Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Lim Bo Seng


Just before Singapore fell to the Japanese in early 1942, Lim escaped and joined Force 136. This was a special operations force formed by the British and Chinese governments to support resistance groups and co-ordinate guerrilla operations. Lim helped to train resistance fighters against the Japanese. He assumed different names and infiltrated towns to gather news of Japanese troop movements. He was also sent to China to recruit Chinese resistance fighters. However, in March 1944, Lim was captured and tortured by the Kempeitai (Japanese Military Police) who wanted information about Force 136 and its activities. Despite being tortured, Lim refused to reveal names of fellow guerrillas or about Force 136. After months of imprisonment and torture, he died in Batu Gajah jail on 29 June 1944.

After the war, the British brought his remains back to Singapore and re-buried him with full military honours at MacRitchie Reservoir. He was also posthumously awarded the rank of Major-General by the Chinese Nationalist Government.

On 29 Jun 1954, the 10th anniversary of his death, the Lim Bo Seng Memorial was unveiled at the Esplanade in recognition of his heroism and selfless sacrifice for his country.

Bob Dylan once commented, “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with freedom.” A hero has many goals to accomplish. Heroes never stop no matter what obstacles get in their way! They risk their life to save another life. Lim Bo Seng of Singapore is considered a hero for risking his life during World War II!

Lim Bo Seng was born April 27, 1909. As a child he lived in China, but moved to Singapore at a young age. He was raised as a Taoist. Lim Bo Seng came to Singapore to study the Raffles Institution. When 1930 came, Lim Bo Seng married Gan Choo Neo. Soon after that World War II began!


During World War II, Lim Bo Seng, a Chinese patriot, raised funds for boycotting and resisting the Japanese invasion. After he organized everything in China and India, he sent the first force of 136 agents to Malay to gather military gadgets of the Japanese. Soon after Singapore started falling to Japan, Lim Bo Seng was captured. When they asked for the names of people who were fighting in World War II, he refused to tell them! Lim Bo Seng died in captivity.


A hero possesses many qualities. Lim Bo Seng, a hero from Singapore, possesses qualities such as reliable, caring, and fearless. Reliable is a good quality to describe Lim Bo Seng because he was trusted not to tell the names of any of the people fighting. He showed caring because he chose to fight in World War II for his country. He was fearless because he kept trying to help his country no matter what got in his way.


In conclusion, heroes are people or animals that accomplish great deeds. They take a risk to help a person succeed. Lim Bo Seng is a hero from Singapore for surviving World War II. Now he is known as a great hero in Singapore for giving his life in World War II.


A hero is an everyday person that can change the world. Usually people think of heroes as people who fight crime in movies or comic books, but those people don’t exist in the real world.

In our world, anybody can be a hero like police officers, firefighters, doctors, or people you walk by on the streets.

A hero is not someone that hurts another person or does bad things, but they help people. A hero doesn’t always fight crime or always have an opposition. They don’t even have to work with people; they could be designing a product that helps many people.

An example of a hero that doesn’t have an opposition would be helping someone else. Someone could be struggling with their schoolwork. Another person can notice that and help them understand the work. That person could be called a hero because another person is having an easier time with their work.

An example of a hero that doesn’t necessarily work with people could be people who invent things. The person that invented the wheelchair is a hero because he has helped millions of people in the world. Without the wheelchair people who cannot walk would not be able to move around as easily. This person is a hero to people all around the world.

A hero is an everyday person who can change the world for the better. It could be simple like helping one person out or by helping millions.

Lim was captured by the Japanese under Marshal Onishi Satoru at a roadblock in Gopeng the next day. Lim was taken to the Kempeitai headquarters for interrogation and he refused to provide the Japanese with any information about Force 136 despite being subjected to severe torture. Instead, he protested against the ill-treatment of his comrades in prison. He fell ill with dysentery and was bedridden by the end of May 1944. Lim died in the early hours on June 29, 1944. He was later buried behind the Batu Gajah prison compound in an unmarked spot.

After the Japanese surrender, Lim's wife, Gan Choo Neo, was informed of her husband's death by the priest of St. Andrew's School. Gan travelled with her eldest son to bring her husband's remains home later. A funeral service was held on 13 January 1946 at City Hall to mourn Lim's death. Lim's remains was transported in a coffin to a hill in MacRitchie Reservoir (coordinates: 1°20'31.76"N 103°49'50.60"E) for burial with full military honours. Lim was posthumously awarded the rank of Major-General by the Chinese Nationalist Government.
Source : Wikipedia
Yahoo answers
Youtube ( For video)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Elizabeth Choy- a war heroine

A war hero is one who helps people and is willing to make sacrifices. They will always think of others before themselves. They remain patriotic to the nation and will never betray the country.They do not blame their torturers, as they were doing it for the country. These are the true qualities of a hero. A war heroine in particular is Elizabeth Choy.

