RESISTANCE AND SOCIAL CONFLICT DURING AND AFTER THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MALAYA AND SINGAPORE IN THE NOVELS OF CHIN KEE ONN, NOEL BARBER AND LIM THEAN SOO

Abstract

The fiftieth anniversary of the Japanese surrender to the Allied powers on the 15th August 1945 has just passed. The traumatic experience of wartime oppression during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore still leaves an indelible mark on those who lived through that period. This dissertation examines the issue of inter-ethnic social conflict among the Malays, Chinese, Indians and others as well as the united fight for independence against the imperialist rule of the Japanese and the British from the period of the Japanese Occupation (1941 -1945) and into the post-war reconstruction that was accompanied by the Malayan Communist insurgency against the return of the British colonizers officially known as the Emergency (1945 -1960). An element of dialectics, of the tension between the need for unity, and the inherent mistrust among the ethnic groups, coloured the development of events during these two decades. In this study, selected novels by Chin Kee Onn - Ma-rai-ee (1952) and The Grand Illusion (1961); Noel Barber - Tanamera (1981)~ and Lim Thean Soo – Destination Singapore (1976), The Towkay of Produce Street (1991) and short stories about the Pacific War are explored and analysed for their portrayal of the historical experience of this period. A comparative approach will be brought to the theme of adversarial relationships set against a background of war and resistance as portrayed from the perspectives of writers of three different nationalities. Furthermore, the different nationalities of the writers provide a wider context for discussion of the influence of wartime experiences on the writing of their novels. Chin Kee Onn (a Malaysian), Noel Barber (a Briton) and Lim Thean Soo (a Singaporean), though sharing a similar time frame in their respective novels, differ greatly in their approach and points of view. I begin with an introduction to the causes of wartime inter-racial conflicts especially between the Malays and the Chinese, their resistance to the Japanese during the Japanese Occupation, and the subsequent confrontation between the Malayan Communist guerrillas and the British Military. Chapter two deals with the war novels of Chin Kee Onn. Chapter three is on Noel Barber's Tanamera and Chapter four discusses the war novels of Lim Thean Soo. It aims to study the respective authors' portrayal of the theme of resistance and social conflict. The study also examines the following issues: Is there a predictable structure inherent in these novels? Do they share a one-sided characterisation and typecast the characters (i.e., negative portrayals of all the Japanese officers)and hence predictability in plot? The conclusion assesses the success of the authors in translating historical experience into fiction.