Gurchan Singh-The Lion of Malaya

I think that it's vital our children learn more of these historical stories. Not only will it inculcate a sense of patriotism, but it will also encourage multi-culturalism. I sense that these stories were not included in history books for certain reasons, but it's even more imperative we keep them alive and recount them.

Gurchan Singh-The Lion of Malaya

Leslie Andres@www.nst.com.my

UNLIKELY HERO: The cop silently waged a battle against the Japanese during World War 2

EXACTLY 71 years ago yesterday, Malaya was invaded by the Japanese Imperial Army. It didn't take them long to travel from the northern reaches of the Peninsula to Singapore, where the remnants of the Allied forces eventually surrendered on February 15, 1942.

Thousands were killed fighting the Japanese Imperial Army, and once the attack was complete, many also lost their lives in the more than three-year Occupation.

But the war was far from over in Malaya. Members of the Allied forces remained behind to sabotage the Japanese occupiers, and they were joined by rebel groups such as the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army.

Then, too, there were civilians who took part in acts of sabotage or even mere defiance, many of whose deeds or names will never be known .One such person, whose name will likely not be known among the younger generation, especially, is Gurchan Singh, nicknamed the Lion of Malaya.

Gurchan was a policeman before the war and was in charge of Japanese nationals who were interned here. His fair treatment of them proved to be useful during the Occupation as he was considered above suspicion by the Kempetai, the dreaded Japanese military police.

Outwardly friendly to the Japanese, Gurchan was actually dead against the Occupation. Together with his brothers, Gurchan began a secret organisation printing communiques with war news from around the world. It proved to be invaluable as the people were not allowed to listen to foreign news stations and Japanese news was filled with mere propaganda.

The communiques were signed Singa -- hence the nickname, which was also a play against the moniker Tiger of Malaya, given to General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the man who came up with the plans for the invasion of Malaya -- and created a sensation among the information-starved and depressed people.

Gurchan built up a nationwide network of agents as Singa, none of whom knew that it was he and his brothers who were coming up with the daily communiques.

They believed him to be a mere agent of British spies operating in the jungles, though perhaps some began to suspect something later on.In fact, the Kempetai believed the Singa communiques to be the work of Chinese gangs working hand-in-glove with British spies operating in the jungles.

At least one of Singa's agents was executed by the Japanese after he was caught with communiques, but he protected Gurchan by not revealing that it was the former policeman who was passing him the communiques. Several others were also tortured but kept mum and were later released.

Towards the end of Singa's "reign", Gurchan came up with two communiques which predicted bombings in Kuala Lumpur. They were meant merely to get people to stay away from work to disrupt the Japanese administration, but providence led to British bombers actually unloading their ordnance where Gurchan predicted they would fall.

Gurchan and his brothers did more than just produce the communiques, however. They also carried out acts of sabotage, cutting telecommunication lines and even attacking Japanese soldiers with grenades. Gurchan also recruited agents such as John Sandasamy, who helped sabotage trains, causing an untold amount of damage and delay in the transportation of war materials to Burma, where the warfront was at the time.

Inevitably, however, Singa's run came to an end. One of his agents revealed to the Kempetai the name of the person who had been passing him the communiques. Gurchan, however, managed to escape when the Kempetai came to arrest him at his Lake Gardens house, took off his turban, cut his hair, shaved off his beard and eventually joined the infamous Death Railway workforce under an assumed name.

Gurchan and several agents had planned to cross the battle lines into Allied-held territory in Burma, but the war ended before they could do so. On his return to Kuala Lumpur, he resumed his career in the Police force and ended up the principal security officer and bodyguard of Tunku Abdul Rahman. He died in an accident in Johor in 1965 while on official business for the then Prime Minister.

Gurchan was famous during his time, and he was one of the people read about in a textbook named Heroes of Malaya, widely used in schools in the 1950s. Yet his name, like so many of the heroes our country has produced over the years, has faded now.

The younger generation, and those who have yet to come, need to be reminded of these heroes. They need to know about those whose sacrifices made us the nation we are today, without whom what we enjoy now would never have come about.

For love you are never too old!

I always have believed that there is someone for everyone. When my mom passed away, my dad was lucky enough to find another soulmate.
When my brother got divorced, he was so pessimistic he wouldn't find anyone ever again.
This story by Bob Perks will tell you different.

Maybe I was out of line. But I had to tell her how beautiful she was.

I just returned from my favorite breakfast restaurant.  I'm not permitted to eat stuff like this, but I do.  In fact my favorite meal in all the world is a full turkey dinner.  I don't just wait for holidays.  We had it last Sunday.  After eating to my capacity, I said to Marianne, "I hope when I die I don't die longing for one more turkey dinner.  I hope I just had my fill."

So it is with breakfast.  Home fries, scrambled eggs, bacon or ham and of course whole wheat toast for my arteries is my favorite.  I was craving for it today and it got the better of me.

