The three-storey shophouse had a narrow street front and a dingy interior. As they followed Tian Wen in, Emma was surprised to see that the shophouse extended deep within. Long wooden shelves ran along the walls of the lobby, on which a paltry selection of products sat forlornly. The front of the lobby was dominated by a counter where the provision shop owner held court. Housewives queued patiently, fanning themselves with their ration cards as eddies of warm air swirled around them. Emma would have dearly loved to explore the lobby but Tian Wen was already halfway up a narrow wooden staircase. She negotiated the rickety flight of stairs carefully as the stairwell was dark, and was glad to reach the second floor without incident. Tian Wen guided Emma and Brandon into a small room on the second floor of the shophouse.
The room was so small as to be more of a cubicle than a room. It was sparsely decorated, with half of it taken up by a raised platform which ran from one end of the room to the other. This platform evidently served as the family bed for neatly-folded blankets were placed at one end. In one corner stood a wooden chest, no doubt containing the family's precious belongings. A small roughly-hewn table, around which stood three stools, could be seen in another corner. Hanging from a nail on one wall was a thick tear-off calendar, the kind which had one date on each page. These calendars used to be the norm, and every morning, families would tear off the page for the previous day. Brandon nudged Emma discreetly, drawing her attention to the calendar. The date on the calendar showed Saturday, 17 February 1945. It would be another six months before Singapore would be released from war through the Japanese Surrender.
Brandon and Emma knew that whole families lived in such cramped accommodation in the 1900s but seeing an actual room inhabited by a family in real life was vastly different from reading about it in the comfort of their own bedrooms. Brandon told himself that he would never again complain to his mother about living in a four-room government apartment instead of a private condominium with its own swimming pool. It was a good resolution and Brandon managed to keep it, for about two weeks, before he resumed moaning to his mother about the unfairness of life and how many of his classmates lived in private housing.
Being careful not to look at each other lest Tian Wen thought that they were looking down on him, Emma nodded at a little girl cradling a rag doll and chatted cheerfully, "Is that your younger sister? I always wished I had a younger sister, but I'm the youngest in my family."
"This is my sister, Tian Ya," introduced Tian Wen. "She's six and very troublesome! She's always messing with my belongings, especially when I'm not around. She's supposed to start school this year but so many of our teachers have been rounded up by the Kempeitai that my school could not take in new students."
Emma's heart went out to Tian Wen. She remembered Mrs Selvi's lessons on the dreaded Kempeitai, the Japanese Military Police. In a concerted effort to rout out anti-Japanese Chinese citizens, the Kempeitai forced all Chinese men aged between 18 and 50 to go for screening at detention centres. They enlisted the assistance of a network of informers, who were spread out like deadly tentacles all over the country. During screening sessions, informers shrouded in hoods would pinpoint some detainees as anti-Japanese. Many of the men and women taken away by the Kempeitai did not return, and countless lives were lost. With the identity of the informers cloaked in mystery, an air of distrust had settled over Singapore. No one was sure whom they could confide in.
Brandon sympathised with Tian Wen's situation but was curious to find out the reason for the boy's presence earlier. "Tian Wen," he said, breaking into the boy's thoughts, "now that we're here in your room, could you tell us what you were doing in the alley?"
Instead of answering, Tian Wen turned to his sister and suggested that she look for Li Hong. After Tian Ya had left, Tian Wen explained that Li Hong was a little girl who lived down the corridor and was a regular playmate of his sister's. Her mother, Auntie Lin, usually helped to keep an eye on Tian Ya when Tian Wen and his father were both busy.
Popping her head out to check that Tian Ya made it to Li Hong's room safely, Emma was reassured when she heard a little girl call out to Tian Ya joyfully and pull her into the room. Emma was about to withdraw into Tian Wen's room when she noticed a man standing at the far end of the corridor. He was motionless and appeared to be staring at her. However, she could not be certain as the mystery man was standing in a long shadow cast by the evening sun. Strange, she thought, the profile seemed to match the one she had seen at the alley. Shivering, she retreated into Tian Wen's room. The atmosphere of fear and uncertainty was probably getting to her, she told herself.
"If I tell you what I was doing earlier, you have to swear on your lives not to tell anyone, not even your parents," Tian Wen was saying solemnly. "If you break your vow, I could be killed. Worse, my whole family could be killed. You could also be arrested, tortured and perhaps even killed for being accomplices. Do you swear?"
As Brandon and Emma nodded, Tian Wen continued.
"On the opposite side of Sago Street, where we met, there's an empty piece of land where the chauffeurs of Japanese generals sometimes park their cars. If I see a Japanese car, I will slash their tyres with a switchblade." He extracted a small but lethal-looking automatic knife from his pocket. He flicked it open expertly to reveal a shiny silver blade. Emma gasped upon seeing the razor-sharp blade.
"Don't worry, I would never hurt my friends," Tian Wen assured Emma.
Returning the blade to its sheath, Tian Wen kept the weapon in his pocket and picked up where he had left off. "Of course, my actions will not drive the Japanese away from our shores but I just want to do what I can. If the war continues on, I'm going to join the anti-Japanese resistance, provided they'll have me. I usually manage to slash a few tyres without being spotted but whew, I had a lucky escape today."
"I think you're very brave, Tian Wen," said Emma. "I wouldn't dare to do what you do."
"Well, maybe when someone you care about is in trouble, you'll find the courage somehow," Tian Wen smiled at Emma encouragingly.
A thought struck Brandon. "Where are your parents, Tian Wen?" he asked.
"My mother died not long after the Japanese invaded Singapore," answered Tian Wen, his eyes blazing with anger. "She was pregnant and was rushing to the market to buy salted fish for dinner. That's our usual dinner - rice with salted fish. My mother had been nauseous the whole day and was only able to sit up in the late afternoon. She was in a hurry and slipped and fell on the wet floor. It had been raining that day. The minute we heard the news, my father and I dashed to the spot where my mother had been slain, but it was too late. The Public Works Department lorry had come by and picked up my mother's body. We didn't even get the chance to give her a proper funeral. And I never knew whether I was going to have a baby brother or sister." Tian Wen turned away and blew his nose noisily. "Father should be home any time now. He's a typesetter at the Straits Times, and he teaches Tian Ya and me English at night, which is why I can speak some English, but not as well as you," he said modestly. "Hmmm...I wonder why Father is so late. Perhaps there's some breaking news," Tian Wen mused.
Just then, the room door was wrenched open.
A youth around their age stood at the doorway, his chest heaving with the effort of having run several blocks. "Tian Wen," he panted, "your father has been taken by the Kempeitai!"