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Monday, March 08, 2021

Eff-ing Japs abused Chinese Comfort Women in Malaya

FMT:

Untold stories of Malaya’s ‘comfort women’


MCA’s Michael Chong clearly remembers the first time he was contacted by a former comfort woman, whose story made headlines in 1993.

PETALING JAYA: One night in 1943, a 16-year-old girl was settling down for the night when four men armed with bayonets barged into her home in Sepang and dragged her into a truck.

No one was able to save her. The men threatened to shoot her parents as the truck drove away, taking her to a bungalow where she lived the next two years as a “comfort woman”, a euphemism for those forced into prostitution at brothels, or “comfort stations”, during the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

Nearly 30 years have passed since she recounted her wartime experiences to MCA complaints bureau chief Michael Chong, but he remembers their meeting in 1993 like it was just yesterday.

“She was the first comfort woman I dealt with. I still remember she had taken a bus to come all the way to my office and told me her story in tears,” he said.

Chong recalled her accounts of having to “entertain up to 12 Japanese soldiers every day” and how she had wanted to commit suicide, but was often told by her mother to “stay strong” whenever they met at the fence of the comfort station.

“I was very touched by her story,” said Chong, adding that he later received news of three more comfort women cases: two from Sandakan and another in Kota Kinabalu. They had all come forward for the first time in 50 years, after reading the testimonials of other comfort women from neighbouring countries.

Determined to offer these women some closure before they died, Chong attempted to bring the matter to the Japanese embassy in Kuala Lumpur but in vain, as he was told the matter had been settled when Japan gave Malaysia two merchant vessels several years back.


Michael Chong in 1993 listening to the stories of a comfort woman. (Michael Chong pic)

“The government did not support my fight, they said I shouldn’t bring up bad memories from many years ago. But I was doing it at the request of the victims, what was wrong with that?

“I wasn’t asking anyone to build a monument for comfort women. They never wanted financial compensation. They just wanted Japan to acknowledge that this happened,” he said.

Clement Liang, who specialises in Japanese war history in Malaya, said the government was especially focused on developing the country in the 90’s, and played down the issue of comfort women for the sake of good relations with Japan.

He said it would be unfair to argue about the past with the Japanese government now, but stressed that it was important for Malaysians to “take it as a lesson that our women must be protected”.

According to him, Umno Youth had made a call for victims to speak out and request for compensation in 1993, but most of the women’s stories never saw the light of day.


Japanese war historian Clement Liang.

It was also during the early 1990’s that Liang was in contact with a research group from Tokyo fighting for the rights of existing comfort women, including those in Malaysia.

He clearly recalls a Penangite coming forward to reveal her story to the research group. Her name was Rosalind Saw, a single mother based at a comfort station at the junction of Burma Road and Yahudi Road (now Jalan Zainal Abidin).

“She was forced to serve the Japanese soldiers continuously, sometimes over 30 of them on a busy day. She didn’t even have time to put on her clothes in the morning and was not allowed to talk to other comfort women in the house. If she did, she would be slapped,” said Liang.

Despite the atrocities, Saw fought to survive for the sake of her two daughters who were being taken care of by her landlady and neighbours. She eventually managed to leave when she was impregnated by one of the soldiers.

It has been around 80 years since then, but Liang thinks the silence from Malaysia “is not right”. He said: “It is true that that part of history is over, but we must never forget that it happened. It’s an example of how women are always the worst victims of war.”

Andrew Barber, author of “Kuala Lumpur at War, 1939-1945”, noted that the majority of comfort women in Japanese-occupied Malaya were Chinese, most of whom were stationed in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Penang. Some were also sent to Sumatra, Indonesia.

Following the war, he said many of them were ostracised by their communities when they returned home. Some even had to move away to hide their “shameful” past, which took a large toll on their psychological well-being.

“There were no discussions or conversations at all about comfort women, until the 1990s. More women wanted to have their stories told, but I fear we have missed that boat as almost all of them would have passed away by now,” said Barber.

While the country may never know the true extent of what these comfort women faced, he said it was worth “digging out” such stories to “periodically remind ourselves about the behaviours of mankind”.

“This is a story that’s been deliberately buried for years. Their generation has now passed on, but the lesson we could learn is that it is best to have these things out in the open, so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”



11 comments:

  1. The majority of these comfort women were Chinese. So why MCA, which was formed in 1949, till today 72 years later nothing has been done for these poor women, many of whom have passed away? DAP's fault for not correcting in 22 months issit? Or Toonsie's in 22 years?

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  2. 72 years anniversary, MCA the self-proclaimed protector of Chinese interests, but Wee KHAT Siong's motto is "we don't make trouble".....ha ha ha....just sit quietly under the table, don't make trouble....that's why these poor comfort women will never get justice, because you all Boh Lam Phar....

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  3. "(Japan) doesn’t have to say sorry, you had contributed towards China, why? Because had Imperial Japan did not start the war of invasion, how could we communist became mighty powerful? How could we stage the coup d’état? How could we defeat Chiang Kai Shek? How are we going to pay back you guys? No, we do not want your war reparations!”

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    Replies
    1. either you're NOT a Chinese or your hatred of China is so great you would even ignore the WWII Japs' cruel excess to Chinese women just to be able to pass on your sarcastic remarks - what an animal you are

      Delete
    2. Don't guess!

      This 犬养mfer ain't no Chinese. It has himself so proudly declared to the world.

      Neither anyone need to take any notes of its fabricated history farts!

      It's just a gimmicky trick to gain attention as been staying far too long in a fart filled well, cloaking all alone!

      Delete
    3. both countries victim is chinese, i fully understand y a malay govt ignore the plight n remain silence, however when i highlighted the so called chinese govt act not that diff, i was accused of being not chinese. odd.

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    4. Which Chinese govt?

      Ignore the plight & remain silence?

      Under what circumstances?

      & from a well dwelling mfer, cloaking at the corona of the light viewed from under that well.

      Indeed, ODD!

      Delete
    5. where did i said chinese govt? i said clearly a so called chinese govt.

      dont simply tell one representing chinese like that 5% chinese vote mca, not to mention the one with zero vote.

      Delete
    6. Wow!!

      Displaying yr Formosa trained sophism using yr 南魔萬 England!

      Mfer, u better write in yr own whatsoever tongue to reflect yr f*cked twists.

      "where did i said chinese govt? i said clearly a so called chinese govt."

      Just reread yr previous lines of farts lah!

      U want to talk about representing govt with % of vote!

      Ask yr 蔡妹妹 about the % of vote her f*cked govt obtained AMONGST the voting population lah!

      Delete
  4. What the Japanese regime did in 1937 -1945 is despicable.

    But I have no interest in in trying to instigate animosity against the Japan of 2021.
    The generation that fought WWII is almost completely passed away. A baby born in 1946 has nothing to do with WWII atrocities.

    What the CCP did in cynical manipulation of its population to whip up anti-Japanese fervour for today's political purposes earns my contempt.

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    Replies
    1. U should direct yr contempts yourself!

      Wakakakakakaka…

      "What the CCP did in cynical manipulation of its population to whip up anti-Japanese fervour for today's political purposes"

      Cynical msnipulation of its population?

      Ain't that exactly what u did/do to the CCP/China/Chinese via those fabricated farts?

      R u trying to play blackened white as black? U ain't no Formosa sophists. Neither is that 犬养mfer.

      Delete