Compensation for S'pore PoWs

Compensation for S'pore PoWs

SINGAPORE (AFP): More than 70 Singaporean survivors of Japanese World War II prison camps are seeking compensation from Britain for their wartime suffering, a report said on Friday.

The claims were lodged after the British War Pensions Agency ruled that Singaporeans were eligible for a 10,000 pound (US$15,000) payout awarded to British survivors of Far East PoW camps.

"The war years were terrible and many people were badly treated by the Japanese. The money will not make us forget the pain but it will be a great help in our old age," said former PoW Jimmy Chew, 76.

Chew was only 16 and working as an aero-engine fitter in the British army here when he was captured, The Straits Times reported on Friday. Group Capt. Chris Le Bar, defense adviser to the British High Commission in Singapore, said between 70 and 80 people, mostly Singaporeans, had collected application forms in the city state.