Lim Bo Seng's personal diary on display for the first time
For 70 years, war hero Lim Bo Seng's seven children knew him only from his war diary.
It was only last year they found his personal diary and discovered that he had written fondly about each of them.
That diary will go on display for the first time, at the National Museum of Singapore's exhibition, Witness to War: Remembering 1942, from Sept 23 to March next year.
Mr Lim was a prominent businessman who fought the Japanese in World War II. He belonged to a British special operations force that collected information for the recapture of Malaya.
He was caught and tortured before he died in Batu Gajah prison in June 1944.
Madam Leow Oon Geok and Dr Lim Whye Geok are two of his children.
Oldest child Madam Leow, 86, told The New Paper that she believed that the personal diary was returned with the rest of her father's belongings after the war but had been overlooked.
She said: "We forgot about it until my sister-in-law gave it to us last year when she found it with my brother's belongings after his death."
The retired teacher from Raffles Girls' School was struck by how often her father mentioned his children and wife in the diary.
She said: "He was a strict father, making sure we did not waste a single grain of rice, but he was very loving.
"My mother... always expected him to come back after the war and was devastated when she heard of his death. She never remarried."
Dr Lim, 80, was only five when his father left to fight in the war.
"Of course, I am proud of what he did for the country. But I wonder what he could have done for Singapore's commerce and business sector if he had come back from the war," he said.
Madam Leow said: "I hope young Singaporeans realise the hardship of life during the war and remember that Singapore is their home and they should do their part for the country when there is a need."
FYI
WHAT: Witness to War: Remembering 1942
WHERE: National Museum of Singapore
WHEN: Sept 23 to March 25 next year
HIGHLIGHTS: The exhibition will focus on the period leading up to the fall of Singapore in 1942 and its immediate aftermath. Highlights include a 25-pounder gun recently acquired by the National Museum of Singapore.
FOR MORE: www.nationalmuseum.sg
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