澳媒对华人侨民的报导——战后新不列颠岛华人侨民的精神面貌

澳媒对华人侨民的报导——战后新不列颠岛华人侨民的精神面貌

澳军的随军记者在跟随部队登陆亚包之后，看到被救助的当地中国侨民，精神面貌极佳，深有感触，发出报导，以披露他们在战火中仍然保留的那种乐观情绪。同时，也对担任中国军人营地翻译的麦添强先生当时的心态进行了描述——被日军关押了几年，他仍然关注着太平洋战争爆发前他离开澳洲时的一次球赛结果，真是超级球迷！

400 LAUGHING CHILDREN IN RABAUL'S "LITTLE ASIA"
From ERIC THORNTON

Rabaul

Badly in need of a faith restorative after seeing so much squalor, misery, and evidence of Japanese in humanity in the "Little Asia" behind Rabaul, I have just had the most cheering experience in months. It was to find on this unhappy island a band of gleeful, thriving Chinese children, who splash barefooted in puddles and laugh and shout and play together with as much zest as you will find in any group of normal, healthy young Australians.

That is the most astonishing news that this place has yielded-the fact that these 400 children under 15 years, many of whom have never known anything but hateful Japanese over lordship, have emerged into a free world with minds apparently unscarred.

The nausea our party felt after passing through sordid Japanese camps vanished instantly as we turned into the Chinese internees' camp and were overwhelmed by the horde of children. They demanded of Lieut Syd Woods, of Sydney, military history cinematographer, whether he had Robert Taylor with him and whether they would be in the newsreels. They shrieked with delight as we scattered among them a few sweets from operation rations, the first they ever had, and they followed us everywhere.

We had arrived in the middle of what might have been market day in any Cantonese village. In a bamboo storehouse some of the camp leaders were breaking open dozens of cases of tinned food supplied by the Red Cross, and as he received his share each family group representative darted off with the treasure to shanties in the shade of banana trees. While bantam fowls pecked around our legs we sat in the shade listening to the story of the camp's intelligent young leader, 27 year old Hui Ping-kuan, who formerly was clerk in Burns, Philp Co. at Rabaul. Dorothy Mack worked in the same building, and they were married in the Chinese community during internment. Their pretty six months old daughter is named Maisie.

Dorothy's brother is Mak Tim-keong, known as Timothy Mack in Melbourne, where he attended Wesley College from 1937 to 1939, and in Sydney, where he attended the Metropolitan Business College. He was anxious to know who had won the Head of the River races in Melbourne since he returned to Rabaul just before the Japanese invasion.

Tim, who has been acting as interpreter between Australians and Chinese soldier POWs, gave us letters for friends in Australia, including Mr C. S. Linn, of Elsternwick, who was his guardian.

After several hours in this high spirited atmosphere we left laden with gifts of fruit and followed by yells of the children telling us to come again soon and bring a band next time. We are doing our best to get a battalion band to visit them.

The Argus, Monday 24 September 1945

HAPPY CHINESE CHILDREN FOUND IN RABAUL AREA
(From Our War Correspondent, Eric Thornton)

RABAUL, Sunday    

I have just had the most cheering experience in weeks touring the "Little Asia" behind Rabaul, during which I saw little else but the most dreadful depressing evidence of Jap inhumanity on this unhappy island.

I have just seen a band of cheerful, gleeful youngsters splashing de- lighted in puddles. As they play, they shout with as much zest as you find in any group of normal Australian kiddies of their age. The fact that these 400 children have emerged into the free world with their minds apparently unscarred, is the best news yielded by this place since liberation.

Many of them have had malaria, but, due to the devotedness of their Chinese parents, they have escaped the worst effects of the privations imposed by the Japanese. The nausea felt by our party as it toured the camps of Kowtowing, crestfallen "sons of heaven," living in every degree of sordid squalour, vanished as we came to the camp accommodated by the Chinese internees.

We were literally overwhelmed by a horde of children who demanded of military photographer, Lt Sid Woods, of Waverley, Sydney whether he had Robert Taylor with him, and whether they would see them- selves on newsreels. They shrieked with delight as we scattered ration sweets among them and thereafter followed us everywhere we went.  

The Canberra Times, Monday 24 September 1945