1)Japanese attacked Singapore.
2)Elizabeth Choy and her husband provided information for the British to destroy.
3)Husband got caught.
4)She was apprehended by the Japanese.
.
5)Lock up in a small cell crammed with 20 people.
6)She was electricuted,tortured.
7)After she came out,she became a teacher. Then she founded the Singapore School For The Blind.
8)Also posed nude,said that nothing was wrong to pose nude.
9)Interview with survivor.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
From 1951 to 1955 she was nominated by the Governor to the Legislative Council, where she spoke frequently on behalf of the poor and needy, and campaigned for the development of social services and family planning. Her war-time experiences had inculcated in her the belief that civil development required effective protection from aggressors. She served as a second lieutenant in the women’s auxiliary of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, where she acquired the nickname “Gunner Choy”.
In 1953 she represented Singapore at the Coronation, and undertook for the Foreign Office a North American lecture tour to explain the aspirations of the people of Singapore and Malaya. To brief herself she insisted on travelling to the trouble spots of Malaya, which were grappling with Communist insurgents. Both her audiences and the press were captivated by her charm, eloquence and beauty as she affirmed the key values which the West shared with South East Asia.
Her teaching career at St Andrew’s continued until 1973, except for a four-year spell as principal of Singapore’s School for the Blind. After her retirement she improved her languages and travelled. She continued with social work and school visits into her nineties, impressing young Singaporeans with the need to maintain strong national defence.
Elizabeth Choy’s husband died in 1973; she is survived by three adopted daughters.
In 1953 she represented Singapore at the Coronation, and undertook for the Foreign Office a North American lecture tour to explain the aspirations of the people of Singapore and Malaya. To brief herself she insisted on travelling to the trouble spots of Malaya, which were grappling with Communist insurgents. Both her audiences and the press were captivated by her charm, eloquence and beauty as she affirmed the key values which the West shared with South East Asia.
Her teaching career at St Andrew’s continued until 1973, except for a four-year spell as principal of Singapore’s School for the Blind. After her retirement she improved her languages and travelled. She continued with social work and school visits into her nineties, impressing young Singaporeans with the need to maintain strong national defence.
Elizabeth Choy’s husband died in 1973; she is survived by three adopted daughters.
During the world war 1:
During the war, Elizabeth Choy is a teacher and founder of a school for the blind. She was in prison for almost 200 days and was torture by the Japanese in 1943. Her husband and her ran the canteen at the Japanese hospital that had received 800 civilians patients at the surrender of Singapore. Besides food and medicine, they bring messages to British internees. On October 29 her husband was arrested and confined to the Outram Road Prison. She was arrested on November 15 and taken to a cell in the old YMCA building in Orchard Road. She spent 193 days in the cell by more than 20 people in it but she was the only woman. From this she was only allowed out to be interrogated and beaten. To add to the psychological pressure on her husband, she was frequently taken out and tortured in front of her husband, stripped naked while electrodes were inserted into her body. But eventually she was released. Her husband was released some time later.
Places where is worth learning :
They were subjected to interrogation under torture. But they refused to admit the names of any of those whom they had assisted. Quite apart from her celebrity as a war heroine in postwar Singapore, Elizabeth Choy became the first woman member of its Legislative Council in 1951. In 1956 became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind. In 1925 she and her aunt set up North Borneo’ s first Girl Guide company. Her mother died in 1931 and she had to go out to work to help to bring up her younger brothers and sisters. But although she was not able to complete her qualifications, she was able to teach.
After the war:
She worked as an artists’ and photographers’ model. The first copy was donated by her daughters, to whom she gave it, to the Singapore Art Museum. In 1949 she returned to Singapore and in 1951 was appointed to the Legislative Council, serving a five-year term. In 1956 she became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind, after which in 1960 she returned to St Andrews Boys’ School where she had taught before the war.
Biodata :
Elizabeth Choy, wartime prisoner of the Japanese and postwar teacher, was born on November 29, 1910. She died on September 14, 2006, aged 95.
During the war, Elizabeth Choy is a teacher and founder of a school for the blind. She was in prison for almost 200 days and was torture by the Japanese in 1943. Her husband and her ran the canteen at the Japanese hospital that had received 800 civilians patients at the surrender of Singapore. Besides food and medicine, they bring messages to British internees. On October 29 her husband was arrested and confined to the Outram Road Prison. She was arrested on November 15 and taken to a cell in the old YMCA building in Orchard Road. She spent 193 days in the cell by more than 20 people in it but she was the only woman. From this she was only allowed out to be interrogated and beaten. To add to the psychological pressure on her husband, she was frequently taken out and tortured in front of her husband, stripped naked while electrodes were inserted into her body. But eventually she was released. Her husband was released some time later.
