The video below is a chinese video

Taken from 'The passing on of singapore's war heroine,Ms Elizabeth Choy'

• 1933 : Became a teacher at C. E. Z. M. S or Church of England Zenana Mission School (currently, St. Margaret’s school).

• 1935: Transferred to St. Andrew’s Boy’s School, probably the only untrained teacher at that time.

• 1949: Began a stint as an artist’s model, when she was 39 years old and was working in London. She posed for the famed sculptress, Dora Gordine, who did two works of her entitled Serene Jade and Flawless Crystal.

• 1950s: Returned to Singapore as Senior Assistant, or Deputy Principal at St Andrew’s School.

• End 1953 - beginning 1954: Conducted a lecture tour of Malaya in the US and Canada at the request of the Foreign Office in London. Prior to the tour, she took time to visit Malaya to get a better understanding of the country. At that time, it was in the throes of Emergency.

• 1956 - 1960: Became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind.

• 1960 - 1974: Returned to St Andrew’s Junior School and promoted to Deputy Principal in 1964.

Elizabeth Choy Su-Mei, known as Elizabeth Yong Su Mei before married, (29 November 1910, Kudat, Sabah - 14 September 2006, Singapore), was a Hakka from North Borneo, is noted for being a war-time heroine during the Japanese occupation and was the only woman member in the Legislative Council in 1951. She was one of the first females to sign up in the inaugural Girl Guide Company of North Borneo in 1925. Later, when she came to Singapore in 1929, she joined the first Girl Guide Company at the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society School (CEZMSS; now known as St Margaret’s). She also posed as an artist's model for the famous sculptress, Dora Gordine, who did two works of her entitled 'Serene Jade' and 'Flawless Crystal'. She worked as a teacher and became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind. She was also known for her qipaos and bangles, for which she was nicknamed "Dayak woman of Singapore".

During the Japanese Occupation, she worked as a canteen operator with her husband at the Mental Hospital which was renamed 'Miyako Hospital' (the predecessor of Woodbridge Hospital) where patients from General Hospital had been moved to. It was an activity for which they were to pay dearly after both were arrested by the Japanese. They secretly brought food, medicine, money, messages and even radios to British internees. She and her husband, Choy Khun Heng, incurred further risk by sending in radio parts for hidden receivers on a daily ambulance run until the Japanese instituted a crackdown after a British-Australian commando raid sank seven Japanese ships outside the harbour in September 1943.

'The Kempeitai', the Japanese military police, suspected that the raiders had acted on information sent out from Changi by a transmitter, and seized 57 internees on October 10 1943, setting in motion what became known as "The Massacre of the Double Tenth". Believing their activities were related to the Double Tenth incident, they came under surveillance by the 'Kempeitai', the Japanese military police. Unfortunately, they were caught by the Japanese and Elizabeth was arrested on 15 November 1943 and taken to a cell in the old YMCA building in Orchard Road, following her husband's arrest and confined to the Outram Prison on 29 October 1943.

Her psychological resilience and principled stand sustained her endurance in the physical abuse and interrogation at the hands of the 'Kempetai' and she never admitted to being a British sympathizer. This exploit had been carried out by a group of Australian and British commandos, and the Japanese were convinced that British prisoners in Changi Jail, somehow helped by the Choys and others, had supplied information useful to the attackers. She was released only after 193 days of starvation diet and repeated torture. She spent 193 days in a stinking cell 10ft by 12, occupied by more than 20 people, of whom she was the only woman. To add to the psychological pressure on her husband, she was frequently taken out and tortured in front of him, stripped naked while electrodes were inserted into her body. Her husband was released when the Japanese Occupation was over.

After the war, Elizabeth was invited to England as a celebrated war heroine noted as the only female local to have been incarcerated for such an extended period. She went there as part of the privileged few who were invited to Britain to recuperate from the war but her stay extended three more years, totaling four years there.
In her first year, she was invited to meet Queen Elizabeth. In 1946, Choy was appointed Order Of The British Empire (OBE) for her bravery in captivity. Lady Baden-Powell awarded her the Girl Guides' highest honour, the Bronze Cross, and the Rajah of Sarawak presented her with the Order of Sarawak. The OBE is the second-lowest rank orders. The Bronze Cross, the highest award of the Girl Guide Movement, is an award for gallantry.

Her story of World War 2 Resistance was told through a TV series called "Life Stories", a MediaCorp production. Other than that, she always ends the phrase: "Let us have peace," with "No more war." She died at the age of 95 as a result of pancreatic cancer. Notably, when she was informed of the diagnosis, she refused treatment, saying that she was ready to go to heaven. Elizabeth Choy was a symbol of courage and truly a living testimony of the Guide Promise and Law to the final moments of her life, particularly, Guide Law #7-- “A Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties”.

