THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

242 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
breath. The last two letters he wrote were penned the night before a heart attack
which led to his death five days later in Tawakkal Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. Both
letters were about this particular episode of his life. One was addressed to former
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, brother-in-law of the late Capt. Raja Aman
Shah. In his last few days, my father kept asking if the letters had been posted. His
letter clearly reflects the feelings of a man trying to pass his last message on before
leaving this world fraught with trials and tribulations.
“I am a sick man with cataracts and other old man’s complaints. So, before I
pass away, I would like you to read documents on your brother-in-law’s Capt. Raja
Aman Shah’s (also my friend) bravery and loyalty. From it you will see how I tried
to save him and also read of the person responsible for the death of our brave officers
at Beduk. They were all faithfully recorded by Tan Sri Mubin Sheppard.”
The other letter was for former Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn to inform him
of how my father had assisted Datuk Onn, Tun Hussein’s father, just before the
capitulation of Singapore.
“I have been an ardent admirer of your late father through his newspaper columns.
Sorry for this poor handwriting as I am suffering from cataracts. I am 77 now and
wish to pass you some information of how I had assisted your father in WWII. In
the war, I was with F Kikan through the machinations of Ibrahim Yaakub. When I
heard that Datuk Wan Mohd Salleh and one other were beaten up severely by the
Japanese, I quickly went to look for your father. You may read the rest in a newspaper
article. Thus, he escaped from Japanese brutality.
“In my activities I asked the Japanese to declare our nation’s Independence
twice, and was able to help hundreds of people caught in the war, especially our
Malay soldiers and their families stranded in Singapore and poor Malay Volunteers.
But after the War was over, I was locked up by the British and lost my job as a
lecturer at Serdang and also my pensions. I am now a sick man waiting for my day.
Herewith a Star article, one from a Malay newspaper and one page of Tan Sri Mubin
Sheppard’s book.”
From these last two letters written five days before he died, one can also see
how important the publication of his memoirs was to him. As his daughter who
inherited his 450-page manuscript, publication of his memoirs has almost become
my life’s obsession. I end this chapter with my father’s concluding line on this
episode of his life: “I conclude with my deepest sorrow that I was unable to save
the lives of all our people.”
2. Major Ibrahim’s statement is appended to the Malay version of my memoirs
(Mustapha Hussain, 1999: Appendix 14, pp. 618-21).
3. Lt Mohd Desa’s statement is appended to the Malay version of my memoirs
(Mustapha Hussain, 1999: Appendix 15, pp. 622-24).
4. On the massacre, read ‘The Massacre on Beduk Hills’, by Tan Sri Mubin Sheppard
in The Straits Times dated 3 March 1966. An account by Lt Mohd Desa bin H.A.
Rashid is appended to the Malay version of my memoirs (Mustapha Hussain, 1999:
Appendix 15, pp. 622-24). Another appended account by Sergeant Jamaluddin became
an illustrated series ‘The Story of Sergeant Jamaluddin’ in Mingguan Malaysia,
10 and 17 July 1984 (Mustapha Hussain, 1999: Appendix 16, pp. 625-26).
5. Many more of these are included in the Malay version of my memoirs as appendices
(Mustapha Hussain, 1999).