THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

252 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
Upon my return to Matang, due to the war’s rigours my nerve disorder
worsened. Gruesome images flashed across my eyes in my recurring
nightmares. I made a decision to move to my wife’s village and to start a
small business selling cut fruits to train passengers at Temoh Railway
Station, but it did not thrive.
My caring older brother Alli, Perak’s Deputy Forest Officer during
the Occupation, came to my rescue. He sent me to Lumut Hospital for
treatment. Chikgu Junid, one of the Malay Farm founders and also
hospitalised with me, used his basketry skills, learned at the SITC, to
weave hats for sale. I had to leave the hospital before I was cured; I was
the sole breadwinner and there was no more medicine in stock for my
problem. With Alli’s help, I gained employment as Chief Clerk with
Nomura Toindo Kabushiki Kaisha, a Japanese timber company in Lumut.
I would like to record here that a year later Alli was abducted and killed
by the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) in Tanjung
Tualang, Perak. That was the fate of a very industrious, dedicated and
caring young man.
In Lumut, we squatted in the home of a nephew (by marriage) Syed
Aziz Baftin near the timber company. I served two Japanese men – timber
specialist Oga-san and accountant Hitori-san. I supervised an accounts
clerk, an interpreter, an office boy and a Malay clerk who is currently
holding an extremely high position in the Malaysian Government. We
were all amazed that the Indian office boy learned to speak Japanese
fluently overnight.
My family was beginning to enjoy a not-so-deprived life. Chinese
contractors supplied us with Siamese rice and other necessities. At that
time, Ibrahim Yaakub was living well under Japanese sponsorship in
Singapore. Onan had opened two grocery stores in Jalan Joo Chiat,
Singapore, which Ishak described ‘as filled with goodies’. I wondered
what happened to other KMM members who were sent home from
Singapore without a penny although there was money allocated for them.
Ahmad Boestamam later wrote in his statement, “…the next day we were
sent home. We rode in a goods train from Johore Baru. We were not
given a cent for the return journey.”
Summoned to Kuala Lumpur from Lumut
It was quite a satisfactory job. My two Japanese bosses, especially Hitorisan,
were kind and willing to listen to my advice on Malay affairs. But
less than three months later, just when my emaciated body was beginning
to fill out, something upset my life yet once again. An urgent message to