At the 1 May 2026 ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the placement of the Nadukal at the Chedi Niraman, the Ambassador of Malaysia to Thailand and the Governor of Kanchanaburi cooperated to debut a video of what we now call the Romusha Anthem.
It was written by Malaysian-Tamil Amigo Sockalingam
Here is the video:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2747917915589871
and the lyrics:
[Intro]
“நாங்கள் நினைவில் னைத்திருக்கிற ாம்…”
(Naangal ninaivil vaithirukkirom…)
We remember… Romusha…
[Verse 1]
Promises written in dreams,
But broken beneath screams,
From Malaya shores to Siam’s grave,
They came as workers… denied as slaves…
“வீடு திரும்பும் நாள் காத்திருந்றதாம்…”
(We waited for the day to return home…)
[Pre-Chorus]
No food… no light… no mercy shown,
Their names erased, their pain unknown,
“உயிர்ஒை்வைாை்றும் ரயிலில் புனதந்தது…”
(Each life buried beneath the railway…)
[Chorus]
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU, ROMUSHA!
காலம் கடந்தாலும் நினைவில் நீங்காது!
(Time may pass, but you won’t fade!)
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU, ROMUSHA!
இரண் டு இலட்சம் உயிர்களிை் குரல்!
(The voice of two hundred thousand souls!)
Oh beloved… though you’re gone away,
We will pray… we will pray…
“உயிர்சென் றாலும் நினனவு நினைக்கும்…”
(Even if life is gone, memory remains…)
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU!
[Verse 2]
415 kilometers of pain and cries,
Mountains cut under bleeding skies,
Disease and hunger took their breath,
Each sleeper laid… another death…
(Tamil – emotional)
“அம்மா அனைத்தாள்… ஆைால் ைரவில்னல…”
(Mother called… but they never returned…)
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Beaten, broken, left to fall,
No one heard their final call…
(Tamil)
“மண் ணில் விழுந்றதாம்… வெயர்கூட இல்லாமல்…”
(We fell to the earth… without even a name…)
[Chorus]
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU, ROMUSHA!
உங்கள் தியாகம் எங்கள் உயிரில்!
(Your sacrifice lives within us!)
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU, ROMUSHA!
உலகம் றகட்கும் ைனர நாங்கள் ொடுறைாம்!
(We will sing until the world hears!)
Through tears and time, your souls will rise,
To the Creator beyond the skies…
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU!
[Bridge]
From Kanchanaburi, Nadukal stands,
“இந்த உறுதி எைறுமஉனடயாது…”
(This promise will never break…)
Even when we leave this
Our prayers will carry your worth…
[Final Chorus]
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU, ROMUSHA!
நட்சத்திரம் றொல நீங்கா நினைவு!
(Like stars, your memory never fades!)
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU, ROMUSHA!
உயிர்வகாடுத்த வீரர்கறள!
(O warriors who gave your lives!)
Till we meet beyond the pain,
Where no soul will die again…
WE WILL REMEMBER YOU… FOREVER!
[Outro]
“நாங்கள் ம க்க மாட்றடாம்…”
(We will never forget…)
Romusha…
===================================
We will never know their names.
We will never know how many nor exactly where they came from.
We can, however, try to tell their story so that they will never be forgotten.
Beneath this obelisk lies a vault holding the remains of over 10,000 Asian forced laborers, known as
Romusha. These men were brought here during World War II, many dying in camps and hospitals near
the Thai-Burma Railway. After post-war development uncovered their graves, the temple community
reburied them, marking the site with the “Grave of 10,000 Souls” in 1957. Known as Chedi Niranam-
the grave of the anonymous-this monument stands as a solemn reminder of untold suffering and
sacrifice
During WWII, tens of thousands of Asian forced laborers-Romusha-were brought to Kanchanaburi to
build the 415 km Thai-Burma Railway. The largest group were Tamil-Indians from Malaya, alongside
Allied POWs. While about 61,000 POWs worked on the railway, between 250,000-500,000 Romusha
were forced into labor, suffering a death rate nearly double that of the POWs. After the railway’s
completion in 1943, survivors were consolidated into camps near Kanchanaburi, where many later
perished. The cremains buried beneath the obelisk belong to these anonymous Romusha workers.
Most of the Romusha were Tamils, joined by smaller groups of Javanese, Singaporean Chinese, and
Vietnamese. Unlike Allied POWs, they had no cemeteries-many were cremated in mass fires, often
without records, due to Japanese fears of cholera. Deaths continued daily in camps and hospitals, with
bodies buried in shared graves. Even after WWII ended, the Romusha were abandoned, forced to
survive or trek home on their own, often for months. Decades later, descendants and community
leaders sought to honor them, adding a plaque in Malaysia and renovating the shrine in 2025 to
preserve their story.
MIB-Malaysians Indians in Bangkok-was born during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2021 as Hands That Serve, a small group distributing meals to the poor on Silom Road. With support from Tamil
Sangam volunteers, it grew into a community effort serving up to 100 meals every weekend.
As life returned to normal post-COVID, MIB shifted focus to new projects. For me, as the son of a first-
generation Indian immigrant taken to Thailand during WWII to work on the Thai-Burma Railway, the
memory of the Romusha-Asian Forced Laborers-was deeply personal. – Dr. Silva Kumar – MIB
In November 2021, MIB members honored the Romusha at Don Rak war cemetery and were introduced to Dr. JJ Karwacki, whose research confirmed that the nearby temple obelisk-Chedi Niranam, the grave of the anonymous-held the remains of Romusha who died in Kanchanaburi after the railway’s
completion. With the Abbot’s approval, MIB began fundraising in 2024 to renovate and re-dedicate the monument to the Tamils who formed the majority of the Romusha. On May 1, 2024, a large ceremony was held to dedicate the new Nadukal memorial stone.