Section 4: Pacific War and the Impact of the Japanese OccupationASMZ/2017

Section 4: Pacific War And The Impact Of The Japanese OccupationChapter 10:: The Japanese Occupation Of

MalayaEconomic effects

1. The economy of Malaya was runned for the benefit of the Japanese conquerers. But:There was a lack of resources and a lot of starvation: Malayan men, money, foodstuffs and

resources were used to help the Japanese army.

The Malayan were forced to carry out a self-sufficiency campaign to solve food-shortages such as mass planting of crops such as tapioca and yam. But it did not alleviate food shortages and thousands of Malayan people died of starvation.

The British also had a policy of destruction when they retreated their army during Japanese attack.

Railways, bridges and roads were destroyed and equipments in the rubber and tin industries were put out of action.

The Japanese were then unable to make immediate use of these products. Nor did they make any effort to rebuild the industries.

2. The rubber and tin industries’ destruction badly effected Malaya’s society: Unemployment rose dramatically and there

was widespread poverty. Trade with the outside world came to a near

standstill and the business communities of Penang and Singapore were badly hit.

3. The Japanese also caused widespread inflation in Singapore by printing large numbers of Japanese notes as currency.

Starvation was widespread

British policy of destruction

Bombing of roads and bridgesBanana money

Social effects

1. Freedom of movement was restricted by the introduction of the Peace-living Certificate. This made the head of the household responsible for the behaviour of all members

of the family and restrricted people’s movements within Malaya. Anyone caught acting against the Japanese rulers would be dealt with very harshly. Arrest and torture were common and there were many public executions.

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Section 4: Pacific War and the Impact of the Japanese OccupationASMZ/2017

Left: Peace Living Certificate with rations for sugar, salt, rice, flour.

Centre: Prisoners were tortured, killed and stabbed publicly

2. There were changes in education. All education was to be based on

the system in Japan. Pupils had to learn to speak

Japanese and to appreciate the culture of Japan.

The singing of the Japanese national anthem was made compulsory.

3. Standard of health care declined. The Japanese army needed all the

medicines that Malaya had for their army, so there was a little left for the native population.

Since many Malayans were under-nourished as a result of food shortages, they were highly susceptible to illness.

Diseases such as dysentry and malaria caused many deaths, and after the war there was a serious epidemic of tuberculosis.

Education under the Japanese Occupation Civilians were not healthyHow did Japan Govern Malaya?

The Japanese enforced a military government on Malaya. The head of the government was a Governor based in Singapore, wich was renamed

‘Syonan-to’, meaning ‘Light of the South.’ The other nine states and Sumatra were consolidated into one political unit under the

Governor in Singapore. Malaya was divided into 8 provinces, each having its own Governor and with an Advisory

Council of State to help the Governor. The local Sultans were made Vice-Presidents of the Councils, but they had little influcence,

expect in matters relating to religion or local Malay customs. In reality, these councils were not able to oppose the Japanese and only signed their

approval of the decsions made by the Japanese.Different treatment for different races

1. Indians: The Japanese used the Indian nationalists to undermine the resistance of Indian troops fighting against them. During the occupation, they treated the

Indians better than the Chinese, encouraging the idea of Indian independence.

The Japanese supported the setting up of the Indian Independence League and Indian National Army in Malaya to campaign for India to break free from British rule. Japanese propaganda

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Section 4: Pacific War and the Impact of the Japanese OccupationASMZ/2017

2. Malays: The Malays were treated quite well and were promised independence in the future. This was an attempt by the Japanese to

overcome the opposition that the Malays showed towards their conquerors.

It was generally unsuccessful and the Malays gave little cooperation to the Japanese.

Malnourished Malays

3. Chinese: they were traditional rivals of the Japanese since 1937.

The Chinese were leaders of the resistance movements against the Japanese rule and were victims of very harsh treatments.

The Japanese recognised the economic value of the Chinese community and allowed them to continue their business activities if they cooperated with the new rulers.

From 1944, when Japan was facing defeat, an attempt was made to win Chinese support by allowing them to discuss their grievances with the Japanese rulers.

It proved highly unsuccessful.

Chinese women grieving after an air raid

Resistance movements

1. Resistance movements were set up in the Jungle and the most important one was the Malayan Peoples’ Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).

They were a scattered collection of individual groups which was led by the Communist Party of Malaya and gained most of its support from the Chinese.

By the end of the war, its numbers had risen to nearly 7000.

Although the British were strongly opposed to communism, they were prepared to give support to the MPAJA on condition that it would surrender its weapons at the end of the war.

MPAJA soldiers

2. The British sent officers to work undercover with the MPAJA in the jungle and also dropped supplies and weapons by air.

The main task of the MPAJA was to prepare for the time when it could assist an Allied landing to liberate Malaya from Japanese rule.

At the same time, it also carried out guerilla attacks from its bases in the jungle.

Sabotage attacks on railways, bridges and roads made life difficult for the Japanese though the Japanese had the upper hand.

Supplies dropped by the British

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Section 4: Pacific War and the Impact of the Japanese OccupationASMZ/2017

The Surrender of the Japanese

The Japanese advance across the Paciic was reversed in 1943. Using a strategy known

as ‘island hopping,’ the Americans recaptured one island after another.

By 1945, the Allies were ready to invade Japan itself, however, such was the fear of the fanatical resistance of the Japanese forces that to save Allied roops, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On 15th August 1945, Japan surrendered. Lord Louis Mountbatten brought British forces back into Malaya without resistance and received the formal Japanese surrender in Singapore on 9th September 1945. Bombing of Hiroshima

The Impact of the Japanese Occupation

Economic and social disruption1. The period of Japanese occupation had brought serious economic problems to Malaya.

The rubber and tin industries came to a standstill when the British, in their retreat, destroyed the equipment. The Japanese did not restore them and trade with the outside world was disrupted.

2. Unemployment and poverty were common and had led to social disorder and crime in some parts of the country.

3. This disorder was particularly apparent in the first weeks immediately after the war. The MPAJA took over the running of Malaya and reprisals were carried out against those who were thought to have collabprated with the Japanese conquerors. The people lived in fear.

4. Japanese occupation had also resulted in the unfortunate development of anti-Chinese antagonism amongst the Malay community. The Japanese stirred up Sino-Malay antagonism which made the Malays conscious and resentful of the econommic power of the Chinese under British rule. This resulted in fighting between the Chinese and Malays in the subsequent years.

Awakening of nationalistic consciousness and change of British policy

1. During the war, opposition to British rule grew. One reason for this was that the Malays were given some administrative posts during the Japanese occupation. This encouraged their political awareness and they desired independence instead of the old European order.

2. The rejection of the ‘old order’ was also stressed by the communists in Malaya. MPAJA’s role in resisting British rule had made the communists even more popular. They believed that once the Japanese left, British rule should be replaced by a Malayan Communist government.

3. The growth of nationalist feeling and the advance of communism meant that when British control was re-established in Malaya, they had to adopt a different approach in government. Their first task was to deal with thr MPAJA. The British government would not accept that the communists should play any part in the government and broke up the MPAJA. They enforced the agreement that the communists would give up their weapons and paid each guerille $350 as a reward for his efforts. But communism was not wiped out and was to provide great difficulties for the British before Malaya achieved its independence.

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