The rumours of World War II and a Pacific War forced me to
make another decision to go back to my mother, brothers and sisters. The Shiong
Tih Hui (Men’s association) was willing to accept me as a teacher for their
elementary school. Then life became a treadmill for me.
The issue of Pacific War became stronger. Some Dutch
ladies asked me to give them English conversation. That was an honour and a
pleasure. These ladies were very kind. They did their best. The whole week was
booked. I started at 4 p.m. and continued until 9 p.m. I cycled from house to
house. At the time, the fee was very low, f.3 a month for a twice-weekly
lesson. I put my earnings in a small box. My mother was free to
dispose of it at her will. It helped her to smile again. Occasionally she made
some cake or cooked something.
There were eight teachers including two Dutch ladies. There
was a friendly co-operation among us, and life went on pleasantly. Alas, the
rumours of the war not only became stronger, but it also became a real thing. On the 7th
of December 1941 the sudden attack on Pearl Harbour happened. The necessary
preparations were made, but none of us had any experience of modern war!
I was appointed to sit on the committee to organize the
evacuation of the Chinese community if the need arose. A large clearing was
prepared for setting up houses of bamboo with hygienic lavatories, baths, and
sources of drinking water. Alas, from an organized evacuation, it became colossal chaos.
Most of the Chinese refused to go to the evacuation place.
Without any government protection, they feared robbery. Some of them left their
houses and went to stay with their relatives in smaller places some hundreds of
kilometres from the Capital.
When the first sirens whistled, people simply got confused.
My poor mother went to make a fire to boil water. I had to explain to her that
fires should be extinguished at an aerial alarm. She also asked the children to
crowd under the bed. Probably she thought that under the bed is the safest
place to hide on the attack. She did not even know what kind of attack is a
bomb!
Fortunately, my second brother who was employed in Bontham
(maybe the writer meant Bantaeng, ed) turned up and took Mother and the children with
him. They went to his place, around 120 km southeast of Makassar.
I stayed behind and joined the Red Cross. We cooked for
various occasion. Most ladies of the Housewives Association were with the Red
Cross. We had attended a variety of courses. First Aid is one of the most
important courses.
After a few weeks, news reached us that the Battle in the
Strait of Macassar had been won by the Japanese, and that a troop had already
landed at Pare Pare, some 150 km north of the Capital. We had to evacuate!
I was with Mrs Klay, the Chairman
of the Housewives’ Association. We would join her husband who was the leader of
the Algemene Vernielengs Corps (the Destruction Corps). After they had
destroyed some vital warehouses and other buildings, we headed southeastwards.
There was a long queue of vehicles. Mr Klay asked every minute, “Do you still
see the flames?” He was deeply moved that he had to destroy so many buildings,
just because there was a war on.
In the morning, we reached Camba.
It was quite a small mountain village where there was a Red Cross Hospital
built of bamboo. There were the hospital kitchen and another kitchen for
non-military staff. We were appointed to run this civil kitchen. I could not
believe my eyes to see so many luxurious products! We had butter, milk, tinned
fruit, tinned meat, etc. All imported products! It was better to consume all
those products by ourselves than leaving them to the Japanese!
We slept on stretchers. As Camba
has a cool climate, our weariness made us sleep soundly. I had no feeling of
fear, but the rocky mountains did not look very friendly at night. The enemy
might loom up at any moment! Yet, we slept as if we had no fear at all!
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