Several years ago I met a Korean-American.
The conversation drifted to childhood experiences. He made the point that Japanese atrocities during World War II should be recorded and remembered. As this year marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Pacific War (Friday was the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour), I thought I would share with readers my own eyewitness account from the war.
During the summer of 1942 many Hong Kong residents disappeared. The euphemism used by the Japanese was that they were 'deported'. I saw one of these 'deportations'.
Before the war, air-raid tunnels had been dug into mountains in Hong Kong and built in some of the city's streets. These were flat-top structures about two metres in height, with hollow concrete blocks. One shelter was constructed in Tsing Fung Street, in Causeway Bay, where there is now a flyover. My family occupied a small front room flat on the ground floor.
On one occasion during that summer, I saw Japanese troops herding people into this shelter. All the exits were blocked off. At first I heard loud cries for help and for water. However, the shelter was guarded by the Japanese, so residents could not risk going out to help.
As the days passed the cries for help became weaker. Finally, there was just silence. By the third or fourth day, the corpses were taken out and put on to trucks. This was what the Japanese meant by deportation.