THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

172 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
Mohd Nor bin Abdul Shukur, Osman bin Azmi, Chikgu Junid Mahmud
(Tapah Road), Aminuddin bin Jumain and Mohamad Dali were arrested
on 5 December 1941.
When Major Fujiwara ordered us to gather KMM members to be
assigned special tasks, it became crystal clear that a body founded by
young Malay nationalists as an anti-British political weapon was now
being made use of by a new colonial nation bursting with ambitious expansionist
policies. Not a single KMM member, including myself (though
I was Vice President), knew anything about Ibrahim’s collusion with the
Japanese Government. KMM members found themselves ensnared in a
trap devised by Ibrahim, 11 making KMM a fifth column of this new
Eastern coloniser which had already captured Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria
and part of China. This Eastern power now directed its attention to
Malaya, the Philippines, Indonesia and other Asian nations with the clever
clarion call, ‘Asia for the Asians’. Was Ibrahim, who colluded with the
Japanese, an idealist, opportunist, or mercenary? Only time would tell.
I faced a horrendous dilemma. What should I do as KMM Vice
President? Should I co-operate to fulfil all assignments? That was, if I
could. If not, what would happen? Had political negotiations with the
Japanese been sealed by Ibrahim? If so, was it dependent on how closely
KMM co-operated. These were some of the questions swimming in my
head, and I had no one to consult. Sometimes, I met members of the IIL
(Indian Independence League), led by Pritam Singh, who had come into
Malaya from Thailand.
Only some parts of Ipoh were damaged by the bombs. Banks and
shops were broken into and looted. I saw a dead man under a sack of
rice he had tried to loot. The almost hundred per cent Chinese population
of Ipoh vanished into thin air. There was, however, a Chinese man,
claiming to be a Manchu, who feted the Japanese soldiers billeted in his
house. He was rewarded with a high position in the Japanese Police Force
during the Occupation, but after the Japanese surrender, the British
sentenced him to many years of imprisonment for collaborating with the
Japanese and for hurting civilians. I was ashamed to wear my ‘F’ armband.
If anyone asked me what ‘F’ stood for, I replied ‘Food’. If I remember
correctly, three Fifth Column groups were sent to the warfront, which had
reached Kampar by then.
Protecting Women
Everyday, I received reports of young women taken away to satisfy lusts.
If this was the conduct of Japanese soldiers, how could KMM gain the
co-operation of the Malay population? Who would contribute if their