History notes Secondary 2 - Google Docs

Disease and Death Besides food shortages, healthcare and sanitation continued to worsen during the Japanese Occupation. This caused the death rate to rise. Between 1942 and 1945, 130,000 deaths were officially recorded. This was more than double the number between 1937 and 1940. The primary causes of death were beriberi (a disease caused by the lack of vitamin B1), pneumonia (lung infection) and dysentery (intestinal inflammation) The POWs and civilian prisoners in particular suffered harsh living conditions. They faced continual shortages of food and medicine, and acute overcrowding . For instance, while the Changi Prison was designed for 600 prisoners, it held up to 5000. Such living conditions led to poor hygiene and the spread of diseases. The Japanese also used the POWs as forced labour to carry out activities such as clearing out war damage, burying the dead and building Japanese memorial shrines. From May 1942, many POWs were sent to work on the Siam-Burma Railway, also known as the “Death Railway”, where about 16000 died under horrific working conditions. The railway connected Burma (present-day Myanmar) and Siam (present-day Thailand) Relocations The Japanese government encouraged the locals to aim for self-sufficiency by growing their own food, such as vegetables, tapioca and sweet potatoes, to overcome the problem of food shortages When this failed to ease the food shortage, the Japanese relocated people from Singapore to increase food production. A Japanese government official, Mamoru Shinozaki, was tasked to oversee the resettlement projects to rural areas outside of Singapore. The Chinese were encouraged to move to the Endau settlemen t in Johor. The soil there was rich and the water supply was ample , making it suitable for agriculture. The settlement was proclaimed a great success as it was self-sufficient. In addition, the settlement had various amenities such as street lights, a hospital, a small chapel, a bank and several coffee shops. However, it was often attacked by bandits and anti-Japanese guerrillas who tried to disrupt the peace. A few months after setting up Endau, the Japanese created the Bahau settlement in Negeri Sembilan, another state in Malaya for Eurasians and Chinese Roman Catholics. However, the land was too hilly and the soil was too poor to support agriculture. Some people even resorted to eating rats and maggots, and many of them perished. Leisure and Entertainment

To maintain the appearance of a harmonious and happy society, the Japanese authorities allowed some leisure activiti