“Japanese occupation had a negative impact.” Discuss with reference to two South-East Asian countries.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that Japanese occupation had a negative impact. Candidates may offer equal coverage of two countries, or they may prioritize their discussion of one of them. However, both countries will be a feature of the response. Korea, Japan and China are not valid options. Topics for discussion could include the treatment of the Chinese populations in, for example, Malaya and Vietnam; policies towards censorship and freedom of speech; economic exploitation and the suppression of resistance movements. There may be discussion of the deportation of labour from, for example, Indonesia, and the use of “comfort women” in, for example, the Philippines and Indonesia. Positive impacts to balance the discussion could include the boosting of nationalism intentionally in Indonesia and unintentionally in the Philippines. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that Japanese occupation had a negative impact. There were several responses to this question but most failed to effectively address the question. There were some strong responses, but the majority of responses seen did not give valid case studies. Korea and China are not in South East Asia and therefore are not valid examples for this question. It is really important that candidates are aware of the different areas within the region of this paper.