THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

372 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
time to mull this over. It is a big decision.” Soon, friends from the former
Japanese-sponsored volunteer army Malai Giyu Gun, MNP, API, friends
already in UMNO and some outside UMNO, appealed that I contest the
post. They pledged allegiance to serve me in all undertakings to promote
the Malay cause.
I thought about my family; they seemed quite ready to run the stall
by themselves should I be hauled in and detained by the British. They
seemed able to fend for themselves. I knew that the Emergency laws were
cold and cruel. British police could search homes without warrants; not
more than five people could congregate; anyone could be detained for
any length of time. But I could not be separated from politics. I had been
actively struggling for Independence since my youth. Nevertheless, many
questions arose: Was I willing to take over a right-wing party to replace
a banned left one? Were my friends in UMNO sufficiently large in
number to give me the needed votes? Would right-wing politicians stand
still in the face of attempts by left-wing Malays to take over their political
empire?
Would their sponsor, the British Government, just look on, knowing
my political ideologies? If I, a leftist, were elected, I would probably
nationalise all colonial capitalist concerns that had been ‘blood-sucking
leeches’ for far too long. Would I be bundled off before the election
proper? There were laws allowing such action! Were I to win, would I
be able to free friends from the various detention camps? After the
implementation of self-government in his country, Nkrumah had freed his
friends, one by one, to fill his cabinet.
With the understanding that contesting the post of UMNO president
would advance gaining Malaya’s Independence came the dawning
realisation that I was ready. With support from friends and encouragement
from Aziz Ishak, three days later I informed Aziz of my willingness. We
checked UMNO’s constitution and found that any ordinary UMNO member
could stand for election as President. I agreed to contest the post with
great sincerity and the genuine desire to achieve Malaya’s Independence.
So, on 24 June 1951, the poor noodle-seller that I was became a
candidate for UMNO’s Presidency. Utusan Melayu’s 24 June 1951 edition
carried a front-page lead, “Former KMM Leader Proposed to Replace
Datuk Onn.” It stated that the Kuala Lumpur UMNO Youth would hold
an emergency meeting to nominate me. After the headline story, in
interviews with several dailies, I revealed my slogan. If the Indonesian
President’s slogan was ‘Once Independent; Always Independent’, mine
was ‘Once a Freedom Fighter, Always a Freedom Fighter’. The dailies
ran stories on my role in KMM and MNP.