As I pulled into the parking lot I saw this beautiful older woman standing there in front of her car.  She was like a picture right out of a fashion magazine.  She had wonderful short curly hair.  She wore a long brown plaid skirt that came down below her calves.  A soft, short white collar, perhaps a mock turtleneck, shown above a marvelous tan sweater that was accented with a thread of gold glitter throughout.  She had on white stockings and brown loafers.  Her matching brown leather bag sat on the ground next to where she was standing.

She was looking around obviously waiting for someone.  Her glance my way, as I pulled in, showed disappointment on her face.  I wasn't the one she was waiting for.

The sunshine and bright blue sky added to the perfect picture.  As always I struggled with my instinct that was telling me to say something to her.  I was particularly concerned because I was in an old T-shirt and jeans.  I didn't want her to think I was making advances.  Unfortunately in this day one needs to be careful about kindness.  I would be most likely a phone call away from a policeman if she mistook my intentions.

But when this particular Voice tells me to do something, I believe It will also take care of the details.  I was right.

"Pardon me.  Don't think wrongly of me.  But I must say you are a vision of beauty on such a beautiful day!" I said and then swallowed hard.

"Well, thank you sir.  I must say no one ever told me that before. "

"I can't believe that," I said. "Who ever you are waiting for is one lucky person."

"No, I am the lucky one," she said.  "I am lucky to have him back in my life."

I didn't ask anything about him.  Oh, I wanted to.  But I had already stuck my nose in where it didn't belong.  I didn't want to have my head cut off.

So I entered the restaurant.  "Linda, can I have a seat toward the back.  I wanted to watch for someone," I told my friend.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked.

"No.  But she is," I said just as the door opened and the two of them walked in.

"Oh.  People watching again are we?" Linda replied.

"Don't I always?" I said.

They were seated about four tables up from me.  Too far to eaves drop on all the details but close enough to see their actions.

You don't have to hear people in love.  You can see people in love.

He was a perfect match for her.  I mean he dressed like the male model that would appear in that same fashion ad she could be in.  He had on a soft multi color sweater of dark blues, maroon, gray and a touch of red.  His navy blue corduroy pants and dark shoes gave him a sophisticated look.  His hair was salt and pepper and slightly long for a man his age.

It wasn't five minutes into their meeting when he had reached across the table and caressed her hand.  She was still reading the menu and it caught her off guard.  Shaken, but like a young girl who just touched the heart throb she has always dreamed of, she responded with a smile.

I was pleased to be a witness to all of this.  It gave me hope for love in my years ahead.

Then, suddenly I saw her pointing toward me.  I panicked.  My heart started beating faster.  I could imagine her saying, "There he is, that masher.  He's the guy who hit on me.  Go beat him up!"

He approached my table, stopped dead in front of me and said, "Mary tells me you made her day."

"I aaaahhhhh," I snapped back in defense of myself.  My quick wit was never good in situations like this.

"Thank you.  When you compliment her, you compliment me.   I've been in love with her since high school.  But life took us in different directions. Now, life has gone full circle.  Today is the first time we have seen each other in 45 years," he said.

"Excellent!" I replied still cautious of the outcome.

"We both were worried about what we looked like after all this time. She looks great.  This is a new look for me.  I call it my anti-aging outfit.  Looks much younger than I am," he said.

"You both did a great job.  I'm happy for you.  You give me hope," I said.

He returned to her, grabbing her hand as he sat down, next to her this time.

No, I didn't pick up their check.  You know I like to do that.

Blame it on the Voice inside me.  He said, "Let him be the big shot.  The last time he bought her a meal it was fries and a malted."

And so young lovers whoever you are,
know what the future may hold.
Even if time has taken it's toll,
For love you are never too old.

"I believe in you!"
Bob

The blessing of thorns

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come.

What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder.

"Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered aloud. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her.

"I...I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra, "for Thanksgiving?"

"Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys gratitude this Thanksgiving?

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. " Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses.

Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped...there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

"Yes, please." Barbara replied with an appreciative smile.

"You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest.

"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh... she just left with no flowers!"

"Right...I cut off the flowers. That's the Special... I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that?" exclaimed Sandra.

"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."

"That same year I had lost my husband, "continued the clerk," and for the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel.

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop.

"Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement... twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?

"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks to Him for what that problem taught us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.

"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?" asked Sandra.

"Nothing." said the clerk. "Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read it first."

