THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

288 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
On 15 August, I heard the Malaya-Sumatra Japanese Military Administration
had surrendered. The Japanese ‘banana currency’ was no longer
legal tender. I felt truly sorry for many uninformed Malays who were
duped into selling almost all their livestock and were paid in Japanese
currency by Chinese merchants who already knew of the surrender
through their ‘jungle radios’. In the blink of an eye, the five Japanese
men living in our village vanished into thin air. I carried on farming, not
forgetting to carry my trusted machete, ready for any eventualities.
In the ensuing days, we heard about the fate of several policemen in
Ijok, ten miles away. They were nabbed by marauding Bintang Tiga
Chinese guerrillas and killed with draw-hoes near Bayur River. The heat
closed in on us when we saw a Chinese banana seller emboldened into
delivering a speech. A normally timid Chinese buffalo herder was openly
declaring, “All Malay heads must be shaven!”
Village Security
Abductions and killings were rampant. Kampung folks, suddenly drawn
into chaos, moved in indescribable fear. A few initiated a meeting at the
Batu Kurau Mosque. Chaired by Chikgu Ali, who now lives in Kampung
Boyan, Taiping, the meeting also included Mosque Committee Secretary,
Major Mohd Mat Saman and committee member Haji Putih bin Haji
Abdul Latip. 1
I was just an observer. The main agenda was to determine measures
to counter aggressive Bintang Tiga guerrillas (mostly Chinese) who had
assumed power in the vacuum. To break an impasse, I asked a pot-bellied
old man, “Pak Da, should the Bintang Tiga guerrillas point a pistol at
your tummy, what would you do?” He answered, “I would just give in,”
in his Pattani slang. “Pak Da should reply this way – should you kill me,
all members of your race will be killed too. Not only in this village, but
in Kampung Perak, in Jelai, in Pantai Besar – everywhere!” I encouraged
him. I then broke into a short speech to whip their spirits up until the
chairman himself stood up to declare, “If that is what Che Mustapha says
we should do, not only to Bayur River, but even to heaven’s seventh layer
I am willing to go!”
I responded, “That is the spirit! Now, about security. It is not a difficult
problem. Some of us in this kampung were once volunteers, if not
soldiers. Let us set up sections of eight people. We have weapons! Each
house has at least a machete, or an axe, or a saw, or a knife. Should the
Bintang Tiga come in lorries, we cut down trees to block their route.
Attack, and keep attacking if necessary. Don’t fear! Bullets can go astray