Japanese Occupation- Dato' Param.pdf - Malaysian Paediatric ...

And finally the day came when normality was regained, and it was safe for us to return to our house
in C 5 Bagan Luar Road. My father resumed his career as a Senior clerk. For extra income, my mother
made some ‘kueh’ which my younger sister would lay out in front of the PWD Office, and sell it for a few
cents. She, with her pretty face, and captivating smile, soon became a successful entrepreneur.
We got used to seeing Japanese soldiers walking around, and soon my second brother started to
make friends with some of them. The first batch of soldiers who were involved with the early assault
had moved on to other battle fronts. Their replacements were more friendly, and cultured ,and tried
very hard to get on with the locals. One such friend was a 21year old foot soldier named Awayagi.
He used to visit us on his off days, bringing rice for my mother. He would then take off his shirt , and
start pounding the rice to make rice flour. My mother would be seated in a stool next to the mortar(ural
in Tamil), and would shift the rice with each pounding on the mortar. I would sit next to my mother on
my small bangku and watch the proceedings. They refused to let me help. Awayagi would be sweating
but laughing, as he had never done this in Japan. After this, and after sieving all the rice powder into
another container, my mother would get him to grind chilli. The poor guy, with tears flowing down his
cheeks, and still laughing would finish the job in a jiffy. Then my mother would seat him down, and give
him a large plate of cooked rice, and Indian curry which he would eat with relish, all the time
complaining “Karai neh Jotu neh”“Very spicy but very good.”
I remember one Sunday morning Awayagi, turned up looking very happy, as it was his off day. He
wanted to take my brother aged 12, my sister aged 8, and me aged 6, to Penang for a fun day. My
parents knew him to be a responsible person, and consented. We put on our Sunday best, and set off
with him. We arrived at Butterworth Mitchell Pier, but were disappointed to find the Ferry had left. We
were told by the ticket collector, it would take another 3 hours before this ferry returned. There was
only one ferry plying between Butterworth and Penang. We could however take one of the sampans
that were waiting at the beach. Awayagi asked us if t was O.K. with us and we agreed to take the
sampan. We thought it would an exciting experience.(These sampans were manned by Indian Muslims
from India- that is how they got their name ‘Mamak Tongkang.)As we got down to the beach, we were
hustled into one of the sampans, by a tall Indian Muslim, in a green sarong, and a red colourful shirt.
Awayagi paid the fare, and we sat down with the other passengers, and we soon took off. We were to
cross the Malacca Straits, that separated Penang from Butterworth-a distance of at least 3-4 miles. The
Sampan man bent his back, and started rowing with all his might, sweat dripping from his forehead, as
we sat under the burning sun. Fortunately there was a slight breeze to cool us .When we were half way
across the sea, suddenly the boat began to rock. We could see the waves had started to rise, and far
away, we could see the early signs of a storm cloud building up. We became frightened. The Sampan
Man, (he told us his name was Ibrahaim, and he was from Madras,) reassured us that all was well, and
he had done this trip a hundred times. We held each others hand, and started to pray. The journey must
have taken a few hours. When we finally arrived in Penang we were completely exhausted, but relieved
the nightmare was over. Awayagi seeing how distraught we were, put his arms around us, and told us he
was going to give us a special treat. He was taking us to have the best ice cream in Penang. We then
took a bus to the famous ‘Wing Look’ Restaurant, next to the Police station on Penang Road. And there
we had our first ice cream ever(my father had never allowed us to eat ice cream. He believed, because
of the possible contaminated water used to make it, we could contract typhoid).The taste of the icecream
was heavenly. We took our time savouring every spoonful of this delicious sweet. We then saw a