E06Bn, Din Idriss ‘94, Mr Idriss, Father, 1934, Brunei
In November 1992, I talked with my father about his memories of the war.
Q: What year were you born in? Do you remember the war years?
A: I was born on January 15, 1934, and yes, I remember World War II.
Q: When and why did the Japanese Empire extend to Brunei?
A: The Japanese Army landed in Brunei on December 16, 1941. The Japanese wanted to extend their empire to Brunei because it is rich in oil, so it was important for military power.
Q: What were their intentions, and what did they do?
A: They wanted to colonize Brunei and make it part of the Japanese Empire. First they captured British officers and civilians. There were not many British soldiers, only Malay policemen headed by a British police chief named Martin. The Japanese ordered all of the Malay, English, Chinese, and Arabic schools to shut down. They replaced them with one central Japanese school in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Q: How did the war influence your life?
A: As a small boy, I was always frightened and hungry. My formal education was interrupted for the entire period of Japanese occupation. I learned my first word of English after the war, at the age of twelve. I remember seeing local people being tortured. I hid with my family in the jungle, where we planted our own rice.
Q: How was your father involved during the war?
A: My father was an engineer with the telecommunication department. He was forced to work for the Japanese authorities, but secretly he was involved in underground resistance against the invaders.
Q: What changes were made by the Japanese?
A: The first noticeable change was that the local people were frightened. The Japanese Army occupied government buildings and set up a military regime. They lowered the Brunei and British flags and raised the “Hinomaru.”
Q: What was the atmosphere like, physically and emotionally?
A: The atmosphere was always tense. The Japanese presence created two classes of people: the Oppressors (the Japanese soldiers) and the Oppressed (the citizens). Physically and emotionally, these conditions prevailed throughout the war years.
Q: Do you recall any significant memories?
A: I remember well being frightened, hungry, and sick. I didn’t have enough food to eat properly; I was afraid of the soldiers and their guns and cruelty; and I had malaria.
Q: How did the Japanese invasion influence the current Brunei Military Department?
A: When the Japanese invaded, Brunei could not offer any resistance, and the British who “protected” us were not prepared.
Q: When did the British come and retake Brunei, and how was this a turning point in Brunei history?
A: On June 10, 1945, the Eighth Division of the Australian Army landed at Muara to retake Brunei. The Australians marched 16 miles into the city. There was very little fighting. The Japanese Army offered no resistance, because most of them had already left the area. As a turning point in our history, the Australians set up a British Military Administration (BMA) and organized law and order immediately. After about six months, the BMA handed over the administration to a civilian government. Once again, Brunei was ruled by a civil authority under the protection of Britain, in accordance with the treaty signed by Brunei and Britain in 1888.
Q: What are the good things that you remember, and what are the bad things?
A: We learned new things, like Japanese language and culture, music and sports. For example, we learned sumō at school. We learned folk tales like Momotarō-san. We also learned how to speak and write Japanese. But the bad things were associated with fear, cruelty, hunger, and sickness, and being divided into the victors and the victims.
Q: What did you learn after the Japanese invasion?
A: That aggression is bad. It destroys faith and understanding. It creates distrust and cultivates fear, and it changes friends into enemies.
Q: What do you want to teach later generations, based on your experience?
A: War should never happen. It should be prevented at all costs. The world should learn to live in harmony. Human conflict should be solved by human passion and understanding, not by military might.
Q: When did you officially become a government employee and diplomat? What were your feelings about politics?
A: I joined the government service in January 1964, and I was seconded into the diplomatic service in August 1981. I have served as Ambassador in Singapore, London, Washington, Seoul, and now in Tōkyō. My feeling is that politics should bring countries closer together as friends and should not be allowed to separate nations as enemies. People can live together in peace, irrespective of color or creed.
Q: Did your lifestyle change during or after the war?
A: During the war, I did not have any lifestyle! It was just a matter of trying to survive. However, after the war, I learned to be more understanding, tolerant, and forgiving.
Q: Do you have any comments about the Japanese people or government?
A: My message, having experienced the war, the hunger that I should not have had, the malaria that I could have avoided, and the arrest and torture of my father for no reason, is that today I am prepared to shake the hand of the son of my father’s captors and say to him, “Let’s make peace, for the future of our children and our children’s children.” So if I, for the sake of my children’s future peace and tranquility, can come forward faithfully and say what I just said, then I see no reason why the Japanese cannot come forward faithfully and say “We are sorry, and we apologize.”