8 WW2 HEROES ETCHED INTO HISTORY
Their names join 176 others on a plaque at Petagas Memorial Park
IT took 73 years after World War 2 ended, but the family of the late Lim Hock Beng beamed with pride as his name was inscribed among other fallen heroes during the Japanese occupation.
Lim’s son, Richard, 81, said the family was proud of his father.
Lim was among eight individuals whose names were the latest to be inscribed on a plaque for fallen heroes at the Petagas World War 2 Memorial Park, joining 176 others.
The others were Mohinder Singh Harnam Singh Kalsi, Lothar Wong Manjaji, Vitalianus Joseph Lim @ Ubing, Paul Lee Fook Onn @ Paul Lee Onn, Simon Thien, Bung Ah Tee @ Stephen Pan Tet Liong and Chong Pin Sin.
The eight, aged between 19 and 49, were denied trial, tortured and killed between June and July 1945 for their resistance against the Japanese.
Their names were unveiled at the annual memorial service here.
Organised by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall, the service was
held before family members, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the armed forces, police as well as dignitaries from the Australian High Commission and Kota Kinabalu Chinese Consulate-General Office.
According to historical records, Lim, a wireless operator at the Jesselton Post and Telegraph Office, was considered “the chief of the rebellion” as he was reportedly gathering intelligence against the Japanese army.
With the help of Mohinder, who hailed from Menggatal, they
checked on enemy planes with binoculars and made plans to coordinate attacks on the Japanese forces.
However, he was taken for questioning and jailed.
Richard said he witnessed how his father was badly beaten and noticed that he had shrunk during two permitted visits.
“At our last meeting, he spoke only to my mother, but everyone got a good hug from him.
“I think he told my mother how to take care of us five siblings.”
Lim and Mohinder were shot to death by Sergeant-Major Uchiyama Chokichi in mid-1945.
“My mother collected his remains a year later from a trench at a rubber plantation in Menggatal,” Richard said, adding that a special burial was done for Lim here, then known as Jesselton.
“We were upset because we had to start all over again without our father. But, she did a tremendous job in taking care of us.”
Richard said his mother died in her 50s.