Japanese Occupation Birth certificate
Dear Reader,
Have you ever wondered what the birth certificate of a pioneer generation person who is born during the second world war in Singapore look like? For the first time, I handled one of the birth certificates of this old lady who was born in 1942, when Singapore was occupied by the Japanese.
What was interesting was firstly, the document was in Japanese. I think this must be really rare, to be a Singaporean with a birth certificate in Japanese, and probably applies to less than 1,000 folks still alive.
Secondly, the year! It was recorded as the Year 2602, which is the Japanese imperial year (皇紀, kōki) or “national calendar year”, a unique calendar system in Japan.
I didn’t know that Singapore adopted this system for those 3 years and 8 months. So in accordance to the calendar era after the enthronement of Emperor Jimmu in Japan is called the “Jimmu Era” or “Jimmu Tenno Sokui Kigen” (神武天皇即位紀元) in Japanese.
This era system counts years from the legendary ascension of Emperor Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan according to Japanese mythology. This year, 2023 is 2603. This lady is now 82 years old.
A piece of history I thought interesting and hope you’ll find it eye-opening too!
If you look to the right of the document, the old lady's father wrote down the year of her birth in the Chinese Calendar (民国)。 The Republic of China calendar is the method of numbering years currently used in the Republic of China (ROC) (Taiwan, Kinmen, and Matsu). It was used in mainland China from 1912 until the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Following the Chinese imperial tradition of using the sovereign’s era name and year of reign, official ROC documents use the Republic (literally “The Country of the People”) system of numbering years in which the first year was 1912, the year of the founding of the Republic of China. For example, 2012 is the “101st year of the Republic”. Months and days are numbered according to the Gregorian calendar.
*If you'd like to read more of my articles, please go to https://allgifted.com/all-gifted-home/
Regards,
Pamela Lim
Pamela Lim
Dear Reader, Almost a year ago, you indicated your interest in getting my comic cookbook. The book is finally published! It was featured in the Straits Times during the Singapore National Day. Straits Times Article for National Day Kindly note that while the book is free, please cover the handling costs, which will be paid to the packer. The books are not free to me, I had to purchase them from the publisher to send them to you. Alternatively, you may purchase the book at a discounted price...
Dear Reader, Thank you very much for signing up for our post 'A' level webinar. It is suitable for students and parents of students who are nearing university entrance and would like to maximize the results.I will be covering the strategies for tidying up your CV to get into the best course in the university of your choice in this seminar. I believe that it will be useful for university entrance. This is what I share with my undergraduate students as their career counselor. This is the link...
Dear Reader, I remember the day I collected my 'A' levels results. My teacher was disappointed that I did well enough to get into the university. Despite not being the most attentive student and facing significant challenges in a traditional classroom setting and reading a book remains a hurdle I have yet to overcome to this day. At a time when only 5% of the population advanced to university, I defied expectations and secured my place, not fitting the 'typical' profile of success but...