THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

196 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
After Kuala Lumpur was overrun, I had the opportunity to read
hundreds of reports written by local intelligence officers. Not surprisingly,
I discovered that many senior government officers, and even the Malay
Rulers, were under British surveillance. I was disgusted to read adverse
reports that ‘poured sand into rice-bowls’. In a black box were files on
the Pahang Malay Uprising, about Tok Janggut in Kelantan and other Malay
fighters. These perished in the turmoil of war. I wish I had kept them.
The intelligence agent watching KMM was a Sikh. Speaking of intelligence
agents, let me tell you about one I later encountered in Johore.
He told me he had been assigned to nab Tan Malaka in Mecca. But when
he did find Tan Malaka, he did not have the heart to arrest him, as he
was completely committed to his cause. I said to myself, “You were
hoping to catch Tan Malaka? How many of the world’s best agents have
been despatched to capture him, but have failed.”
Notes
1. According to Col Masanobu Tsuji in his book Singapore 1941-1942: The Japanese
Version of the Malayan Campaign of World War II, more than 250 bridges, big and
small, had to be repaired by the Japanese in the seventy days they took to move
from North Malaya to Singapore.
2. See page 174 of the same book by Col Tsuji.
3. See page 175 of the same book by Col Tsuji.
4. Confirmed by Lt General Fujiwara Iwaichi in his book F Kikan (p. 134) “On the
morning of 11 January, we entered Kuala Lumpur.”
5. An account by fifth columnist Mohd Mustafa is included as an appendix to the
Malay version of my memoirs (Mustapha Hussain, 1999: Appendix 7, pp. 590-6).
6. According to Lt General Fujiwara Iwaichi in his book F Kikan (p. 141), the date of
departure was 16 January 1942.
7. Johar bin Kerong, a loyal KMM member dedicated to our cause. When World War
II broke out, he was working in the Poultry Unit of the School of Agriculture at
Serdang. At Onan’s invitation, Johar became a fifth columnist and moved from Kuala
Lumpur to Singapore. During the Japanese Occupation, he returned to work in the
School at Serdang. He spent his retirement days at his home in Jalan Enggang, Datuk
Keramat, Kuala Lumpur. He gave me a lengthy statement describing his move down
the peninsula as a Japanese fifth columnist (see Mustapha Hussain, 1999: Appendix
24, pp. 637-46). He was the luckiest KMM member, having witnessed the British
surrender of Singapore to the Japanese.
8. This was the first of my three attempts to gain Malaya’s Independence. This episode
is recorded on page 103 in Red Star over Malaya by Dr Cheah Boon Kheng: “In
fact, in January 1942, after the Japanese force had entered Kuala Lumpur, a conflict
of aims had arisen when Mustapha Hussain asked the Japanese commanders to back
a proclamation of Malay independence, citing Japan’s promise to liberate Malaya
from British rule. But the request was turned down.”
9. This is sung to the tune of ‘Malaysia Berjaya’.
10. During the Safar Day celebrations in early Malaya, the bunting decorating bullock