Choy, Elizabeth (b. 1910)
Choy, Elizabeth (b. 1910)
Singaporean heroine, politician and educator. Name variations: Betty Choy. Born 1910 in Kudat, northern tip of British North Borneo; m. Choy Khun Heng, 1941 (died 1983); children: (adopted) Bridget, Lynette and Irene.
Came to Singapore (Dec 1929); began career as a teacher at St. Margaret's (then known as Church of England Zenana Mission School); married just before Singapore fell to the Japanese (1941); with husband, ran a canteen for POWs and began passing on food, money, letters and news to them; when Japanese ships were blown up in Keppel Harbor (Double Tenth Massacre, Oct 10, 1943), came under suspicion and husband arrested (Oct 29); lured to the Kempeitai (secret police) quarters on the pretext of seeing her husband, was interrogated and tortured for 193 days but refused to confess to something she had not done; released (May 26, 1944); at war's end, hailed as a heroine; was invited to be a member of the Legislative Council (1951), the only woman member; helped found the Singapore Council of Women; served as principal for the School for the Blind (1956–60); taught at St. Andrew's School (1960–74). Awarded OBE (1946).
See also Zhou Mei, Elizabeth Choy: More than a War Heroine (Landmark, 1995).