THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

300 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
After the Japanese occupied Taiping, Matsu was said to have returned
and had awarded Mamak Osman a contract to supply bread to the
Taiping Prison inmates. Matsu was to have given Mamak Osman sacks
of flour and other materials not available to others. As such, he raked in
a lot of profit. In this complicity, the FSS Officer accused Hanif of being
the middleman.
As I have narrated before, Mamak Osman was my father’s good
friend who had rendered me invaluable assistance. I had hid in his house
when the Bintang Tiga guerrillas were on a rampage. In fact, I dare say
he saved my life. Now God, the all-knowing, was giving a golden chance
to repay my gratitude to this old man and I took full advantage of the
situation. I replied to the FSS Officer that Hanif was an insurance agent
who rented a small portion of Mamak Osman’s bakery, and nothing more.
I then continued, “Your informer is correct, there was a Japanese named
Matsu, but what he does not know is that there were two different
Matsus. The one Mamak Osman was friendly with before the war was
‘Matsu the dentist’. Mamak Osman took his many children to Matsu
because Japanese dentists were more skilled than Chinese ones then. The
Matsu who came after the war was a baker from Tokyo.”
“With regard to the two Indian soldiers employed to guard the bakery,
that was because the Japanese feared a bread riot.” I concluded, “If you
issue an arrest warrant against this old man, you would be committing a
serious mistake. I have seen and heard this old man pray that the British
return soon!” After that, Mamak Osman’s name was scratched off his
list. To end the interrogation, the FSS Officer asked jokingly, “To you,
everyone is kind. What about you yourself?” I answered by inviting him
to investigate my case from Kuala Lumpur CID Police Officers and
Malay Regiment soldiers from all over Malaya who may by now have
reported themselves at the Port Dickson Military Camp. He replied simply,
“We shall see.”
Interrogated Again
I was called many times for interrogation. Other names I was queried
about were:
– A. Talib bin Haji Ahmad, leader of the PPMP (Perak Malay Youth
Association) whose members sympathised with KMM and participated
in the war as Japanese Fifth Columnists. Remember the ‘Pak
Itam Sulaiman World Power’ and Talib episode in Ipoh? I replied that
I had met Talib only once and knew nothing more about him. Later,