Don't Stand Under the Pili Nut Tree

By Grahame Kerr

During the period, right before the Japanese invaded the Malay States and Singapore, everyone seemed to be marking time. Europe was in turmoil; Britain was at war and only just hanging on. The diminishing British population in Singapore believed that the empire was strong and that Japan would not pick a fight. Only cursory attention was given to civil defence and the protection of the vulnerable. True, more troops were sent to protect the colony but they were supplied with little modern weaponry, making the essentially untrained force potential cannon fodder for the battle-hardened Japanese army. At the time, the first priority of the largely middle-aged British was to be seen by the native population as being still very much in charge. Preparation for war was therefore only reluctantly permitted by the colonial authorities and much of the time, any preparation was treated as a social opportunity.

Few people dared question the status quo; after all, it had worked for more than a hundred years. So, a false world was inevitable; it was some sort of dream that must turn one day into a nightmare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781528963565

Grahame Kerr

Grahame Kerr lived as a child in Singapore just after the end of the Second World War and his family had an association with the Island for nearly 25 years. The author in his career worked for many years in universities before setting up a successful employment advocacy business. He was a magistrate and lay judge for some 28 years. He has contributed for many years to charities concerned with domestic abuse and protection from violence. He wrote his first novel, The Opportunist, about events in the First World War. His second novel, Don’t Stand Under the Pili Nut Tree, is part of a trilogy about the epic events of 1940–1945 in Singapore.

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Thirty-Six

About The Author

Grahame Kerr worked in universities for many years before successfully developing an employment advocacy business; he served for more than 25 years as a magistrate and later, as a lay judge in the Family Courts. His family spent many years associated with Singapore and the Malay States.

Dedication

To my lovely wife, Chris, for all her support in writing this book, and to Biba, for helping me to use my imagination.

Copyright Information ©

Grahame Kerr (2020)

The right of Grahame Kerr to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528921763 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528963565 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to my sister, Carollynn Duffy, for her advice on lifestyle in Singapore and for the help in proofreading.

Preface

Singapore under colonial rule was very much a conglomeration of separate races made up into distinct communities. To survive and be accepted, you had to become a member of one of these communities. Once a member, rarely did you stray from your designated station and, on the occasions you did so, it was usually only for a short period and for an arranged reason. The same can be said of all races that lived on the Island whether they were European, or Asian or one of the mixed races.

Within each community, there were social divisions. The British community was split into different class groups usually mirroring the social pattern that existed in the 1930s of middle England. Many communities had a strong religious thread running through it.

Apartheid as we know it was not directly practised but it was common to have separate entrances for European and non-Europeans in the main shops, the banks and often even the toilets. Occasionally, there would be European-only restaurants but usually these would arise through a common understanding and not through any sign appearing at the entrance of a building or service forbidding the use by a particular race. As always in a British colony, there were exceptions with wealthy Chinese and Malays being able to enjoy the full benefits of the colonial empire, but more usually by invitation.

The Anglo-Indian and Eurasian communities hovered on the edges, neither being accepted by the British social groups nor always accepted by the other races on the Island. They formed their own social strongholds. The British man going out to the Far East often found love and romance with a Malay, Chinese or Indian woman and then found that to progress the romance to the point of marriage often brought with it a refusal by his colleagues, and particularly colleagues’ wives, to allow him to include his Asian wife in the social events of his community. The Civil Service and other public institutions had clear rules about their male staff marrying an Asian woman often paying them less salary and allowances as a punishment for breaking the rules, and, ultimately, they suffered in their career.

Yet many British and a few European men ignored the social rules and married women not from home stock and by the 1930s, there was a sizeable community of such families. Many British men married women of Eurasian or Indo-European origin going back sometimes as much as four generations. Alongside this, there was also a steady intermarriage between Chinese and Indian families making up what is now known as the Peranakan community with their own culture and developing traditions.

My family lived for twenty-five years on and off on the Island and as a boy, and later as a young man in his twenties, I remember discussing with my father and to a lesser extent my mother about people I had met, and the customs I had come across. I questioned why we socialised with certain people and not with others. My parents were liberal in their attitudes and wanted to socialise with Eurasians and Indo-Europeans and I well remember such social occasions and indeed my best friend throughout my early childhood and later in my teens was I learned later of Anglo-Indian stock.

These facts have been trawling around in my head for decades and finally I decided that I should attempt to write about the make-up of this rich mixture of societies, the restrictions imposed through ignorance and cultural division and how Singapore despite some local awareness of differences never wholly adopted the restrictions that came about in the colonial set-up of India or South Africa.

