British Surrender

Today, the Japanese had captured the northern and central parts of Singapore. They had also captured the reservoirs and airfields in Singapore. The British held only a small area of the city in the south of Singapore. Most areas of the city had no water and food. The British had little petrol and few bullets left. The soldiers defending Singapore were tired. They felt that more soldiers and civilians would be killed if they continue to fight. At a meeting, Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival and his commaders agreed to surrender. So, he arrived with a few British soldiers at the Ford Motor Factory in Bukit Timah. This is where the Japanese set up their headquarters in Singapore. The Japanese Commander, Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita wanted to show that the Japanese were powerful. So, he invited Japanese reporters to witness the surrender. They also take photographs and videos of the surrender which will be shown all over the world. Percival shook hands with Yamashita across a conference table. The British soldiers sat at the opposite the Japanese soldiers.
The discussion went like this :
Yamashita : Do you wish to surrender unconditionally?
Percival     : Yes...We do.
Yamashita : Do you have any Japanese prisoners-of-war?
Percival     : None at all.
Yamashita : Very well. Will you sign this document of surrender?
Yamashita hands over a document.
Percival     : Would you wait until tommorrow morning?
He made an angry face.
Yamashita : YES or NO?
Yamashita folds his arms.
Yamashita : All I want to know is, do you surrender unconditianlly or not?
-END-
So, after knowing this I felt sad because I know that we will have to follow what the Japanese say and if they don't know how to speak English, we will have to learn their language so as to understand wha they are saying.

Book : Ministry of Education, Singapore (2007) Interacting with Our World : Singapore Under Foreign
            Rule. Marshall Cavendish Education