Several years after the war, a man told reporters what happened when Japan attacked Indonesia in 1942.
“Japanese soldiers pointed guns to our heads. I was only a young boy. I was afraid, so I agreed to become their slave. The Japanese took me away and I never saw my family again. Others were not so lucky. The soldiers killed them. Life was tough. I had to do hard labour every day. I even had to climb coconut trees because the Japanese loved coconut water. When the war ended in 1945, I was in Sabah. I became a Malaysian citizen. I still think of my family. I don’t even know if they are dead or alive.”