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I believe that the original police force was kept largely intact by the japs. The police force was mostly malays at that time, and the Japs trusted them more than the chinese because they felt the malays were more tolerant. But i don't think this is the case for nathan. i recall seeing him in the uniform of a japanese army personnel. Many Indians and other singaporeans were rounded up and enlisted in the japanese army and auxiliary forces to supplement the japanese occupation army. they manned checkpoints and other thing with japanese rifles.
You are quite right from what I've read from the excellent book by Cheah Boon Keng. Allow me to add on...
The Japs sent spies (including the famous a press attache M shinozaki) to Malaya many years before they landed to gather intel on the ground.
They learnt that the Malays would be ready collaborators and they were right.
They hated all Chinese - new immigrants (like my grandfathers) and the straits chinese alike. The new guys were obvious supporters of the KMT and Communist war effort back home. The straits chinese were targeted because they were holding admin/political positions in the local British colonial office. (So that rules out the fact that baba Lee was not another sub-human chinese pig in the eyes of the japs)
The Indians in Malaya generally suffered the same fate as the chinese. Many Tamils were sent to their death at the Burmese railroad. The emergence of the local Indian independence league which wanted to free India from the British provided some protection to very few indians for a very short time. The group of outright Indian collaborators (and most targeted by the anti-jap resistance fighters) were actually the Bayis..
And lastly, is this the pic you saw? Photoshop lah bro....


For any one of you who are interested in pre to post war history, I recommend this awesome book:

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