Some 30,000 ethnic Indians and others, including my grandfather, were forcibly rounded up and bundled off to work on the 415km Burma-Thailand “death railway” project during World War Two.
Most of them were lost forever, never to return and never to be part of the families they left behind!
Most of them died in a foreign land under miserable conditions in a hostile environment. They were subjected to harsh and brutal treatment by Japanese forces.
My grandfather was a strict vegetarian. I don’t suppose the Japanese officers would have bothered to cater for his special diet or the needs of the other vegetarians. We don’t know how many of them starved to death.
My grandfather wouldn’t have compromised on his diet. Sometimes I wondered if he starved to death. Worse, when you are weak without food, emaciated and malnourished, you are no use to any workforce. What did the Japanese officers do to them? Did they bury them while they were still alive and wasted?
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How many were buried alive? We will never know! But that could have been the fate of many.
How many died of disease without medical treatment? Was there a scarcity of medicine? We will never know. Saving them would have been costly for the Japanese forces – they wouldn’t have bothered. It would have been easier to replace them by forced recruitment at no cost! This was what could have happened. The sick and starving would have been got rid of quite easily by the ruthless Japanese officers.
There has been no closure for these poor souls who perished in miserable conditions. There were no funeral ceremonies or traditional burials for these Indians and others. There were no rites to bring closure – they sadly died alone and lonely, unsung and unwept.
Were they thrown into a huge grave for multiple burials? We will never know. All we know is they were lost forever to their loved ones. Their own descendants must have died over the years receiving no compensation for the deprivation they suffered, and many of them died without leaving behind details of their kith and kin.
All these many questions come to mind on and off; they torment us to no end any time we recall their memories. I was just a kid and could, to this day, visualise my grandfather, forlorn and unsmiling, sitting on a ledge at the back of the lorry that took him away.
It has been nearly 80 years now since these unfortunate poor souls were taken to Burma to build the railway to Thailand. Their relatives and those closely associated with them who were left behind in wartime Malaya would have died in adversity over time, and they would have been buried in this land, which was their home. They themselves would have been forgotten by their descendants with the passage of time. How sad!
Those who suffered and struggled when the sole breadwinners in their households were forcibly taken away, led a very hard life. Roles had to be reversed, and they slogged to feed their families and struggled to care for them over the years. Don’t they deserve some compensation for the hardship they endured? This is the least one can expect and deserve in the name of common decency, humanity and, above all, justice!
Several years ago, the local press reported a claim that the Japanese government had given compensation – to be exact RM207bn. It was a huge sum, yes – but it couldn’t bring back the dead.
If that money had been distributed to those who had lost and suffered when their beloved grandfathers, fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles and nephews were forcibly taken away from them, it would have served as solace of sorts. It would have been some sort of compensation for the heavy price paid by those who were left behind helplessly to fend for themselves.
But there was neither distribution of any kind nor any sign of the money received from the Japanese government. It seemed it had disappeared into thin air!
How could that happen? How is it possible? Both the Malaysian and Japanese government officials could have vouched for the compensation given and received. But the money did not go into the Treasury! ‘How can’?
The Japanese government is morally bound to provide details to clear this mystery. How was this money transmitted [if at all it was]? Was there a formal occasion to make public that Japan was going to compensate Malayans for the loss of lives of those forcibly taken to serve them by constructing the Burma-Thailand railway? If compensation was indeed given, was there a Malaysian representative present to grace the occasion when the compensation was announced and paid? Who represented Malaysia?
The Japanese government is hard-pressed to provide details that it indeed compensated Malaysia. [In 2013 the Japanese embassy in Malaysia reportedly denied it had confirmed the RM207bn compensation by the Japanese government to Malaysia.]
If the Japanese government is not able to provide any evidence that such payment was made, then we will have to conclude that no payment was made at all.
Consequently, any claim by the Japanese government that it paid compensation would be treated as a false claim in the absence of any tangible evidence to convince us it had made such a payment.
The Japanese government has a moral duty to clear the air and throw light on this burning issue. If there is no evidence of payment, then we have to press the Japanese government to pay the compensation as a mark of retribution.
If the compensation was indeed given, then the Malaysian prime minister and the finance minister at the time would have been privy to the payment. They would owe us a duty to explain what happened to this whopping sum of RM207bn.
If the payment did not go into the Treasury in the 1990s [when Anwar Ibrahim was the finance minister], where did it go? Why wasn’t it routed through the Treasury? Was this money hijacked quietly and stored away in some foreign land?
We need to know. Any such compensation is blood money. It is due to us. We cannot be robbed of it. It is the rightful inheritance of those who lost their loved ones. It is their compensation.
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I can see that there r quite a number of people claiming their relatives being involved in this incident. Why not Aliran organise n form a group for all those involved n lodge a formal complaint or whatever necessary through proper channel to claim this money? Aliran should know better how n what to do n go about!
https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/218413
Please google Japan Embassy denied pay any amount.
Nizar claimed Japan already paid to Malaysia gov. This stupid clown how asked Japan Embassy for that??? Don’t be stupid laaahh..
Don’t listen to Nizar dan Mahfus…they are clowns. No facts at all.
Have you checked with Japan Embassy? Who told you Japan already paid??? Japan Embassy said it Gov never pay to Msia regarding this matters. Don’t be scammed!!!
High time the current government demand compensation from the Japanese government – South Korea did!
