THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Japanese ‘Volunteer’ Army 253
look for me was received by the Japanese Police in the entire state of
Perak. It came from the Japanese Military Administration in Singapore.
Having located me, a Japanese Corporal from the Lumut Garrison came
to order my two Japanese bosses to deliver me post haste to the Batu
Gajah Railway Station the same night. My family was alarmed, especially
when no one knew why I was summoned. To make matters worse, the
Corporal who came was said to be an executioner.
After advising my wife to remain indoors at all times, I travelled in
a car with my two Japanese bosses guarding me closely. They had their
swords unsheathed, not to intimidate, but to safeguard me, as we had to
pass through some of the blackest guerrilla-infested areas during the
Occupation. After covering Simpang Empat, Sitiawan (birthplace of
Malayan Communist Party’s Secretary General Chin Peng), the Gelong
Gajah Forest Reserves, Bruas, Parit and Pusing, we reached Batu Gajah.
It was then that the two Japanese returned their swords to their scabbards
and relaxed a little. If you have read the book The Jungle is Neutral by
F. Spencer Chapman, DSO, you will realise the extreme peril we were
in, had the guerrillas ambushed us. Each mile and each bend we travelled
was fraught with the gravest of danger. No one dared to pass those
wretched areas in such a pitch-black night.
I bade ‘Sayonara’ to the two Japanese whose eyes revealed great care
and concern. The smiles they flashed me were not their usual cheerful
ones. They were equally apprehensive; they too had no idea why I was
summoned to Singapore. Based on my vast experience with the Japanese,
one should not generalise that ‘A good Japanese is a dead one’. Some
were extremely caring and kind. 3 For example, Major Fujiwara was a
highly considerate person, or else Raja Ahmed Hisham would not be alive
today! Among the many F Kikan interpreters I knew, some were extremely
gentle and would listen to my advice on the Malays.
Throughout the long train journey to Singapore, I suffered deep
mental anguish, wondering why the entire Japanese Police Force in Perak
had been alerted to look for me. Have they heard some of my whispered
conversations with Chikgu Junid and other friends in Lumut?
In Singapore Again
In Singapore I learned why I was summoned. It was to assist the setting
up of a new body, the Japanese Volunteer Army Malai Giyu Gun or
Pembela Tanah Air (PETA) or ‘Defenders of the Homeland’. I was given
a room in Fuji Hotel with Pak Chik Ahmad and Abdul Kadir Adabi. Pak