Anti-Japanese Activism
When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Lim and other Chinese in Singapore participated in anti-Japanese activities, such as the boycotting of Japanese goods and fund-raising to support the war effort in China.
Towards the end of 1937, hundreds of overseas Chinese working in Japanese-owned industries in Malaya went on strike. At that time, the Japanese government owned a tin mine in Dungun (龍運), Terengganu, Malaya, where nearly 3,000 Chinese labourers were employed. The tin was shipped to Japan and used as raw material to manufacture weapons. Lim felt that if the workers in the Dungun mine went on strike, the Japanese would suffer a huge loss, so he planned to make the workers go on strike. Around February 1938, Lim travelled to Dungun with Zhuang Huiquan (simplified Chinese: 庄惠泉; traditional Chinese: 莊惠泉; pinyin: Zhuāng Huìquán) of the Singapore Anxi Association to carry out their plan. Zhuang went to the mine to persuade the workers to go on strike while Lim contacted the local police and gained their support. By early March, Lim and Zhuang achieved success as many workers left the mine and followed them to Singapore. On March 11, 1938, Lim and the Singapore Chinese community held a welcoming ceremony for the workers, who were later resettled and found employment in Singapore.
In December 1941, Lim was put in charge of organising a group of volunteers to resist the Japanese, who were advancing towards Southeast Asia. The volunteers put up a fierce fight against the Japanese during the Battle of Singapore in February 1942.
Read more about this topic: Lim Bo Seng