Singapore- Crossroads Of The East 1938

ramblinglibrarian has put up comments of a youtube footage of Singapore in 1938, on the eve of World War II.

This is a Singapore I know only through pictures and videos. It is a Singapore that is fairly distant to me.

This is a period in Singapore's history I only know through the words of my now-deceased grandfather. Being half Japanese and the other half Chinese, the years of the war were a very emotional and painful period for him and his Japanese wife.

I'm surprised that after all those years, he still chose to make Singapore his home. He sent his children overseas for their studies. But he still urged them to come 'home'. Despite his pain, he firmly believed that Singapore is the only country where different races can live together in harmony. He believed in the one man who won the Tanjong Pagar seat in 1955. He truly believed in the government of 1965 who would make racial harmony a reality.

People in those times, had political opinions, vision and the heart to act.

I'm unable to fathom that and gel it with the current climate.

But war. I hope war is something I will never have to experience in my lifetime.