Elizabeth and her husband helped to send cash, medicine, clothing and letters to the Changi P.O.Ws. They even put themselves in greater risk by sending in radio parts. However, her husband was caught. Three weeks later, She was lured to the YMCA building and she was tortured there. No matter how the Japanese tried to dig information from her, she refused to say anything. They even stripped Elizabeth in front of her husband and applied electric currents to her. She was no doubt patriotic to Singapore. During the 200 over days stay, she was tortured countless of times. When given the opportunity to identify the Japanese officer that tortured her, to be sentenced at the War Crimes Tribunal, she refused to provide any names stating that she condemned war and not the people who tortured her.

She has qualities like compassion, selfless, fortitude and valour. As shown in the war, she could have just told the Japanese the information they wanted and save herself from suffering but she did not. She had the courage to bear the sufferings and not betray Singapore. After being tortured, she would walk back to her cell with all the energy she could muster. In fact, she was more concerned about her inmates welfare than hers.

It was also because of her psychological resilience that she manages to not betray Singapore. She who shows care and concern to her fellow inmates has given them hope which becomes strength to overcome all odds during her days in 'hell'.




ELI CHOY

ELIZABETH CHOY owns
A hero isn't anyone specifically, he or she is someone that is willing to sacrifice for others, and would do something extraordinary to save something or someone that may not be valuable. He or she saves life without hesitation as all he or she thinks about is to bring others happiness, love, peace and justice.
In our opinion, everybody can be a hero, as long as he or she always spare a thought for others and exhibits traits of selflessness, he or she must be able to affect people and cause changes when people look up to him or her. For example, all firefighters are heroes, they put their life on the line as they risked everything to save people from burning buildings, this is what makes a hero different from a normal person - altruism.
THE REST HAVEN FINISH YET:)

Adnan bin Saidi FTW :D

A hero is someone who is courageous and noble. Personally we believe that heroes are people who stand by their side till the end and not give in easily to circumstances. Heroes need not be those highly famed by the people, most importantly; they are people who selflessly contribute to the society.

The qualities that Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi possessed—bravery and selfless—were the one that made him a true hero. People worship him for how he led his men to fight in the famous battle of Pasir Panjang.

He opened fire on the Japanese soldiers after discovering they were imposters. Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi and his 42-man platoon were greatly outnumbered by the enemies and were short of food and ammunition but refused to surrender and urge his men to fight until the end.

“Let this day be a testimony of our loyalty to the code, we shall fight to the very last man.”
During the battle, he was shot but he refused to surrender. His famous motto, “Death before dishonour’’ comes to mind.
He is a hero, and his legacy will live on.

Here’s a video that we found informative ☺
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OStIT7CgMk

(Grp 5) Lim Chin Siong

Lim Chin Siong

Based on definition, hero is one who distinguished courage and ability. A hero is one who is greatly respected and also one who does brave deeds and have noble qualities. In this case, Lim Chin Siong display courage in his work. He also can be a hero due to his inselfish dedication to the cause which had benefitted the ruiling PAP and also make sure that it would not be corrupted easily. He work conscientiously based on conscientiously based on conscience which was the spirit on legitimacy in Singapore.

Heroes are not only those who have to achieve what they achieved, but they are the one who contributes to the society and the country positively. He might not really received the equal amount of return as compared to the amount of effort he put in. Lim Chin Siong always cares for the country and others. He always have perseverance to overcome everything. A hero may not be one who have good family background, however he must be one who is able to make decisive decision during crisis.

Lim Chin Siong is one that aim to gain independence of Singapore. He face many difficulties and challenges, for example in 1955, he and his companies is instructed to investigated a labour strike. This labour strike is by bus workers which resulted into aggressive riots. Furthermore, he led the Chinese middle school riots with further violence. However he was arrested soon after that. Although he was unsuccessful in gaining independence for the country, he has a lot of good points that is worth learning.

He has many qualities that is worth learning. One of them is perserverance. He preserver during the riot period as he tries to gain trust and believe from others. Though he was detained, he is always determined to spread his ideas and plans on bringing Singapore to full independence state.