The spirit of Christianity is about love and forgiveness, but the unspeakable evil commited by war perpetrators was something even God would be furious with.

The fiftieth anniversary of World Peace was on 15th August 1995. It was an event everyone talked about, and many who were born after the War question the cause behind this horrendous chapter in human history. For me, what happened 50 years ago still holds painful memories. In the 3 years and 8 months of hell, I lost 4 loved ones. My uncle was caught listening to the wireless in Sabah and was beheaded. My brother was taken away during Operation Clean-up and, to this day, has yet to return. Two of my male cousins also disappeared during Operation Clean-up. 50 years has passed and the memories still haunt us. In 1943, my husband was arrested by the Japanese and incarcerated in Outram Prison. It was only after the Allied victory that he was freed. Two weeks after his arrest, I was imprisoned in the kempeitai main interrogation and detention centre in Stamford Road (the old YMCA building) and remained there for more than 200 days. During this time, I was subjected to all kinds of cruel treatment. My captors pumped me up with water, electrocuted me, beat me up and also stripped me to the waist while interrogating me. The fear and sense of despair I experienced on top of the mental and physical harm I suffered can never be understood by those who have not undergone the same ordeal. I come from a long line of devout Christians. Both my paternal and maternal grandfathers were missionaries. What Christianity teaches - love, compassion and forgiveness - is the moral yardstick in my family. However, though I may be able to forgive the Japan Imperial Army for ruining the peace in the land I live in and for the killing indiscriminately during this inhumane war, I just cannot bring myself to forget.

No Anxiety over the Safety of Singapore
Before the war, my family lived in MacKenzie Road near the present-day Istana (formerly known as Government House). Life was peaceful and happy then. My motion of war was very vague. Just before the outbreak of the Pacific War, though we heard news that the circulation was turning critical, we were not unduly worried about the safety of our country. We felt that as long as Great Britain's bombers, cannons and warships were here to protect us, Singapore would be safe. Anyway, part of the Japanese troops were still far away in Annam (present-day Vietnam) and there was no way they could reach Singapore so soon. We were very wrong, for on 8th December, Japan's fighter planes bombed Singapore. War had come. For the next 2 months, Japanese troops from their position in Johor exchanged fire with British soldiers in Singapore. My family and I had our first taste of war as we were forced to flee for safety.

The Japanese eventually captured Singapore on February, 1942. The following day, their tanks rolled into the city. We moved back to our house in MacKenzie Road from our refuge in the suburbs and found a big hole in the kitchen wall caused by shelling. I began to feel fear.

The Attack on My Sister-in-law
One day, as I was tidying up the mess on the ground floor of the house with my sister-in-law, several Japanese soldiers walked in through the hole in the kitchen. Then, without warning, one of them went upstairs where my younger brother's wife was cleaning the room. She had not been married long and was a few months' pregnant. The soldier entered her room. Suddenly, the beast in him emerged - he closed the door behind him and tried to take her by force. My sister-in-law screamed in fright and yelled at me. The rest of us downstairs stood rooted to the ground, not knowing what to do. I cast my fear aside, dashed upstairs and banged on the door. The louder the screams, the harder I pounded. The door suddenly opened and out came the soldier, anger written all over his face having failed to get what he wanted. He walked down the stairs swiftly while buttoning up his uniform. In his haste, he left behind his military sword.

When I saw the sword, I know the intruder was a military officer. All army recruits from Japan had to undergo special training in order to get into the officer rank. The despicable thing the officer tried to make me see for myself what the Japan Imperial Army was all about. I began to understand what kind of training they received, and what militarism and bushido (spirit of the Japanese warrior) meant. I became fully aware that things, henceforth, would no longer be peaceful as the destruction of our people's lives and dignity took place. I kept the sword for a long time, but lost it later.

The Sabotage on Japanese Oil Tanks
After Singapore fell, my husband and I had nothing much to do, so we opened a small shop in Woodbridge Hospital (it was converted to a normal hospital during the Occupation). At that time, many British and prisoners of other nationalities who were detained in internment camps in Changi were frequently brought here by the kempeitai to receive medical treatment. Sometimes, these patients would come to our shop to by stuff with permission from the soldiers. A number of them asked me to convey messaged to their friends outside, usually to say they were well. My husband and I were most happy to do these little favours for them.
On 27 September 1943, more than 10 Japanese oil tankers exploded and sank at Clifford Pier. It was an act of sabotage by Allied Intelligence Agents. The episode shook the world and Tokyo felt it was a loss of face. Marshal Terauchi, Supreme Commander of the Japanese Southern Regions, ordered the Kempeitai to round up possible suspects within a limited period of time. Adhering strictly to their policy of 'sparing no one, not even the innocent, to get the guilty', the kempeitai arrested a great number of people. On 10th October, the soldiers conducted a massive raid on Changi Prison and found that many British, Australian, New Zealander and other internees possessed radios and were secretly tuning in to foreign broadcast. This was a startling discovery for the Japanese and they were determined to find out who was responsible for passing the radio sets or parts of these internees.

