Elizabeth Choy

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Choy / Yong.
Elizabeth Choy
Educator
  • councillor
    • Known forHeroics during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II
    Spouse
    Choy Khun Heng
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1941; died 1985)​
    Parent
    • Yong Thau Yin (father)
    Relatives
    • Yong Sinn Siong (grandfather)
    • Moo Enn Cong (grandmother)
    • Yong Kon Vui (brother)
    • Bridget Wai Fong (adopted daughter)
    • Irene Wai Fun (adopted daughter)
    • Lynette Wai Ling (adopted daughter)
    Awards
    Elizabeth Choy-Yong Su-Moi
    Hanyu Pinyin
    		Cài Yáng Sùméi
    Yue: Cantonese
    JyutpingCoi3 Joeng4 Sou3-mui4

    Elizabeth Choy Su-Moi

    née Yong; 29 November 1910 – 14 September 2006) was a Singaporean educator and councillor who is regarded as a war heroine in Singapore. Along with her husband, Choy Khun Heng, she supplied medicine, money and messages to Far East prisoners of war and civilian internees held in Changi Prison during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II
    .

    Early life

    Choy was born in a

    Hakka family in Kudat, North Borneo (now Sabah). Her great-grandparents first came to Kudat from Hong Kong to assist German missionaries in their work. The eldest of 11 children, Choy's father worked as a civil servant after completing his early education in China with some English education in North Borneo, where he married the daughter of a priest. He transferred to work in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) and was later promoted to District Officer and he moved to Kalimantan
    .

    Choy was raised by a Kadazan nanny and acquired Kadazan as her first language. She became an Anglican at St Monica's Boarding School in Sandakan, where she adopted the name "Elizabeth", and went on to pursue higher education in Raffles College (now the National University of Singapore) in Singapore. As her family could not afford the tuition fees, she started to teach, first at St Margaret's School and then at St Andrew's School.

    In August 1941, she married Choy Khun Heng, employed by the Borneo Company.

    Life during Japanese Occupation

    During the

    fall of Singapore in 1942, the Choys set up a canteen at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, after all the patients and doctors had been moved from the Miyako Hospital (former Woodbridge Hospital), where they soon started a regular ambulance run for British civilian internees. The couple helped prisoners interned in Changi Prison by passing to them cash and parcels containing fresh clothing, medicine and letters during their deliveries. They incurred further risk by sending in radio parts for hidden receivers until the Japanese crackdown following Operation Jaywick
    .

    During the subsequent

    Kempeitai East District Branch to ask about her husband. The Japanese denied knowledge of him, but lured her back to the branch three weeks later and confined her with other prisoners. She was imprisoned and subjected to torture. R. H. Scott, a former Director of the British Ministry of Information (Far Eastern Branch) and principal witness at the War Crimes Court in Singapore, later testified that he saw Choy being stripped and severely beaten "on at least one occasion".[1] Throughout her imprisonment, her strong Christian faith and the classic texts that she learnt in school about moral values kept her strong.[2]

    At the Japanese surrender in Singapore in September 1945, Choy was invited by Lady Mountbatten to witness the official ceremony, where she was escorted by the governor, Sir Shenton Thomas, and his wife, to whom she had sent medicine in Changi Prison.

    Post-war life in England

    After the war, the Choys were invited to England to recuperate. During their stay, Lady Baden-Powell awarded her the Girl Guides' highest honour for gallantry, the Bronze Cross, and the Rajah of Sarawak Charles Brooke presented her with the Order of the Star of Sarawak. The Choys were bestowed with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 1946.[3] They were honoured for their work in assisting British prisoners of war in Malaya during the Japanese occupation. In addition, Choy received the honour of having a half-hour private audience with Queen Elizabeth at St James's Palace on 25 July 1946.[4]

    "Serene Jade" (1949) by Dora Gordine, National Gallery Singapore

    During her four-year stay in England, Choy studied domestic science at the Northern Polytechnic (now the University of North London) and taught at a London council school. Intent on studying art but without the finances for this venture, Choy began a stint as an artist's model, posing for two sculptures, "Serene Jade" and "Flawless Crystal", by the sculptor Dora Gordine.

    Later life in Singapore

    On returning to Singapore in 1949, Choy resumed teaching and became involved in the political developments preceding Singapore's independence. She stood in the election in December 1950 for the West Ward. However, she lost to the Progressive Party candidate Soh Ghee Soon.

    From 1951 to 1955, Choy was nominated by the

    Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. She later stood for elections in Queenstown
    but retired from politics thereafter.

    Choy's teaching career at St Andrew's School continued until 1974, except for a four-year spell as the first principal, as well as a teacher, at the Singapore School for the Blind from 1956. After her retirement she improved her languages and travelled. She continued with social work and school visits into her 90s, impressing young Singaporeans with the need to maintain strong national defence.

    Choy was also noted for wearing traditional Chinese and Indian clothing,

    qipaos and bangles
    , which earned her the nickname "Dayak Woman of Singapore".

    Choy died from pancreatic cancer in 2006 at the age of 95.

    List of honours

    Portrayal in media

    In October 1986, Choy's life story was adapted into a stage play Not Afraid To Live, Not Afraid To Remember by Kim Ramakrishnan. The play was directed by Lim Siauw Chong and was staged by Theatreworks at the Drama Centre in Singapore.

    On 11 September 1995, a column on Choy, titled "She paid 40 cents for me to have this picture", was published in the Singapore newspaper The Straits Times. It was written by columnist Koh Buck Song, one of Choy's former students.

    On 29 October 1997, an exhibition titled Elizabeth Choy : A Woman Ahead of Her Time was officially opened at the

    Singapore History Museum in honour of Choy's contributions to Singapore. The exhibition was considered unique for a living woman in Singapore history, tracing her life as a nurse, her travels to the United Kingdom to meet royalty, her 22-year teaching career at St Andrew's School, and her vast contributions to the less fortunate. More than 100 artefacts of pictures and newspaper clippings of her past, including the sculpture Serene Jade, were on display at the exhibition. This was a nude sculpture of Choy, created in 1949 by Dora Gordine. It was also the first in a series of four sculptures by Gordine, and only five other copies of the sculpture remain in existence.[5]

    Choy's life and experiences during the Japanese occupation of Singapore had been depicted twice in television. The first time was in The Price of Peace, a Chinese-language drama series aired on TCS Eighth Frequency (now MediaCorp Channel 8) in 1997, in which she appeared as a semi-fictional character and was portrayed by actress Xiang Yun. The second time was in Life Stories – Story of Elizabeth Choy, which was aired on the English-language MediaCorp Channel 5 in 2007.

    Bibliography

    • Choy, Elizabeth, (1974) My Autobiography as Told to Shirley Gordon Kuala Lumpur.
    • Zhou, Mei. (1995). Elizabeth Choy: More than a war heroine: A biography Singapore: Landmark Books.
      ISBN 981-3002-98-0
    • Foong, Choon Hon (1997). The Price of Peace Singapore: Asiapac Books.
      ISBN 981-3068-53-1
      .

    References

    1. ^ "Former M.O.I. Chief testifies against Japs". The Straits Times. 21 March 1946. p. 3.
    2. OCLC 38544695.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
      )
    3. ^ "Governor of Singapore made a knight: more Malayans in birthday honours list". The Straits Times. 13 June 1946. p. 1.
    4. ^ "Mrs Choy sees the Queen". The Straits Times. 25 July 1946.
    5. ^ Leong, James (30 October 1997). "7.00pm Television Corporation of Singapore English News". Singapore: Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS).

    External links

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Choy&oldid=1219613118"