I'm quite amazed at people believing that LKY and SRN worked as mere translators for the Imperial Japan Army during WW2. It takes 4 to 6 years for the most intelligent and linguistically inclined non-Japanese on earth to learn Japanese to that level of conversation and literacy proficiency. Question is, how could they suddenly attain that level of proficiency within months. Did they attend Japanese tuition classes 4 to 6 years before the Japanese invaded and landed. Oh, really? Must have been some prodigous foresight. Still wonder, did Japanese tuition classes exist in Singapore before 1942?
It was claimed by Con You that he taught himself Japanese script in order to work for them. Granted he does have a propensity for langauges, so I find this quite plausible. He actually worked for for the Hobodu (the Japanese proganda office) as their English language editor. He also translated Allied military communication (non encoded) for the Jap's Military Intelligence Office. Based on this, I am guessing that he did not have to use Japanese extensively in his work. ALso, he does not use his Japanese on his many official visits to Japan, leading me to believe that his Japanese was rudimentary at the best, and he has lost it since the war.
I guess you have to put yourself in the situation in those days. U will recall there was already alot of anti-Japanese sentiment even before the japanese invasion. The chinese in S'pore were aware of the atrocities commited by the Japs against the Chinese in China. People from China were always coming to S'pore to raise funds to fight the Japanese and all that. The Japs were therefore very distrustful of the chinese when they arrived here. U will recall they arrested many army aged Chinese and executed many of them.
Why was a 19 year old Lee allowed to work for them? In the first place, Lee could barely speak any chinese at all. He did not learn Mandarin until he was 32, and Hokkien at 38. His native dialect Hakka was barely passable, and his malay was half past six too. He spoke primarily English at home. He did not associate nor had friends who were chinese ed, and who spoke only chinese i.e. the people the Japanese did not trust. He was in other words a social freak. He had nothing in common with the average chinese on the street, and he would not have been able to make a living in any non english company. Any english company would have hired someone like him as a very low person on the totem pole, if at all.
I can see how someone like him would be hired by the Japs due to the fact the he was not a typical chinese. Also, because he has nothing in common with the average chinese, he does not feel remorse or guilt by working for the enemies of these chinese. He likes to portray his years with the Japanese as a sign of pragmatism. That is ridiculous. Its straight out treachery. many people survived the war years without working for the japanese.
As for Nathan, his case of WW2 collaboration is much worse. He actually was in the Kampetai, the Japanese civil police. He had a Jap uniform, sword, etc. He would have been actively involved in arresting singaporeans, sending them to jail, interrogating them etc. Why would the Japs hire him? He is non chinese for one. But since he is a malaysian originally, (born in Muar) his act is also one of treachery