The period 1939 to 1945 was a momentous time for Singapore and there have been many books written on the period both in novel form and as documentaries. I could have written about the time I first arrived in 1947 with Japanese soldiers still visible, with Indians rioting about independence for their sub-continent and Chinese communists starting to make life uncomfortable for the British with their shootings and kidnappings. As a child, a lot of it went over my head; I was happy as long as I had my friend Sandra around and my dog, but obviously I do remember things and later in life I asked questions and was able to put together some of the jigsaw.

Maybe I will write the story of my childhood one day but at this time I prefer to take many of the stories I was told or subsequently researched and write it in the form of a novel. Well, three actually. The book you are about to read, I hope, is about a young man sent out to seek his fortune. Not so different from many young men sent to the Asian colonies in the period from the 18th century onwards. After all, Clive, born only a few miles from where I live, did exactly that. He was sent as a clerk to work in the East India Company warehouses of Tamil Nadu. I leave you to find out how he was restricted from progressing his career; he was only able to move from one social class to another because the wars with France and the Indian maharajas created an opportunity.

Now to the story I want to tell. I set my first book in the period immediately before the Japanese invasion in December 1941. Surprisingly, not everyone was called up to serve in the armed forces in the fight against the fascists in Europe. I believe this was largely due to the pressure from the major commercial entities who persuaded the government that a total denuding of the young talented workforce would make it difficult to operate effectively during wartime. The early part of the war was therefore ripe for young men to break out of the social group in which they had been placed as gaps in the management class created opportunities for young men.

Obviously, I cannot describe all of the immense changes in lifestyle that my hero would have had to endure in seizing his chance. My hero, Robert Draper, arrived in Singapore at a time when Britain was at war; Dunkirk and the threat of invasion happened only weeks after he arrived on the Island. Dunkirk undoubtedly heavily influenced many of the remaining men to return immediately and contribute to the fight against fascism. However, Robert Draper was not unlike a number who did stay for their own good reasons until finally the High Commissioner decreed that no more could go home as they were needed to combat the threat now from Japan.

What I learned during my research for the three books was that as a community of many parts, the Island, and the Malay States, were wholly unprepared for the Japanese invasion. Even a mere ten days before the surrender on 15th February 1942, the High Commissioner was extolling people to go about their business normally as General Percival, the Commander of the Allied Army, would sort things out.

Well, General Percival didn’t sort things out nor could he with poorly trained troops and inferior equipment. It’s on record that a number of civilians genuinely believed that the Japanese were not proper soldiers and that they would be unable to cope with the jungle. I think the records also show that this was the case with a number of the senior officers in the Armed Services responsible for the defence of the Island and Malay States. The Japanese troops demonstrated that a committed force, with good leadership, despite it being half the size of the Allied force, was more than capable of overcoming all the odds.

If you enjoy this first book, then I hope you continue with the second book. The second book covers more of the actual events of 1942–1945, as they happened in Singapore. It includes real people who took part in the terrible days until the surrender and the subsequent three years when many civilians, some thousands of them, endured the privations of the internment camps and the attention of the Kempetai. As for the third book, it falls into the period just after the war when the people of Singapore picked up the pieces and tried to re-establish themselves. I hope I can encourage you to read the trilogy.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to say something about the Singapore of today. I have made two visits in the past few years both for recreation and for research and have been absolutely amazed at the wonderful developments that have taken place. To talk and describe the Island as it was in the 1930s and 1940s and then visit it today is to make me wonder whether I ever did live on the Island. It is just so different. The Government of the Island has in my view created a virtual paradise and it is a must to see for any international traveller.

Principal Characters

(those in italics were actual characters)

Robert Draper – Lancastrian. Young able banker. Has failed his medical for the armed services. Goes out East in hope of a better life.

Sir John Hatton – A director of the China and Union Bank. He served for many years in the Far East.

Walter Trehearne – Regional Manager, China and Union Bank. He worked under Sir John Hatton and gained promotion after many years’ service.

Gordon Fraser – Promoted by Walter Trehearne to be his second in command in Singapore and Malay Straits

Peter Connaught – The most able of the bankers. Overlooked for promotion by Walter Trehearne because he like Sir John was keen on change in the bank. His wife, Ethel, prefers her own company.

George Barwick – Manager, Penang Branch, China & Union Bank.

Mark Forrester – Recently appointed Manager, Kuala Lumper (KL) Branch, China & Union Bank.

Gerald Pitts-Lewis – Manager, Batavia Branch, China & Union Bank.

Clive Sewell – Like Robert Draper, a clerk who has been promoted to the management ranks. Placed in KL and finding life difficult what with new responsibilities and living in a different culture.

Frank Foley – A past Assistant Manager, China & Union Bank. Passed over for promotion, he has gone to work for the China Bank, a bank set up for Chinese business and probably connected to the Kuomintang Party who were fighting the Japanese in China.

