Sayonara Singapura

Sayonara Singapura is the historically important memoir of Joseph Parapuram, editor of The Malaya Tribune, who was given an ultimatum by the Japanese invaders: work for us or face the consequences. He subsequently rose to become No.2 at the Domei news agency, working on Japanese propaganda in Southeast Asia and broadcasting propaganda to Indian troops in India, persuading them to switch sides and fight against the British. Joseph Parapuram recalls his moral dilemma working for the Japanese, the killings and the starvation in Singapore, and how the dreadful enterprise finally ended for the Japanese and the local populations they terrorised at the point of a sword. This is a fascinating eye-witness account of the Japanese occupation of Singapore as told by a career journalist in Singapore, who saw atrocities first hand but was unable to report on them. Following the war, Joseph Parapuram returned to The Malaya Tribune before handing over the reins to his deputy, S. Rajaratnam, the future Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore.