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Reverted 2 edits by 175.141.52.254 (talk) to last revision by Justanothersgwikieditor

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{{Short description|Singaporean educator and war heroine}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Cai (surname)|Choy]] / [[Yang (surname)|Yong]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Elizabeth Choy
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=90%|OBE}}
| image = Elizabeth Choy, 1953.png
| image_size =
| caption = Choy in 1953
| birth_name = Yong Su-Moi
| birth_date = 29 November 1910
| birth_place = [[Kudat]], [[British North Borneo]] (now [[Sabah]], [[Malaysia]])
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2006|09|14|1910|11|29}}
| death_place = [[Singapore]]
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| other_names = Dayak Woman of Singapore Gunner Choy
| known_for = Heroics during the [[Japanese occupation of Singapore]] in [[World War II]]
| education =
| employer =
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Educator]]|[[councillor]]}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Choy Khun Heng|August 16, 1941|1985|end=died}}
| children =
| parents =
| mother = 
| father = Yong Thau Yin
| relatives = {{unbulleted list|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)}}
| family =
| awards = {{ubl|[[File:Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Order of the British Empire]] (1950)|[[File:The_Most_Excellent_Order_of_the_Star_of_Sarawak_ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Order of the Star of Sarawak]] (1950)|The Girl Guides [[Bronze Cross (Scouting)|Bronze Cross]] (1950)|[[File:Pingat Bakti Setia ribbon (1962–1996).png|30px]] [[Pingat Bakti Setia]] (1973)}}
}}
{{Chinese
| title = Elizabeth Choy-Yong Su-Moi
| t = 蔡楊素梅
| s = 蔡杨素梅
| p = Cài Yáng Sùméi
| j = Coi3 Joeng4 Sou3-mui4
}}
'''Elizabeth Choy Su-Moi''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} ([[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 internee]]s 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 people|Kadazan]] nanny and acquired Kadazan as her first language. She became an [[Anglicanism|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 Secondary School|St Margaret's School]] and then at [[Saint Andrew's School, Singapore|St Andrew's School]].

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

==Life during Japanese Occupation==
During the [[Malayan Campaign|Japanese invasion of Malaya]], Choy served as a [[second lieutenant]] in the women's auxiliary arm of the [[Singapore Volunteer Corps]], where she acquired the nickname "Gunner Choy". She was also a volunteer nurse with the Medical Auxiliary Service. After the [[Battle of Singapore|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 [[Institute of Mental Health (Singapore)|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 [[Double Tenth Incident]], an informant told the [[Kempeitai]] (Japanese military police) that the Choys were involved in smuggling money into Changi Prison, resulting in the arrest of Choy's husband. After several days, Choy went to the [[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".<ref>{{cite news|title=Former M.O.I. Chief testifies against Japs|publisher=The Straits Times|date=21 March 1946|page=3}}</ref> Throughout her imprisonment, her strong [[Christianity|Christian]] faith and the classic texts that she learnt in school about moral values kept her strong.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38544695 |title=The price of peace : true accounts of the Japanese occupation = [Ho p'ing ti tai chia] |date=1997 |publisher=Asiapac |others=Choon Hon Foong |isbn=981-3068-53-1 |location=Singapore |oclc=38544695}}</ref>

At the Japanese surrender in Singapore in September 1945, Choy was invited by [[Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma|Lady Mountbatten]] to witness the official ceremony, where she was escorted by the governor, [[Shenton Thomas|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, [[Olave Baden-Powell|Lady Baden-Powell]] awarded her the [[Girl Guides]]' highest honour for gallantry, the [[Bronze Cross (Scouting)|Bronze Cross]], and the [[Charles Vyner Brooke|Rajah of Sarawak Charles Brooke]] presented her with the [[Order of the Star of Sarawak]]. The Choys were bestowed with the [[Order of the British Empire|Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in June 1946.<ref>{{cite news|title=Governor of Singapore made a knight: more Malayans in birthday honours list|publisher=The Straits Times|date=13 June 1946|page=1}}</ref> 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 The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] at [[St James's Palace]] on 25 July 1946.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mrs Choy sees the Queen|publisher=The Straits Times|date=25 July 1946}}</ref>
[[File:Serene Jade (1949) by Dora Gordine, National Gallery Singapore - 20160101.jpg|thumb|"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 [[1950 Singapore Municipal Commission election|election in December 1950]] for the West Ward. However, she lost to the [[Progressive Party (Singapore)|Progressive Party]] candidate Soh Ghee Soon.

From 1951 to 1955, Choy was nominated by the [[Governors of Singapore|Governor]] to the [[Legislative Council of Singapore]], where she spoke frequently on behalf of the poor and needy, and campaigned for the development of social services and family planning. As a member of the Legislative Council, she represented Singapore at the [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]] in June 1953. She later stood for elections in [[Queenstown, Singapore|Queenstown]] but retired from politics thereafter.

Choy's teaching career at [[Saint Andrew's School, Singapore|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, [[qipao]]s and [[bangle]]s, which earned her the nickname "Dayak Woman of Singapore".

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

==List of honours==
* [[File:Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon.png|90px]] [[Order of the British Empire]]
* [[File:The Most Excellent Order of the Star of Sarawak ribbon.svg|90px]] [[Order of the Star of Sarawak]]
* [[File:Pingat Bakti Setia ribbon (from 1996).png|90px]] [[Pingat Bakti Setia]] (Singapore)

==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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Leong|first=James|title=7.00pm Television Corporation of Singapore English News|location=Singapore|publisher=Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS)|date=30 October 1997}}</ref>

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 [[Channel 8 (Singaporean TV channel)|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 [[Channel 5 (Singaporean TV channel)|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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070118222950/http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/details/SIP_816_2005-01-25.html Infopedia, Biography Abstract] (National Library Board)
* [http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/html/etc/elizabeth.htm Elizabeth Choy – Singapore's War Heroine, Politician and Teacher (1910–2006)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211083041/http://a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/html/etc/elizabeth.htm |date=11 February 2009 }} (National Archives of Singapore)
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1531003/Elizabeth-Choy.html Obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph'', 10 October 2006]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061109203155/http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/war/headline/ec200.html 200 Days In Hell – An account of Choy's Imprisonment]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choy, Elizabeth}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Sabah]]
[[Category:Singaporean people of Hakka descent]]
[[Category:Singaporean educators]]
[[Category:Saint Andrew's School, Singapore alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Singapore]]
[[Category:Malaysian emigrants to Singapore]]
[[Category:Singaporean prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan]]
[[Category:Wartime torture victims]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Singapore]]
[[Category:Singaporean women in politics]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Star of Sarawak]]
[[Category:20th-century Singaporean educators]]

Elizabeth Choy - Revision history

imported>Justanothersgwikieditor: Reverted 2 edits by 175.141.52.254 (talk) to last revision by Justanothersgwikieditor