It read: "Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Sunscreen - love the song

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. 
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. 
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. 
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. 
But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. 
You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. 
Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. 
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. 
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. 
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. 
The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. 
Forget the insults. 
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. 
Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. 
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. 
You never know when they'll be gone for good. 
Be nice to your siblings. 
They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. 
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. 
You, too, will get old. 
And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. 
Maybe you have a trust fund. 
Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. 
But you never know when either one might run out.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. 
Advice is a form of nostalgia. 
Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

The Secret of Jimmy Yen

A jury of distinguished scholars and scientists, including Albert Einstein and Orville Wright thought enough of Jimmy Yen to vote him one of the top ten Modern Revolutionaries of the Twentieth Century. 
Yet all he did was teach Chinese peasants to read.

What made that so amazing was that for four thousand years reading and writing in China was only done by the Scholars. 
"Everybody" knew, including the peasants themselves, that peasants were incapable of learning.

That thoroughly ingrained cultural belief was Jimmy Yen's first "impossible" barrier. 
The second barrier was the Chinese language itself, consisting of 40,000 characters, each character signifying a different word! 
The third barrier was the lack of technology and good roads. 
How could Jimmy Yen reach the 350 million peasants in China?

Impossible odds, an impossibly huge goal-and yet he had almost attained it when he was forced (by Communism) to leave his country.

Did he give up? 
No. 
He learned from defeat and expanded his goal: Teach the rest of the Third World to read. Practical reading programs, like the ones he invented in China, started pumping out literate people like a gushing oil well in the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, Columbia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Ghana, India — people became literate. 
For the first time in their entire genetic history, they had access to the accumulated knowledge of the human race.

For those of us who take literacy for granted, I'd like you to consider for a moment how narrow your world would be if you'd never learned how to read and there was no access to radios or TVs.

180,000 Chinese peasants were hired by the Allied Forces in WW1 as laborers in the war effort. Most of them had no idea- not a clue-where England, Germany or France was, they didn't know what they were being hired to do, and didn't even know what a war was!

Jimmy Yen was a savior to them.

What was the secret of Jimmy Yen's success? 
He found a real need, and found in himself a strong desire to answer that need. 
And he took some action: He tried to do something about it even though it seemed impossible. 
He worked long hours. 
And he started with what he had in front of him and gradually took on more and more, a little upon a little.

The English author Thomas Carlyle said, "Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." 
And that's what Jimmy Yen did. 
He started out teaching a few peasants to read, with no desks, no pens, no money, no overhead projectors. 
He started from where he found himself and did what was clearly at hand.

And that's all you need to do. 

Start now. 

Start here. 

And do what lies clearly at hand.

Ode to my children

I’m writing this list based on three fundamentals:  1. Life is unpredictable. No one knows how long we’re going to live, so some things are better said earlier than later.  2. I’m your father. I’d be the only one to tell you these things.  3. Everything on this list came from my own experience. I learnt them the hard way, and hopefully that’ll save some unnecessary steps in your life.    Below are the things you need to remember at all times in your life:   1. To people who are unkind to you, don’t sweat it. Through your lifetime, no one is obligated to be nice to you, besides your mom and me. As for the people who are kind to you, treasure them, be grateful, but at the same time, be extra cautious. Everyone does everything for a reason. When someone is nice to you, it doesn’t mean they like you. You need to be able to see through the surface, instead of making them your true friends immediately.

2. No one is irreplaceable, and nothing is indispensable. With that in mind, even when you lose the people or things that you love and treasure the most, in the future, you need to understand that it’s not that big of a deal. 3. Life is short. While you’re wasting it today, you’ll realize you’re at the end of it tomorrow.   So the earlier you start to treasure your life, the earlier you can enjoy it. Instead of hoping for longevity, start to live life fully early.

4.   The thing called “The Best Love”, or “The One”, doesn’t exist. Love is a feeling of moments. It will definitely changes over time and moods. If your so-called “Best Love” left you, please be patient and let time heals your wounds. Through time, your heart will come to peace and your pain will ease. Don’t over expect the beauty of Love, nor over exaggerate the pain when you lose it. 5. Although a lot of successful people not necessarily received high education, you might not be successful if you don't study hard. The knowledge you consume will become your weapon. You can start from nothing to your name, but you can go nowhere if you are not fully prepared. Never forget that!

6 . I don’t expect you to support me for the rest of my life, so I’m not going to do the same for you either. When you’re grown enough to be independent, it will be the end of my responsibilities to you. From that point, it’s completely your own responsibilities and decisions, whether to take the bus or drive a Benz, or whether to eat shark fins or rice noodle. 7. You can require yourself to be accountable to others, but don’t expect accountability from others to you. You can require yourself to be nice to other, but don’t expect the same from others to you. However you decide to treat others, they won’t necessarily do the same in return. You must be very clear on this, or you’ll be very disappointed unnecessarily.  8. I’ve been buying the Lottery for almost twenty years, but still poor. I had never got the third prize even once. So remember, you have to work hard to be successful. There’s no free lunch in the world. 9. You got your family by karma and it happens only once. Please treasure every moment we spend together, because we don’t know how long it will last. After this lifetime, we won’t see each other anymore