Source of research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lim_Chin_Siong

Source of video:

General Templer

Many people think of heroes to be people who fight crimes in movies and comic books with their super powers. However, these people do not actually exist in the world. A hero can easily be an everyday person that can change the world, regardless of what degree. A hero is someone who stands for strength, bravery, edurance and humbleness who also faces everyday challenges bravely and lives with a smile despite problems and short coming as life simply a battle itself. Heroes are mainly people who have arised from special circumstances rather than people who have achieved what they want to achieve. Basically, a hero is someone who would be willing to stand for what he thinks is right despite the circumstances.
During the World War II, Japanese occupation, the Japanese treated the Chinese ethnic group very harshly many retreated into the jungles of Malaya and many others joined the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) which waged war against the Japanese. It was then formed into Malayan Communist Party (MCP) as they wanted an independent government. The MCP then resorted to armed conflicts through its military wing adopting guerrilla tactics to expel the British
thus triggering the first Malayan Emergancy in 1948. The conflicts proved more difficult to resolve as the MCP hid in inaccessible jungles and had 500,000 people. General Templer than took over as British High Commissioner after the former comissioner was killed.
General Templer is well remembered for defeating the communists by instituting incentives schemes for rewarding the surrendering rebels and depriving the communist of their support by relocating the people into guarded camps to cut off supply of food, information etc. to the insurgents to force them to come out of the jungle Moreover, his " Heart and Minds" campaign was well remembered as it won over the people's hearts . He too played a major role in ensuring that the relocation was done humanely and efficiently.
Here is a video of General Templer:
Will be uploaded again

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Fong Swee Suan

It depends on what you think is a hero. In cartoons and in reality, people think that heroes are people with super powers (in shows) that rescues people from danger. In english, the definition is "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities." And we totally agree with that as being a hero is not about achieving something that you have set yourself to (a goal) but it's when you act with courage in circumstances when you are needed to.

Fong Swee Suan declared an official strike when he was the head of the SBWU. The services of bus transport were crippled because buses were blocked by strikers who formed human barriers by sitting on the ground. He persuaded all bus companies to stage a strike if this dispute is not settled. Then, this dispute worsened when the Hock Lee Bus Company retaliated by dismissing 299 workers, belonging to Fong Swee Suan’s Union. The strikers went on hunger strike and picketed the depot. They protested against long working hours and low pay. They also felt threatened by a rival union which was supported by the bus company to counter any labour action by SBWU. Violent as the dispute was, the riots were chances to fight for independence and self government. Fong Swee Suan made a public apology to express the regret for the violence which got out of hand. He gave his deepest apology for the violence used against the buses of the Hock Lee Bus Company and the police.

From this challenge, we can see that Fong Swee Suan is a righteousness man who does not keeps quiet when justice is not done. He goes on strikes when he thinks he have the right to achieve what he wants and will not give in unless appropriate. He goes all the way into getting the result he wants but when things start to escalate and got out of hand, he will solve it in the best way. This also shows that he is a calm person with smart brains. He knows how to settle things in his own way without complicating the matter yet solving it in a way that is the best solution.

Heroes on the move~~~

What makes a hero? Are heroes only those who have achieved what they want to achieve or did they arise from some 'special' circumstances?

According to the dictionary, a hero is defined as a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. However, we feel that heroes, are those who dare to take steps to step out and stand up for their own personal view points, regardless of the circumstances and the influence of the majority in the environment, even if sacrifices have to be made. To us, we disagree that heroes are only those who have achieved what they want to achieve and they arise from some ‘special circumstances’. It is because we all believe that everyone is a hero. It is because in our everyday lives, we make choices. These choices can be good or bad, and will affect the ways people look at you. If you make a good choice, you are considered a hero, but if you make a bad choice, you are considered a villian. 'Heroes make things happen, Villian let things happen'

What challenges does a hero face and how does his/her qualities enable him/her to overcome challenges?? Describe at least ONE challenge and HOW the hero overcomes the challenge.

The hero that we are General Aung San. What makes him a hero is that he allied with the Japanese during the whole war ll but switch to the allies forces before leading the Myanmar drive for autonomy. What he did so special is that he 'betrayed' the japanese despite the fact that at the time japan was one of the strongest country in Asia and was feared all around Asian. This puts his life on the line because the japanese would never let a betrayer stay alive, and would definately seek vegence. He put the sake of myanmar and asia above his life. Since he previously was with the japanese, he knows the system inside out and provided essential information to the allies. This can prove crucial when carrying out missions and can prevent deaths.

He is upright, unselfish, brave and has leadership qualities. Why do we say so? He knows that the japanese had evil intentions, and therefore left them. But they were also the powerhouse of asia. Betraying japan was a difficult thing to do, but he still did it, because he clearly knew the line between good and evil, and isn't blinded by fear that the japanese instill in him. Despite risking his own life(he was assasinated haha not funny), he did the best for myanmar and asia. A leader make wise good chioces. A leader lead not for himself, but for his people. Lastly a leader never gives up for his people. Aung Sung thus is a very got candidate to be a hero, not a marvel superhero who is purely fictional, but a real one in Asia.