THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

The First Malay Nationalists 155
I met Karim again in 1943 during the setting up of the Japanese
Volunteer Army, of which he was a Captain. As usual, he carried pen and
paper, walking behind Ibrahim Yaakub who gave instructions like a film
director. For every word Ibrahim spoke, he would write ten. When I asked
him the reason for doing so, with a small smile and dancing eyes he said,
“Well, one must know what to do if one wants to get ahead.”
In his letter to me dated 13 March 1979, after 34 years of separation,
he explained that after the Japanese surrender he left Singapore for Riau,
after which he joined the Indonesian National Army as a Major and rose
to the rank of Brigadier General. In 1951, he was appointed Military
Attaché to Bangkok, Rangoon and Indo-China. After that, he was
Indonesia’s ambassador to Cambodia and Laos for seven years before
moving on to Manila, also as an ambassador. One of Karim’s adopted
children told me that he is currently living a very comfortable life in
luxury in Jakarta. Recently, in 1976, he employed his old friend, Hassan
Haji Manan, who has been ignored by Ibrahim, to manage his new hotel
in Bali.
7. Ishak Haji Muhammad 16 (Pak Sako) – Founding Member
Ishak Haji Muhammad (Pak Sako) was born in September 1909, in
Kampung Segentang, Temerloh, Pahang. He told me that his mother
originated from Palembang in Sumatra, while his father was a Bugis from
Celebes. Third in a farming family, he entered Malay school in 1919 and
completed Standard IV in 1923. In 1924, he joined an English school in
Kuala Lipis, the biggest school in Pahang and with boarding facilities.
On a Pahang State scholarship of $10 a month, the very intelligent Ishak
passed his Senior Cambridge exams after two double-promotions. He was
indeed lucky to have been able to continue at the elite Malay College in
Kuala Kangsar, a full boarding school established for the Malay aristocrats
and elite children.
After the course, he was an MAS (Malay Administrative Service)
Officer and a Magistrate. In Kuala Lumpur in 1935, he was the only MAS
Officer who would go to places patronised by the common people, such
as public dance stages and opera performances. Recently, when I read
his article, I recalled a time when I saw him by a public dance stage at
the Merry World Park in Kuala Lumpur famous for its beautiful singer,
Miss Kindu. But I did not know him then and decided to keep away.
Then, Ishak left his Magistrate’s position. Selangor Resident T.S.
Adam coaxed him to reconsider his decision. He had then taken refuge
in a remote house in Kelantan, perhaps to find solace and literary