My Husband and I were arrested
On that fateful day, my husband and I were minding the shop when several soldiers showed up suddenly and took him away. For the next two weeks, there was no news about him. I was worried sick. Then a few soldiers came to the shop and asked me if I wanted to see my husband. I quickly grabbed a blanket and some basic necessities, thinking I could pass them to him. The soldiers took me straight to the Kempeitai main interrogation and detention centre. It was then I realised they had lured me here in order to lock me up. My crime, it seemed, was that I was pro-British and anti-Japanese. The Japanese suspected my husband and me of playing messages to the British Intelligence in the sabotage case and of providing the internees with radio sets and parts. In truth, the sabotage in the Japanese Oil Tankers was the work of a group of men led by Maj Lyon of the Highlander Infantry Battalion. Capitalising on the relatively lax naval defence of the Japanese, Maj Lyon and his party quietly sneaked into Singapore from Australia and blew up the tankers at the Pier. The Japanese did not know the truth at that time. Even we learnt it only after the war.

The Water Treatments and Electric Shocks
At the Kempeitai interrogation and detention centre, I was put into a cell only 10 by 12 ft big. There were more than 20 people crammed inside. Packed like sardines, we knelt from morning till night. The heat was unbearable. I was the only female among them. Inside the cell was a tap and underneath it, a hole meant for toilet purposes. There was no privacy to speak of - our daily business was conducted there in full view of everyone. The stench coming from our perspiration, human waste and stagnant water fouled up the small cell and was suffocating. We had to crawl out through a small trap door at the side for interrogation. Our captors beat us up, subjected us to electric shocks and pumped us up with water as part of the interrogation routine. The feeling of having one's belly pumped full of water and then seeing the water gushing out of the body was hardly bearable.

When my interrogators could not get any information out of me, they dragged my husband from Outram Prison, tied him up and made him kneel beside me. Then, in his full view, they stripped me to the waist and applied electric currents to me. The electric shocks sent my whole body into spasms; my tears and mucus flowed uncontrollably. The pain was indescribable, but it must have been thousands of times worse for my husband who had to see me being tortured.

The Hunger
The prisoners were not allowed to talk with one another. We kept our mouths shut tightly and communicated through sign language only when the warders were not looking. I was detained in the centre for more than 200 days and wore the same outfit for that period of time. Getting a decent shower was wishful thinking; we considered ourselves very lucky to have a little water to wash our faces. Our daily meals, pathetic portions they were, were shoved to us through the trap door. Ravenous, everyone would eat up the last grain of rice. Even a grain of rice that is dropped will be retrieved and eaten. I tick my nephews off whenever I see them wasting food.

Outside the cell was the corridor where every day, badly-tortured prisoners were left lying and howling in pain. The cries of the dying would pierce our ears and hearts. It was most distressing.

Sir Robert Scott was a Fellow Inmate
For days on end, all of us knelt in the cell, awaiting death. Some of us suffered from serious sores on our knees. Bugs and cockroaches crawled about on the filthy floor.

One day, I heard a loud bang coming from outside the cell. I lifted my head and saw that a prisoner, his skin covered in reddish and purplish welts, had been thrown into the corridor. I took a closer look and realised he was Robert Scott, a British prisoner. His body was bloodied and swollen with injuries. All of us in the cell thought he would not make it as the Japanese denied him medical treatment. Miraculously, he survived. He was freed by the Allied Forces after the war and knighted. Sir Robert Scott later took over from Malcolm MacDonald as British High Commissioner for Southeast Asia.

My husband and I never thought that we would come out of this ordeal alive. Being imprisoned was torture enough; to undergo interrogation was many time worse.

Monai Tadamori, a Warrant Officer with the kempeitai, would come to chat with the prisoners as and when he felt like it. Just when you least expected it, he would deliver a few hard slaps on your face. The impact would leave you with giddy spells and feeling absolutely helpless. Such despicable acts made life for the prisoners, even more unbearable. I often wondered why people like Monai Tadamori were ever born.

My Release
The Japanese accused my husband and I of helping British underground workers sabotage the military. They wanted the names of our accomplices. But my husband and I were only small-time traders. How were we to find the guts and ability to carry out such extraordinary work? Our captors never got the information they wanted from us. Since further interrogation was pointless, they decided to free me after more than 200 days.

Through the trap door, I crawled out of my cell and walked unsteadily out of the detention centre in Stamford Road. Having been deprived of sunlight during my incarceration, my eyes could hardly open as I stood directly in the sun. My mind was a complete blank. I only saw the Cathay building in front of me. The clothes I had been wearing for more than 200 days smelled really foul. For a long while, I felt I had just returned from death. My body ached from the injuries I had sustained. I almost could not find my way home.

