THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

202 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
notice some Indian boys at the junction to Raja Ahmed Hisham’s house?”
He nodded his head. “They are sent by the Kempeitai to observe his
house.” Tasa was alarmed. He apologised profusely and left. I told him to
look up Raja Ahmad Hisham’s family and assure them that he was safe.
Another afternoon, a uniformed Japanese soldier wearing long yellow
boots came up the driveway. Based on experience, this man was no less
than the feared executioner. Upon reaching KMM House, he drew his
sword out and started a war dance. He ‘whizzed’ his sword in the air
while his boots made the ‘zerup, zerup’ sound as he danced on the pebbly
driveway. I signalled to someone to quickly summon Major Fujiwara to
KMM House.
The uninvited guest continued to perform his war dance while walking
towards our door. I don’t know from where I got the courage, but I stood
in the doorway, telling him not to enter. At that point in time, an F Kikan
Officer arrived. After a short exchange of words, the executioner left to
see Major Fujiwara. The executioner was apparently not from the Kempeitai,
but from another section. From the tone of his voice, it seemed
Raja Ahmed Hisham was much despised. Japanese citizens released from
detention may have described his actions against them.
After that, I asked Major Fujiwara for a ‘Japanese amulet’ (letter of
authority) just in case other people came for Raja Ahmed Hisham. I gave
this to KMM Secretary M.N. Othman as I had received orders to leave
Kuala Lumpur to move south. This is clear from the three letters written
by Raja Ahmed Hisham, Jalaluddin Abu Bakar and Chikgu Mohd Isa
Sulaiman. 3
The Raja Ahmed Hisham story and many others lay buried in the
inner recesses of my mind for 35 years. No one dared lift the veil.
Historians have urged me to write about KMM, my World War II
experience and the rise of Malay nationalism in Malaya, but I kept all
these shut inside my heart. I only exposed a tiny fragment of the Raja
Ahmed Hisham episode on 23 July 1974 in a talk at the History Department
of the National University of Malaysia.
However, KMM President Ibrahim Yaakub’s letter dated 20 May
1975 accusing me of ‘arresting Raja Hisham’ 4 has forced me to divulge
the whole story, to defend the truth and save my family from any unwarranted
comments. This became especially necessary as Ibrahim sent
copies of this letter to three Malay academicians 5 and to then Prime
Minister Tun Abdul Razak.
I want to state categorically that it was not I who arrested the three
CID officers and others. Ibrahim is libelling me to save his own reputation
and interests. Is he trying to rewrite his role in Malaysian history so that