Martlett: I was not born when the japs occupied Malaysia, but my parents lived under it. My dad, at the age of 12 had to work in a factory producing stuff for the jap war effort. (Until said factory was levelled by B24s - lucky the air-raid siren was working that day). The japanese occupation remains in the collective consciousness of most Malaysians because it was a recent event.
I took it that you were an American and not a Scot. Amercia has never been occupied, as far as I know.
Ravs