Question to the Old Ford Factory

Last Thursday, I visited the Old Ford Factory where the British Commander in Singapore, Lieutenant General Percival, signed the surrender document in 1942.

The first thing that caught my attention after I entered the building was a Japanese flag, obviously given to a Japanese conscript with so many words of encouragement on it.  I noticed from those words that the young man was from Fukuoka, a western part of Japan.

Another thing I could not overlook at the building was a big celebratory banner for a primary school teacher who was to be sent to the front.  With a few clicks, I found out, helped by the name of the school that was clearly printed on the banner, he was teaching at a school in Yamaguchi Prefecture.  The school is still there.

I was very uncomfortable to find those memorials used as props of the war exhibition as if to vilify every Japanese soldier.  Those important and personal articles certainly belong to their respective families or friends in Japan.  I would like to have an explanation from the management of this museum what sort of effort it has made to return them.  The families of the soldiers would regret if they know those are used in such a way in a foreign land, apparently without their permission.