THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Ibrahim Yaakub’s Secret Deal 175
column. His answer was a definite “No!” I was shocked. How stupid of
Ibrahim! The lives of Malay youths would be on the line! And for what?
He should have bargained for Malaya’s Independence! I then recalled
what I had read about Japanese conduct in Korea and Manchukuo.
In the Malayan invasion, Japan employed a three-pronged manoeuvre,
one line of attack down the East Coast, another down the West, and the
third down the middle. Six Malays came with the Japanese from Kedah
in the North. They included Wan Daud Ahmad (later Datuk), who was
flown by the Japanese to Alor Star, where he met the Sultan of Kedah in
his palace. Wan Daud was later brought by the Japanese to Ipoh to join
my group moving south. I managed to save him from a deadly situation
for which he was forever indebted.
Another fifth column member was Abdul Kadir Adabi, 14 who travelled
from Kota Bharu to Kuala Lumpur and later returned to Kota Bharu for
a special assignment. In recognition of his willingness to make two
dangerous trips in the pandemonium of war, we nicknamed him A.K.
Dukal (Abdul Kadir Dua Kali or A.K. Twice). He called me Mustapha
Bayu, Bayu being the acronym for Bapa Melayu, or Father of the Malays.
I am proud Adabi’s name now graces a thriving private educational
institution. I hope to meet his descendants. Another fifth column member
from Kelantan was Ahmad Shukri. Judge for yourself if these Malay fifth
columnists actually collaborated with one of the two ‘elephants’ in
conflict, or were they mainly working to save the many ‘mouse-deer’ in
the middle who would otherwise have been killed. I also hope you can
decide if I was a collaborator.
Assembling Malay Youth for the Warfront
I was ordered by Major Fujiwara, through Chief Interpreter Otaguro, to
assemble as many KMM members in Ipoh as possible. I relayed the order
to Onan, who knew Ipoh town like the back of his hand, but almost all
KMM members in the vicinity were already in British prisons. Now what
was I to do? I could not possibly report to the Japanese that almost all
KMM members had been arrested. Ibrahim, I believe, had boasted to the
Japanese that KMM was an organisation with dedicated and courageous
members from all corners of the country. That was why the Japanese were
shocked when Pak Chik Ahmad had to get his wife’s permission to go to
Ipoh. I could not possibly shrug my shoulders and say to the Japanese,
“What can we do, all our members have been nabbed by the white man.”
In that critical moment, with the help of God, the All-Knowing, an
old Malay man I knew well came into the picture. That was, however,