If the Japanese government did indeed give compensation, they would say so. If they did not, the Malaysian government should DEMAND compensation.
My father Mr. Periasamy was also taken by the Japanese army in the 1940s. He was an engine ‘operator’ ( could repair engines). Survived and came back. He used to tell me the grousome stories; starvation, malnutrition, fever, snake bites, insect bites, bamboo den/hospital (dying) and the Japanese tortures that happened all the way till Burma border.
Now that Anwar is the PM & FM , he should
officially pursue the matters with the Japanese govt immediately while m…
Daim & Anwar are still alive unless he has something to hide ! All these 3 Big guys cannot pretend not to know by keeping quiet !
My mother’s father became permanently deaf in both ears due to the bombing.
He worked as a black smith with the railways.
He died in 1963 from illness.
I don’t know if he is one of those who survived the death railway.
The archives of Malayan Railways should have his records.
[Someone] is responsible for losing the Japanese compensation.. [This is] one of many financial scandals including killing of Bank Bumiputera auditor Jalil Ibrahim and the loss of billions under the bank. He must answer these questions.
My grandfather also in ktm
First confirmation must come fr japan was there such a payment made if Yes then to whose attention was it forwarded and thru what means??
I lost my grandfather, Mr. Vallayan, and my uncle, Mr. Ganesan, to the Death Railway. According to my father, Mr. Rathinam, they were taken away from an estate in Padang Serai, Kedah, leaving the burden of taking care of the family to my father. He was 10 years old then and had to drop out of school to take care of my grandmother and aunty. Due to the disruption, my father suffered and shouldered the responsibility of the family while my grandma waited in vain for my grandpa and uncle to return.
This is how the atrocity of the Death Railway affected the families and disrupted their lives. People who were not affected by it all have conveniently pocketed the money ignoring the pleas of the victims.
I had an uncle who were taken away leaving his wife and his son. This was durring the Japanese occupancy in Perak, to be exact, a small town called Manong. Little is known of him then but his story was passed to generation telling the atrocity of war and how a family was left to continue their lives.
SoTQ P. Rama. My father, Hewap bin Mat of Melaka, was one of the victims. He ‘went’ not once but twice. He must be very lucky for he came back home, my mother told me, when my uncle fetched him at Tampin railway station. There were 2 facts regarding the Japanese compensation that I participated and heard. I was a teacher at Merlimau, Melaka when I participated in registering on behalf of my farther when I was informed and encouraged to do so. Second, I was told that the compensation money was changed with commercial ships instead. Till now I never know what happened to the registration and money for commercial ships reduced my interest to follow up
Why, your grandfather is not even under the sultan at the time. He was a British subject. Go make your claim through the British.
My dad, Appalasamy was also taken by the japanese along with his friends to work on the death railway. He was the only one who made it back!! He used to share his experiences and how people died along side him. He passed away in 2008 @ age close to 100 before we could arrange to meet the press to share his experiences.
Hi Vena, maybe you would like to write a short article (say 600-800 words) about what he shared with you? You could email it to [email protected]
Yes i want to know what happen,, because my great grand father also forced to go to work there, my grandma use told me
My uncle named B. Perumal Naiker was also taken to the Siam-death railway construction during the Japanese occupation. My grandmother will always cry when talking about him. I remember reading about the compensation the Japanese government wanted to give in the newspaper when I was a small schoolboy in Malacca. Until today nothing came out of this. If the Japanese government can
confirm that they have paid the compensation to our then government when Dr. Mahathair was the PM, then some action should be taken to recover the money and be paid the families that have lost loved ones.
Checked the allegation made on reparation on the internet and found that this was raised in parliament and the Japanese embassy denied that a payment of RM207 billion was made by the Japanese government to the Malaysian government. Aliran should check before publishing such allegation. Thought Aliran was a responsible media!
We mentioned in the piece that press reports (and included a link) said the Japanese embassy said it had never confirmed the payment/denied it had confirmed the payment.
That is different from denying that the Japenenese government had made payment.
Please refer to the article: https://www.acc.org.bt/?q=node/519
Did the Malaysian government actually received compensation from the Japanese government for its conduct during the Japanese occupation towards the local people living in Malaya?
I insist the Culprits or the B…… whole [allegedly] ROBBED THE RAILWAY DEATH COMPENSATION to return the monies.
Even if they gave to sell their Wives and daughters…we want the to return the Loot..
The people and their families Sufferings and the Blood Money the B…… STOLE must be returned with compromise…
My mother has on many occassions told us that my grandfather (paternal) was goaded on to a truck and taken away and never to be seen again purportedly to work for the Japanese construction company.
She has also told us that her brothers (two of them) were also taken away on Japanese trucks to work in the construction of the railway line in Siam.
My mother never saw them (i.e. my grandfather as well as my two maternal uncles) after that. The thought of the disappearance made us all cry when she recollects them leaving. This information still lingers in my mine though I have never seen them in my life.
Japanese Govt must confirm the 207 billion
If nothing then pay now the 207 to confirm their integrity
No use keep talking go to Hague or United States of America justice department
Very sad and disturbing situation to families.we need the answer
Yes I want tobknow my ungel was died at Burma railway by japanese.
Japanese govt should clear the air on this payment of RM 207 billion compensation to the BN government headed by Tun Mahathir.
If the Japanese did not compensate the workers,let us boycott buying Japanese products.