Sayonara Singapura

I was editor of The Malaya Tribune, a daily newspaper in Singapore, sleepily okaying Page One when 17 Japanese Zero bombers shattered the night. It was December 8, 1941. Having been fed daily stories full of optimism from London, we in Singapore hadn’t an inkling that war with Japan was imminent … I sneaked out when there was a pause in the bombing. Limbs of every description – European, Indian, Chinese, Malay and Eurasian – were everywhere. Parapuram Joseph John – ‘John’ to all – is given an ul