My maternal grandma was a widow bringing up five children when the Japanese occupied my country. My mother was barely seven years old when they ran to the forest and hide from the invaders. They endured close to four years of subsisting on sweet potatoes and tapioca.
I thought my generation was well educated in terms of local history. Yet reading Tan's book taught me lots of details that history books did not touch on. Even though my grandma was not harmed by the Japanese, I sensed in her the sort of hatred that Yun Ling had in the book. My mother and her siblings are still not fond of anything Japanese. For my generation, Japan is a country that offers scholarships. My husband spent some time in Japan as an exchange student.
With over development, Cameron's Highlands is no longer as cool as described in the book. During any school holidays or long weekends, traffic is choc-a-block in the Highlands.
Just like all the speculations about Nazi gold from WW2, much has been said about the gold looted by the Japanese forces. Kenneth is of the opinion that perhaps such a horde of it was hidden in the Mindanao, he thought it unlikely that there is one in Peninsular Malaysia. After all, the jungle here was over run with both the Communists and the aborigine tribes at that point of time. But of course such rumours make good materials for fictions.
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