THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

112 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
15
Stoking the Nationalist Fire
As Hostel Warden for the School of Agriculture in Serdang, daily inspections
of the four dormitories were part of my routine. I often stopped to
chat with students in their Common Room. There, scattered on the coffee
table were several publications: The Malay Mail (a Kuala Lumpur-based
English daily); The Daily Mirror (a newspaper from England); Warta
Malaya (a Singapore-based Malay newspaper); Majlis (a Kuala Lumpurbased
Malay newspaper); Saudara (a Penang-based Malay newspaper);
and much later, Utusan Melayu (a Singapore-based Malay daily).
I had stopped reading Malay newspapers since age eighteen when I
joined the former School of Agriculture as a Malay Apprentice. Before
that, while staying in my parent’s home in Matang, I had been the
unofficial translator of Malay editorials for my father and brothers.
Reacquainting myself with these Malay papers, a torrent of nationalistic
feelings, deep Malay consciousness, and an increasing awareness of the
plight of poor Malays returned to my bosom. The office boy Rais was
instructed to deliver these newspapers to my house after the hostel
residents had read them. It did not matter if they were several days old;
that did not discourage me. The left-leaning Daily Mirror carried stinging
editorials championing the rights of Britain’s working class. If such
editorials were printed here and now, the daily would definitely be banned
and the editor would be lucky not to be detained.
My main interest in The Malay Mail was in letters to the editor, in
particular, those by ‘A Malay’, Padi M. Krishnan and ‘Klyne Street’,
whom I wish I had had the privilege to meet. ‘A Malay’ drew the readers’
attention to Malay rights, which were openly being robbed by ‘others’.
Why were the British, entrusted with the task of grooming future Malay
leaders, watching these unhealthy developments with folded arms? When
would the British Government increase the number of higher-ranking civil
service positions for Malays? Why were they reluctant to employ more
Malays? It was fortunate that ‘A Malay’ wrote to the English press
because many English-educated Malays shunned the Malay newspapers.