Not many people are aware that there are several places around Kuching city playing a significant role during the Second World War. The tour started by visiting the museum in the Teacher Education Institute of Malaysia, Batu Lintang Campus.

Under the History Unit, the Institute started a small museum in remembrance of the sacrifices of the people of Sarawak. Among the more interesting artifacts that can be seen here include equipment used by soldiers of that era and a flag post used by the Japanese army. A monument acknowledging the sacrifices can also be seen.

The visit also involved going to see the last remaining buildings from that era in the campus, that is, the barrack used by the Punjabi soldiers and an ammunition store. The second place of visit was the Japanese cemetery. The Japanese cemetery now remain about 40 tombstones which according to Madam Kazue Sakai, the caretaker, this cemetery was started possibly at the turn of the last century, around 1902.

Finally we visited the Heroes’ Memorial, located in between St. Joseph’s Cathedral and Sarawak Club. There, various graves were found ranging from heroes fallen during the Japanese Occupation and Iban trackers killed in the line of duty during the Emergency.

There were also the fallen heroes of the Confrontation. The most recent graves include those of the late Temenggong Datuk Kanang anak Langkau and DSP Michael anak Padel. Coincidentally, it was All Souls day when we visited the memorial and relatives of some of the heroes buried there could be seen visiting the graves. It is very heartening to see that after so long, the descendants of the heroes have not forgotten them.

The tour concluded with the visit to the Heroes’ Memorial. We were focusing on the Japanese Occupation but along the way, we also had the opportunity to learn of events beyond that, encompassing the Emergency, Confrontation and also the Sulu Invasion.