A distant uncle of mine was with the resistance in Malaya after the fall of Singapore. After the war, he did odd jobs, was a hawker for a while, then worked as a cleaner (his boss jabot without paying their salary... and that made the news at that time). All his life he lived in a one room rental HDB. He has since passed on and is survived by his wife - now in a Old Folks Home. The couple is childless. As a kid, whenever we visited during CNY, he would talk fondly about his Malayan jungle experience.
He did not get any recognition or benefit for risking his life in WWII... and here's the thing that really hit me each time: he NEVER complained about it - did not even mention it.