In Kuantan, Malaya, the Chinese community celebrates the Double Tenth festival for the first time since the Japanese occupation.

Short shot of a street in Kuantan. Chinese republican flags flying from shops. A small informal group of Chinese troops, described on the dopesheet as being of 7th Regiment (probably of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), the guerilla arm of the Malayan Communist Party), walking along a street. Wide shot of a gathering crowd with banners or standards; the head of a Chinese dragon can be seen above the crowd. A crowd watches a dragon dance, with a series of good shots of the performance. At the end of the performance the 'dragon' is seen climbing a pole. A square gazebo-like structure is carried in a procession. Crowd shots. Man beating a drum. Flags and banners in the procession. Onlookers. Chinese children. Wide shot with the 'dragon' climbing a pole. Crowd shots. Thin smoke drifts from exploding fire crackers; young children scramble in the street for something but it is not clear. Crowd walking away from camera. A number of men carrying a large banner on a wooden frame. Out of focus shot of a parade. Cymbal players (focus corrected). Men beating cymbals. A man beating a drum carried by bearers. Men playing wind instruments, probably kinds of oboe (suona?). Men playing stringed instruments, presumably of the huqin fiddle family. A group of women. Children with flowers. Wide shot of the local padang, or green space. Shot of the padang with a local man approaching camera; he appears to be carrying two braziers on a shoulder yoke. An empty grandstand. Procession arriving with people carrying flags and lanterns. Crowd shot; a large paper fish can be seen in held above the crowd in the background. A miniature pagoda (?) is carried in. Wide shots. A guard of honour of the 7th Regiment (MPAJA). Scene from the grandstand with the crowd, banners etc. A Chinese soldier of the MPAJA, ironically framing a nationalist Chinese flag behind him. Various guests of honour on the podium. Flags of the Soviet Union, China, Britain and the United States; the crowd bow their heads. Crowd shot; civilians stand next to a unit of Chinese guerillas. A man named on the dopesheet as Mr Hong Chee and identified as the secretary of the [Malayan] Communist Party. Crowd. A man identified as Mr Saw Eng Chong (his credentials are not given). Major Frederick Chapman, an officer of the Special Operations Executive's Force 136, addressing the crowd. An RAF Taylorcraft Auster observation aircraft passing overhead. Chong Chin, commander of the 7th Regiment, delivers a speech. A 'Chinese Women's leader' addressing the crowd. Crowd shot taken in fading light.

Notes

The Double Tenth celebration commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911, which led to the demise of the Qing Dynasty and the birth of the Chinese Republic under the first president, Sun Yat-sen.

The MPAJA was a Chinese guerilla force originating amongst ethnic Chinese members of the Malayan Communist Party. A nucleus of what became the MPAJA were trained by the British prior to the fall of Singapore, and were supplied with British weapons and explosives. Within a few years of this film elements of the MPAJA would reform as the Malayan National Liberation Army and would fight Commonwealth forces during the Malayan Emergency 1948-60.

The dopesheet also mentions a Captain Stewart and a Lieutenant Lack as having attended. These two officers were responsible for running the Kuantan Police, and their efforts can be seen in the film referenced below. See related items.