When I finally stumbled my way back to MacKenzie Road, my relatives and neighbours were startled at the sight of me. They kept their distance for fear of getting implicated. I did not blame them at all. The Japanese would not let me off so easily. They were still keeping tabs on me. I was in a pathetic state. I lost so much weight that my waist measured only 13 inches. Fortunately, I was still quite healthy and strong. This could be attributed to my upbringing and the hard lifestyle I'd had.

I Thank My Ancestors for My Unwavering Spirit
My ancestors were Hakkas from Huizhou, China, who later settled in North Borneo (Sabah). Life was very hard then. The children, male and female alike, had to help the adults clear the woods for planting purposes. Work was carried out in sunshine and rain. When we were of school age, we would be sent back to the homeland to study the classics (we called these 'ancient books'). These books contained mostly stories about heroic acts in olden times and the teachers would conduct lessons based on them. Moral values like loyalty, fillial piety, benevolence and righteousness were implanted deeply in my mind. This, plus my strong Christian faith, sustained me throughout my ordeal in prison. No matter how badly the enemy tortured me, I never buckled. I have my ancestors to thank for my unwavering spirit. Despite the mental and physical harm I was subjected to, I never gave up and i go on living healthily. Sadly, my husband was never the same after he was released. The torture he underwent left permanent injuries in his body. We continued together until his death 10 years ago.

I avoided Stamford Road
After the war, I became involved in child education. When I was not working, I had to entertain a never-ending string of guess. Miraculously, I never once fell ill in all these 50 years. I had 'died' once and regarded my second chance at living as 'life's bonus'. Things that used to mean a lot to me ceased to be of importance. The only thing that would upset me was the sight of the YMCA building in Stamford Road. That place was my eternal nightmare. The countless lost souls in it still wandered around aimlessly as their loved ones prayed for them to return one day. Of the more than 20 people I shared a cell with, only a few came out alive.

After my release, I avoided Stamford Road as I just could not bring myself to look at the YMCA building. It was the Japanese army's other killing field besides Operation Clean-up. It bore the blood of their victims whose lives they could never compensate.

Fortress Singapore - The Myth
On a trip to London shortly after the war, I attended the anti -Fascism victory parade . The military representative of the Allied Forces assembled on the parade square looked almighty and sombre in neat lines. To think that, not too long ago, the 100, 000-strong British army guarding Singapore was defeated by just over 30, 000 Japanese soldiers and became victims of torture and slaughter. Was it the question of morale or a tactical blunder? As I watched the proceedings of the grand parade, my happiness was somewhat marred by sadness and regret.

I remember when the Japanese army advanced into Annam (Vietnam) and Siam (Thailand), the residents of Singapore were not too concerned. We all thought Singapore was strong and that it was an invincible fortress. Our complacency continued even right after the Japanese Imperial Army entered the Malay Peninsula. Everyone thought that since the Allied Forces had stationed many cannons on Pulau Belakang Mati ('Island behind death', Sentosa), the Japanese could never make it to Singapore from the shore opposite.

Just when we were basking in that thought, Japanese troops from the north of Malaya advanced Southwards with the speed of lightning. It took them just slightly more than 50 days to reach Johor where they proceeded to capture Singapore. The British Forces panicked and changed their defence line from the South to the North. However, it was too late and Singapore fell into the hands of the enemy. The British had committed the defence blunder which could not be rectified. Within a short span of 69 days, Malaya came under the complete control of Japanese. The arrogance of the British administrators which led to the tactical error, the people's belief in the myth of Fortress Singapore and the lack of commitment on the part of front-line soldiers were contributing factors in the fall of Singapore.

A lesson from the past
50 years have gone. Though the brutal war has become but one of the many chapters in history, it left behind shameful memories. Einstein once said, "I don't know what will be the outcome of the 3rd World War, but in a 4th World War, mankind will only be fighting one another with stones."

In my view, if the foolish continue to start wars to satisfy their selfish desires, they are bound to end up in total defeat. After tasting the fruits of victory for a short span of several years, what was left by the mighty Japanese soldiers was just a complete mess.

In celebrating 50 years of World Peace, reliving the humiliating and horrifying war experience serves to remind us not to take peace for granted. Sometimes, a lot of blood has to be shed in exchange for peace. Hopefully, future generations will continue to learn from this war and be constantly reminded that vigilance is a form of psychological defence.

Elizabeth Choy Su-moi is 86 this year. She became a household name for the ordeal she suffered during World War 2. When the war ended, she received an invitation to see the wife of King George VI at Buckingham Palace. She was awarded OBE ( Order of the British Empire) . In 1950, she was nominated Legislative Councillor by the Governor, Sir Franklin Gimson. Upon her retirement from politics several years later, she became involved in Children's education.