Japanese Occupation
By February 1942, the whole of Malaya and Singapore was in Japanese hands and most of the British were POWs. The Japanese regime brutalized the Chinese, largely because of Japan's history of conflict with China: up to fifty thousand people were tortured and killed in the two weeks immediately after the British surrender of Singapore. Allied POWs were rounded up into prison camps, and many were sent to build the infamous "Death Railway" in Burma and Thailand. In Malaya, the occupiers ingratiated themselves with some of the Malay elite by suggesting that after the war the country would be given independence. Predictably, it was the Chinese activists in the MCP, more than the Malays, who organized resistance during wartime. The Japanese invaded Sarawak in late 1941, and, once again, the Chinese were the main targets. In North Borneo, the Japanese invaded Pulau Labuan on New Year's Day, 1942, and over the next three years the main suburban areas were bombed by the Allies. By the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1945, most of Jesselton (modern-day KK) and Sandakan had been destroyed. The Japanese surrender on September 9, 1945 led to a power vacuum in the region, with the British initially left with no choice but to work with the Chinese activisits, the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), to exert political control. Violence occurred between the MPAJA and Malays, particularly towards those accused of collaborating with the Japanese.
Pengerangbj says "How to go to Pengerang kelong" languagesaja says "is teh spoken langague used
"
Your Tip for Malaysia
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Malaysia - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Malaysia - visit the main Malaysia forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Malaysia webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