Sir Shenton Thomas – High Commissioner and Governor for Singapore and the Malay States. He sees his role as to promote industry to support Britain in her time of need. He refuses to accept that the Japanese were a nation capable of defeating the British Empire.

Captain John Draper – The sole surviving relative of the hero. Married a Eurasian woman.

Harry Fisher – a fellow Lancastrian who like Robert is new to life in the colony. Together they experience the trials and tribulations of settling into the restrictive class driven life of the colony.

Jenny – A nurse who has volunteered for a tour of duty in the General Hospital, Singapore. Girlfriend of Harry.

Laura and Kay – Two nurses who came out East with Jenny.

Fran(ces) Carstairs – From a military family. Works for the High Commissioner. Becomes the girlfriend of the hero.

Joyce Connor – A housemate and colleague of Fran.

Maurice Levy – A senior banker in the Hong Kong Bank. He recognises that the Allies are unlikely to stop the Japanese in any attack.

Henry Preston – An Englishman who is the Deputy Station Master in Singapore. Because he married a Eurasian his social prospects are limited, as is the case for most men who married non-European women. He has a wife, Mona, and two sons, Brian and Martin.

David Masters – In a similar position to Henry Preston. A successful businessman who is limited in the social circles he can aspire to in the colony because he has married a second-generation Eurasian divorcee who brings with her two daughters and a son, Alex.

Arthur Thorsby – In a similar position to Henry Preston. However, as a small-time retailer, he had even fewer social prospects than John Draper, Henry Preston or David Masters. He has two sons, David and Jay and an Indian wife, Neecha.

Donald Shelby-Jones – The proverbial typical middle-class Englishman often sent out to manage part of the Empire before coming home to a place on the Board of a company.

Geoffrey Blackmore – A senior member of the Colonial Office involved with the civil affairs of the Island.

Lawrence Muxton – An engineer who works in the City Engineers Department. Came out with Harry and Robert to work on the Island. Known affectionately as ‘Laz’.

Cedric Meadows – The security officer for the KL branch of the China & Union Bank. Ex-Army.

Fred Samuels – A manager in the Malaya Tin Company. Resourceful and a hardened colonial.

General Percival – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in Malaya. He was unable to persuade the powers in London to give him the appropriate resources to combat the Japanese.

General Bond – The predecessor to General Percival.

Sally – Works for Thomas Cook in Singapore as a clerk/typist.

Lily – A friend of Robert Draper when he lived in London. Sally is her cousin.

Chapter One

It seemed only a few minutes since he had been working on what was a tedious, complicated loan application when from nowhere Mr Carruthers had appeared in front of him and then bending down, he had said in a low voice, You are wanted on the top floor, Sir John’s office, now. Robert was still taking in the information when Mr Carruthers spoke a second time. I suggest you pop into the gents and tidy yourself up. With that, Carruthers had moved away and Robert in a daze set off in the opposite direction.

Robert looked around the room for the umpteenth time. He had been directed to sit on a chair beside the windows which offered him a view onto Piccadilly. The secretary who had told him that Sir John was on his way seemed to know that he was very nervous and had given him a little sympathetic smile. As he sat there pensively looking out the window, his attention was directed towards a policeman, just visible on the opposite side of the road; he was walking slowly up towards Regent Street. He seemed at first to be enjoying the late morning sun, and then he had stopped and looked up at the sky and Robert suddenly realised that he was watching something as he could see other people were starting to turn their heads skywards. For a moment, he thought of standing up and getting closer to the window to get a better view.

Instead, he looked away and down at his shoes. What was about to happen in this room might be much more important. He hadn’t polished his shoes for a few days, and they looked scuffed. Taking a quick look around him, he brought each shoe in turn up and rubbed them on the back of his trousers. He had been to the toilets, as Mr Carruthers’ had suggested, and brushed his hair and checked that his tie was straight.

The room was perhaps the grandest room he had ever been in. It had the most glorious of chandeliers hanging over a large mahogany table, the table larger than any Robert had ever seen before, with sixteen chairs set around it. Near where he was sitting, there was a large ornate desk which could have accommodated four clerks. It looked oriental, with elephants and other animals carved on the sides, and in a dark wood that was almost black. Beside it stood an imposing table lamp with a chrysanthemum pattern, standing on a low dark, wooden coffee table. Over by the corner nearest to him, there was a Chinese flowerpot but with no flowers in it. On the mantelpiece sat two imposing jade Buddhas looking across at him wondering, so Robert thought, as to why he was in the room. Although there was ample space for them, there was no relaxing chair or a settee.

