Japanese Policy Towards the Malayan Chinese 1941–1945

Abstract

On February 15, 1942, it was all over for the British in Malaya; the British troops surrendered to the Japanese. The victorious Japanese troops entered Singapore on the sixty-ninth day after they landed on Songkhla in Thailand and on Koto Bharu in Malaya. Stunned but cheerful Malays and Indians greeted General Yamashita's conquering army as it entered the city. For a great majority of the Chinese, however, an air of uncertainty hung heavily upon them because they had been active, voluntarily or involuntarily, in the anti-Japanese movement for many years and a good number of them even fought with the British in the last ditch battle that ended in their defeat. In the midst of the chaos and rumours about what the Japanese might do with the Chinese, the latter remained uneasy.