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Endau Settlement

Endau Settlement was an agricultural settlement set up at Endau in the Malayan state of Johore during the Japanese Occupation.  The settlement was set up under a self-sufficiency scheme initiated by the Japanese authorities to ease the food supply problem in Singapore.  Under the scheme, Singaporeans were encouraged to resettle outside Singapore, in areas where they could farm and live off the land.  Endau Settlement was specially set up in August 1943 for Chinese settlers.  It was also known as New Syonan Model Farm.

Background
During the Japanese Occupation, Singapores trade with other countries was disrupted because of war.  As a large portion of Singapores food supply was imported, this put a strain on the food supply for the islands one million population.  To solve the food shortage problem, the Japanese authorities promoted the Grow More Food Campaign and encouraged the population to become self-sufficient by growing their own food.  In August 1943, the Japanese decided to evacuate about 300,000 Singaporeans and to resettle them north of Singapore to cultivate the land there.

The responsibility for carrying out the project was placed on Mamoru Shinozaki, Head of Welfare Department in the Syonan Municipality, who in turn approached the Overseas Chinese Association (OCA) to build a settlement for Chinese migrants.  Shinozaki persuaded the OCA to agree to the project by promising that the new settlement would be self-governing and that no Japanese would set foot in the settlement.  In addition, the settlement was assured of rice supply until it became self-sufficient.  A New Syonan Model Farm Construction Committee was then set up under the chairmanship of Lim Boon Keng.  A team was dispatched to Malaya to look for a suitable site and after some survey Endau in Johore was selected as the site for the new settlement.

Description
Construction work began soon after the OCA raised $1 million to develop the settlement.  Workers cleared the jungle and built roads and houses in preparation for the arrival of the migrants. To entice Singaporeans to participate in the scheme, pioneer settlers were promised free allotment of four acres of land, free supply of rice, sugar and salt, and a small monthly cash payment for the first six months. The first migrants arrived at Endau in September 1943.  The new settlers had to live in crude huts made of opeh leaves until the administration allocated land for them to build their own houses.  The pioneering work was challenging to many, as they did not have construction or farming experience.  They had to be resourceful and learned to make necessity items such as soap, coconut oil, and condensed milk.  

Despite the difficult new environment, a number of people were attracted to the settlement because of the promise of supply rice and, more importantly, the promise that the affairs of the settlement would be administered by the OCA and Japanese authorities would not interfere.  The settlements population grew, and by the end of the first year, there were 12,000 settlers in Endau.  The settlement had a school, a bank, a paper factory, a sawmill and several restaurants.  However, life at the settlement was disturbed by activities of Chinese anti-Japanese guerillas, which claimed the lives of several settlement officials and civilians.  Peace was only restored after Shinozaki entered into a secret pact with the guerillas, offering rice in exchange for peace.   

The settlement was abandoned after the Japanese surrendered in August 1945.  Besides Endau, the Japanese also created a settlement in Bahau (in Negri Sembilan, Malaya) for the Eurasians and Chinese Roman Catholics, and a settlement in Pulau Bintan for the Indians.



Author
Joshua Chia Yeong Jia



References
Lee, G. B. (1992).  Syonan Singapore under the Japanese 1942 - 1945 (pp. 105-107).  Singapore: Singapore Heritage Society.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57023 LEE)

Shinozaki, M. (1982).  Syonan - my story: the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. (pp. 79-86).  Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57023 SHI)

Tan, B. L., & Quah, I. (1996).  The Japanese Occupation 1942-1945 : A pictorial record of Singapore during the war (pp. 7, 133, 135-137).  Singapore: Times Editions.
(Call no.: RSING 940.5425 TAN)

Turnbull, C. M. (1989). A History of Singapore: 1819-1988 (2nd ed) (p. 208). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR)




The information in this article is valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject.  Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic. 

Subject
Events>>Historical Periods>>World War II and Japanese Occupation (1939 - 1945)
Ethnic Communities
Singapore--History--Japanese occupation, 1942-1945
History>>Asia>>Southeast Asia>>Singapore



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