Speaking to FMT on the 75th anniversary of the Japanese landing in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Khoo said more education on World War II, including the events before and after, would give students a better understanding of Japan.

“How did a relatively small country become a giant in a short span of time? Students should also know how fast the Japanese got back on their feet after losing the war.”

Khoo said World War II education, especially on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak, should focus on society, politics and economy then.

“As an example, if you talk about society then, people had to plant and eat tapioca with salt.

“As for entertainment, in the big towns, the amusement parks that were popular before the war continued to exist during the Japanese Occupation.”

In these amusement parks, Khoo said, there would be Chinese operas, cabaret shows and gambling stalls.

“In terms of administration, the Japanese continued to honour the agreements the British made with the Malay rulers, which accorded them special Malay rights.

This, he said, was why the Japanese never closed the Malay schools but closed all other schools.

He pointed out it was a fallacy that the British, and by extension the Japanese, practised a “divide and conquer” form of administration.

“The British only honoured the agreements it made with the sultans at the time.

“They never sought to divide and conquer the people of Malaya, and when the Japanese took over, they did the same.”

The Japanese had captured all of Malaya by Jan 31, 1942. The Occupation of Malaya ended on Sept 4, 1945.