THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Teaching at Serdang 103
Ong Kee Hui (later Tan Sri, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment,
Malaysia). Hussain was a top student, a prefect, a Sergeant in
the FMSVF and an excellent hockey and soccer player. Ong Kee Hui was
an outstanding student in all subjects, an able tennis player (my partner
sometimes) and had an impressive command of the English language. I
concluded that should these two be sent, they would come back with excellent
results. After listening to me, Mr Mann expressed his reservation
that the two were not very good in chemistry and physics. I told him that
nothing was impossible, and that given six months of extra tuition, the
two boys would prove themselves.
After a short silence, during which time he played with his pencil,
he spoke very deliberately, “I’m thinking of sending you Mustapha, but
with the smattering of politics that you may pick up in bars in England,
don’t come back and make Malaya a second India.” I understood. His
words echoed in my mind. I understood his anxiety. It was his responsibility
to remind me; it was his duty to at least save one white man’s
job. I thanked him for his confidence in my academic ability and left.
Poor Mr Mann. He was a highly capable administrator, but had no inkling
that politics already existed in Malaya, or for that matter, in any
colonised nation, not just in England. Nationalistic fervour throbs in the
bosoms of every colonised people; the only difference lies in its intensity.
Nationalism is desirable at any level, to any degree, except among misguided
people.
Recommendation to a Junior Lecturer’s Post
In 1941, I was called by Mr Mann to his office, where he asked enthusiastically,
“Mustapha, are you ready for some good news?” I gave a
sprightly “Yes, Sir!” He then explained very carefully that he had had a
long talk with Junior Lecturer Enchik Mohd Noor, and following a
scrutiny of his service records, Mr Mann had advised Mohd Noor to
retire. I listened in complete silence, trying to guess which direction the
explanation was heading. Then, he announced as a matter of fact, “Should
Mohd Noor retire, I want you to take over his position!”
I was stunned. I had not, at any point of time, requested the post,
nor did I instigate Mr Mann about Mohd Noor. Furthermore, it was a
super-scale position, two steps above mine. To refuse would displease Mr
Mann, but at the same time, I did not want to sour my ties with Mohd
Noor, a good friend. I discussed the matter with my wife Mariah. It was
the pinnacle for Agricultural Assistants, yet I was apprehensive. My wife
and I decided to just wait and see.