Only minutes ago, he had been in a different world, bored and working through an account as he had done on countless mornings and now here he was on the 4th floor and wondering what was happening. As time passed and Sir John did not appear, he became more and more pensive sitting on the edge of the chair he had been directed to. He looked down at the carpet at his feet, for the third or fourth time; it was a blaze of colours and motifs which he studied and tried to understand. He shifted a little each time, to give himself a better view of the patterns and it was as he was doing this for perhaps the third time that Sir John spoke. He could hear the noise of the traffic outside, albeit ever so slightly but he hadn’t heard Sir John come up beside him.

It’s Persian. I understand, probably from Kashan, one of the great carpet centres. I’m told Lord Wolfesbury brought it back from his trip to Teheran in 1929 when he went with the Foreign Secretary to meet the Shah.

Robert had almost jumped out of his skin when Sir John spoke and he stood up hastily and as a result missed some of what Sir John said.

My dear young man don’t look so scared, Sir John then said as he walked past him and over to the desk, gesturing to Robert to follow him. From somewhere behind Robert, the secretary appeared, again without Robert hearing someone come up behind him. She handed Sir John a file and then left without a word, and with Robert looking after her and wondering if he should make a run for it.

Sir John was spreading papers out on the desk and Robert standing a few feet away could see that there were various handwritten annotations in the margins. Finally, Sir John looked up from reading the papers and turned to face Robert fully. Now young man, you sent me a letter asking if you could work overseas. Do you remember? As he addressed Robert, he waved for Robert to sit on a chair beside the desk.

Robert nodded and then said quietly, That was in May, sir.

Sir John nodded. I’m afraid things move slowly in the bank and with the war starting, I’ve had other things to worry about. He was looking Robert up and down as he said it. I hear you’re doing good things in the Loans Section. Carruthers speaks very highly of you and you have passed all your exams which is more than can be said for a good many of your colleagues.

Robert just nodded and then mouthed, Thank you.

Sir John continued, Now tell me why you want to work overseas?

Rather gingerly Robert sat down before saying, My uncle is a Master Mariner in the Far East and he used to tell me all about it; the smells, the strange languages, the people. He never came home for long and the last time I saw him, he said he missed the Orient more than he missed England. I just think I’m missing something.

What about ties? You’re not married I see from the file.

Robert shook his head at what Sir John said. No sir, and then after a short pause, followed it up with, My mother died nearly two years ago after a long illness and I have no other family. My letter explains the situation.

Sir John waved his right hand at Robert. I want to hear what you have to say. A letter only tells me so much.

Robert paused for a moment and then plunged in, telling him what he had been doing since he left school nearly twelve years ago. After I left school, I applied to work in the bank, he added lamely. My mother wanted me to have a safe job.

Seeing Sir John nodding, he continued, I worked in the Manchester branch for nearly six years, sir, and then took the opportunity to come down here. I thought it would give me more chances of promotion, as the chances in Manchester were much less. I also needed the extra money because my mother was by this time very ill and had to go in a nursing home. As I see it now, my chances of promotion are still limited. I’m a clerk with possibly two more grades to go for. I enjoy working for Mr Carruthers, he’s fair and he gives me some of the more challenging work but I don’t feel I’m being tested.

Sir John grunted at this last comment and said something softly which Robert thought was: That’s what Carruthers is saying.

Robert continued. When I worked for Mr Alison, he also gave me a few opportunities but it doesn’t get me anywhere, Robert ended what he had just said, dropping his voice.

Sir John looked at him and Robert watched him purse his lips a little. The stories your uncle told you, Robert, are just that, stories. The reality is that most jobs are the same whether here or in Singapore or Hong Kong. It’s a hard slog, often tedious work. Sir John paused momentarily before again saying, Often tedious, and then he added, and working with people you can’t stand. Robert looked surprised at the last candid remark of Sir John.

Take it from me, Robert, people are the same the world over, Sir John said it with a ghost of a smile.

By this time, Robert had realised that this meeting was a life-changing moment. It may be the same in terms of banking, sir, but there would be the opportunity to see different things and make my life more interesting. I know I would make a success of any appointment overseas. I was quite good at languages at school so maybe I could develop that side. He took a breath for a moment and then added, I have read about what you did when you went out in 1922; it said you knew nothing about the different cultures but you made a success of it. Robert finished with, I know I’m capable of doing something more than I can achieve here.

Sir John had gone back to looking at his notes. Without looking up, he said, It’s not all glamour, Robert. What you read about me was a good bit of artistic licence by one of our editorial staff. He’s probably never been further east than Dulwich. He’s no idea about life out in the Far East really. Despite the supposed excitement and colour of the Orient, it’s in fact ridden with disease, difficult languages, and people who don’t share our values. What do you know of these things?

With respect, sir, no more than you did when you went to Singapore and Hong Kong.

At that, Sir John looked up and smiled, almost wistfully. "I knew nothing, Robert, only what I