24 Nov 1942, John Charter's wartime journal

((Charter continues describing the meeting about the bulk IRC rations, and the point that food should be all be distributed immediately rather than held centrally.)) This was carried in spite of the warning given by the Chairman that the food (especially the sugar) stored in our already crowded rooms would only encourage ants, cockroaches etc.  The deplorable part about the meeting – or rather about the majority of those that attended it – was the complete lack of faith that these people had, or have, in their fellow men.

“What guarantee have we that once the food goes into a communal store we shall ever get our fair share of it”? -  was one of the questions asked.

“How do we know the store will not be broken into and looted”? - was another. They seemed to forget that it would probably be easier to steal it from the rooms themselves during certain times of the day.

Well, the Chairman and Wittenbach (who was on the BCC sub Committee of 3 who drew up the suggested scheme for food distribution) promised to put forward this resolution to the BCC, but added that they felt it was unlikely to be approved by the Japanese. Wittenbach pointed out earlier in the meeting that most of the bulk food had come from communities in the British Empire who were themselves being rationed and that we therefore were under still a greater moral obligation to use this food to the best possible advantage and ration ourselves as a community instead of just leaving the matter to the conscience of the individual. The majority of people would be wise and economical but a few might eat the whole lot in a couple of months: thinking, if starvation conditions returned, the wise and frugal would feel bound to contribute something to the foolish and prodigal. “No, let them starve” was what a number of people seemed to think: justifiable in it’s way, but a hard attitude to adopt. Needless to say, the meeting showed a hostile attitude to the committee.

One part that particularly disgusted me was a shout from several people of, “They’re jolly well better off than we are,” when Wittenbach referred to the people at home who were rationed and yet sent the food. I left the meeting feeling disgusted with the spirit of some of my fellow countrymen. Thank God they are in the minority here. I do not want to discriminate between classes, but most of these grabbers are the type of wretched ‘white’ who would be nobody at home, but coming to the East reaches a far higher level of living than he would do otherwise, he becomes selfish, greedy and entirely self centered, and probably does not rise in the social scale as he thinks he should and becomes overbearing and self assertive (collectively) because of an inferiority complex. One sees many of these people out here and their behaviour particularly to the Chinese, makes you blush for them and your country which, unfortunately, they represent to many Chinese and Asiatics. However, I digress.