A human perspective of Occupation

WE are all familiar with the horror stories about the Japanese Occupation of Singapore - whether from textbooks, museums or first-hand stories from those who lived through it. We are often told the Japanese were oppressors who staked babies, shot men and raped women.

In Rising Son, a play by Cultural Medallion recipient Dick Lee, all these truisms still very much exist, but they are carefully sidelined to make way for a different perspective - one that is refreshingly human and relatable.

Through the play, Lee questions: What if you had lived through the war, and personally met an honourable Japanese soldier who was none of those things? What if he brought your family food when he had too much, and lent you books because you had access to none? Would you befriend him and risk being shunned as a Japanese sympathiser? Or refuse his kindness and risk his wrath?