World War II in Hong Kong

The volatile state of the world makes Remembrance Sunday all the more poignant. But as we reflect on the past, there are stories that give us hope.

Amateur dramatics helped alleviate the boredom of prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, and creating the costumes involved every inch of innovation the inmates could muster.

Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Shaftesbury Avenue: names given to the tunnels of Hong Kong’s Shing Mun Redoubt. Yet their occupants in 1941 were Scots for whom London was in a foreign land.

Christopher D’Almada e Castro of Hong Kong’s Portuguese community was a distinguished lawyer who assisted British intelligence at great personal risk while in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

The World War II escape of four soldiers from a Hong Kong POW camp was helped by a violinist. That the participants couldn’t later agree on what he played and why shows the challenges of oral accounts for historians.

Being confined in hotel quarantine in Hong Kong is nothing compared to the hotel internment endured under Japanese occupation. And Penny’s Bay is paradise compared to the Stanley camp internees were moved to.

As China marks the massacre of more than 300,000 people by Japanese forces on December 13, 1937, one must remember that acknowledging such atrocities is the best way to prevent their reoccurrence.

In our attempt to bring Hong Kong’s account of its own history in line with the mainland Chinese version, there needs to be room to accommodate different points of view.

From the Professional Teachers’ Union and Civil Human Rights Front to groups pushing niche projects such as conserving former military installations, Hong Kong civil society is in retreat.

Valuing ideology over free inquiry is damaging in the long run. Helping young people become critical thinkers will foster the creativity and innovation needed to ensure a prosperous future for Hong Kong.

The blood and strife of history belie the orderly narrative of the founding of the People’s Republic, with a civil war that was neither glorious nor heroic. Today’s leaders were all born after 1949 while yesterday’s leaders understood the struggle, dedication and sacrifice of becoming New China.

More than 50 children were born in Stanley internment camp during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, showing connections were made even under the most trying circumstances.