6. Lim Bo Seng Memorial (by Leonard)

Next up we have the Lim Bo Seng Memorial.

Lim Bo Seng, son of a wealthy merchant, took over his father’s business after the latter has passed away. He built up his business and over time became a well respected figure in the Chinese business community.

Lim Bo Seng was also different from many in his own time. He had a love marriage to a Nonya woman by the name of Gan Choo Neo. Married in 1930 at the Lim Clan Association Hall, they later went on to have seven children.

At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Lim was influential and outspoken against the Japanese invasion of China. He took part in fund raisings and boycott of Japanese goods. His activities gathered the attention of the Japanese and right before the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, Lim fled to Sumatra and later to India where he helped recruit and train many Chinese agents for missions against the Japanese and the unit was named Force 136.

The most significant participation by Lim in the war is probably his involvement in the Intelligence Operation Gustavus. Designed to set up an espionage network to collect sensitive military intelligence about the Japanese and aid the allied re-invasion of Malaya and Singapore, codenamed Operation Zipper. Lim arrived back in Malaya via a Dutch submarine in November and went past the Japanese checkpoints disguised as a Chinese businessman with the alias Tan Choon Lim.

Lim was able to run the operation for a little while before being arrested on 27th March 1944. In captivity, Lim endured tortures, poor sanitation and living conditions but he never gave up information about Force 136. He even protested against the ill-treatment of the prisoners in Batu Gajah Jail.

Lim, however, soon became ill with dysentery and was bedridden by the end of May 1944. He was not given any food, water or medicine and in the early hours of 29th June 1944, Lim finally passed away. He was buried in an unmarked grave behind the prison.

Later on after the war, Mdm Gan Choo Neo along with their eldest son retrieved Lim’s remains and had a funeral service on 13th January 1946, in front of City Hall. Lim’s remains were later transferred to MacRitchie Reservoir for burial with full military honours.

In his final letter to his wife, he wrote:

"You must not grieve for me. You should take pride in my sacrifice and devote yourself to the upbringing of the children. Tell them what happened to me and direct them to my footsteps."
Extract from Lim Bo Seng's farewell letter to his wife (1945)

Bibliography:
Tan, Chong Tee (2001), Force 136: Story of a World War II Resistance Fighter (Second Edition), Singapore, Select Books.

To end off on a lighter note... I was abused by Amelia!!!