Places where is worth learning :
They were subjected to interrogation under torture. But they refused to admit the names of any of those whom they had assisted. Quite apart from her celebrity as a war heroine in postwar Singapore, Elizabeth Choy became the first woman member of its Legislative Council in 1951. In 1956 became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind. In 1925 she and her aunt set up North Borneo’ s first Girl Guide company. Her mother died in 1931 and she had to go out to work to help to bring up her younger brothers and sisters. But although she was not able to complete her qualifications, she was able to teach.
After the war:
She worked as an artists’ and photographers’ model. The first copy was donated by her daughters, to whom she gave it, to the Singapore Art Museum. In 1949 she returned to Singapore and in 1951 was appointed to the Legislative Council, serving a five-year term. In 1956 she became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind, after which in 1960 she returned to St Andrews Boys’ School where she had taught before the war.
Biodata :
Elizabeth Choy, wartime prisoner of the Japanese and postwar teacher, was born on November 29, 1910. She died on September 14, 2006, aged 95.
Elizabeth Choy was a woman who made a difference. War heroine and legislator, Elizabeth is an icon of the strength and resilience of women in Singapore. She was one of the founders of the Singapore Council of Women, a pioneer who played a pivotal role in shaping Singapore’s social and legislative structure.
Mrs. Elizabeth Choy was the first and only women to be nominated to the Legislative Council. In 2005, she was honored by SCWO as one of the outstanding individuals who have made ground breaking contributions to the status and condition of women in Singapore. Immortalised on the SCWO Wall of Fame, her achievements and countless contributions will inspire and encourage the generation of today to understand that the future is ours to shape. The feudal social setting prevailing in the fifties was loaded against women. The status of women in the family and society were inferior to men, polygamy was common, very few were given education, jobs were not easily available and pay was never equal for both genders for the same job. Elizabeth Choy’s was instrumental in the move for women’s emancipation in Singapore.
- shao Wei -
Early lifeElizabeth was born in Kudat in British North Borneo (today Sabah). Her great-grandparents had been assisting German missionaries in Hongkong and their work had brought them to North Borneo. There, the Yong family set up a coconut plantation. Her father had been the eldest in a family of 11 children and after completing his early education in China with some English education in North Borneo, he gained employment as a civil servant. Marrying the daughter of a priest from a well-respected family in North Borneo, he was transferred to Jesselton and later promoted to District Officer and moved on to Borneo's interiors in Kalimantan. Elizabeth was looked after by a Kadazan nanny and acquired Kadazan as her first language.EducationLater, Elizabeth's father was posted to Tenom where there were no educational facilities, so Elizabeth and her siblings were sent back to Kudat where her paternal grandfather ran the village school, teaching in Chinese. Her higher education was taken at St Monica's School between 1921 to 1929, an Anglican missionary boarding school in Sandakan. Because the teachers could not pronounce Chinese names, she adopted the English name Elizabeth. In 1925, she and her aunt Jessie became the first girls to sign up in North Borneo's inaugural Girl Guides Company. By 1927, she was teaching the lower standards even whilst she was studying.In December 1929, she came to Singapore to further her studies at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus at Victoria Street. She shone academically, obtaining the Prize of Honor in her first year of school in December 1930. She resided with her fourth uncle at Selegie where he ran a music shop, the original T. M. A. at High Street. The untimely death of her mother in 1931 and the onset of the Great Depression placed upon her the burden of raising her six younger siblings. Thus she forwent a college education, even a possible scholarship, to start work so she could finance the education of her younger siblings
Elizabeth Choy -Murshid
After the fall of Singapore to Japan in 1942, she and her husband ran a hospital canteen, obtaining food, medicine and money for European internees. In 1943, the couple were arrested by the Japanese. For 193 days, they were locked up in a small cell, where they were tortured and interrogated. They refused to admit to any pro-British sympathies, and never revealed the names of those whom they had assisted.A photograph of her was on display as part of her exceptional life as a war heroine during the World War II at the National Museum in Singapore. The photo was taken in 1949 when she was 39 and was working in London as a nude model in an art school. On the photo, she said, "There is nothing to be ashamed of. The body is a work of nature and God's art. The room I was in was like a temple and the students treated me with such reverence. I felt like a goddess."She was very interested in arts and had enrolled in an art appreciation course in London.She was the first principal of Singapore's School for the Blind. She had a brief appearance in Be with Me (2005) as one of her former students, Theresa Chan, is the subject of the documentary segments of the film.One of her quotes,"If not for war, they would be just like me. They would be at home with their family, doing just ordinary things and peaceful work. Let us pray that there will be no more war."
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