore?
(c) In your opinion, do you think that the imposition of Japanese culture in Singapore necessarily a bad thing?
(d) Was the Japanese Occupation a period characterised mostly by hardships and poverty?

Are You Ready For A War?

"I am William Wallace!
And I see a whole army of my countrymen
Here in defiance of tyranny.
You've come to fight as free men,
and free men you are!
What will you do without freedom?
Will you fight?...
Fight and you will die.
Run, and you'll live...
At least for a while.
And dying in your beds many years from now.
Would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that,
for one chance, just ONE chance,
to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives,
BUT they'll never take our freedom!"

- William Walace, an extract taken from the film 'Braveheart'

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As always, your dear teacher is easily fascinated by such a speech. It provokess one to think deeply on the issue of war - that a war is not necessarily all about killings and atrocities, but it does have its positive sides as well.

So tell me this folks, from the short extract of the film "Braveheart" that I've shown you in class, what are the positive and negative sides of the battle between Scotland and England?

Next, I want you to link the battle to Singapore's involvement in the World War 2 (WW2). I want you folks to be aware that by then, the locals in Singapore were ACTIVELY involved in fighting the WW2. We have people like Lim Bo Seng, Force 136 and not forgetting, Lieutenant Adnan and the Malay Regiment (you can learn more about this at the Bukit Chandu Museum in Singapore!). Indeed, how was Singapore's involvement in the WW2 a good and/or a bad thing?