THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Independence in the Air 389
Should the two races get together in a close friendship and association –
the British colonialists will be driven out in no time. I received much
applause for that.
I then turned to the Chinese youths, “Do not vote for NAP, the
National Association of Perak, because NAP is just a small body, like a
tiny rowing boat that is only sturdy enough to cross a drain. Choose the
Alliance because it is a large steam-ship (the Alliance symbol was a
sailboat) capable of crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific to counter the
colonial powers. What can the NAP party do except ‘nap’!” MCA member
Ong Kah Hui used a rooster as his symbol, while mine was a flower. So,
many Chinese knew me as ‘hua’ (flower).
Taiping Town Council
The Taiping Town Council met once a month but we usually held a precouncil
meeting during the night to enable working members to carry on
with their livelihoods. No one was paid a salary or allowance. Meanwhile,
I was getting disillusioned with the Alliance and Town Council
politics; certain groups and areas were given priority over others, just as
in the colonial era.
Two matters kept cropping up. One was the Taiping Malay Bazaar,
which occupied a former collecting centre for Taiping Sanitary Board
night-soil pails. It was now a bazaar where Malay families opened songkok
shops, bookshops, barbershops and other small businesses. Yet this bazaar
was the target of attacks by members who wanted to convert it into a
row of shop houses. Some syndicate could be behind the Town Council
Chairman. We, the Malay councillors did our best to keep the bazaar.
The second issue concerned the Pekan Rabu, another small business
spot located between two buildings in Jalan Kota, Taiping. It was often
mentioned as a possible car park. Yet, this was the only other place in
Taiping where Malay businessmen could make some money running small
eating shops as it stood near government offices and a cinema. After I
left the Town Council, the Pekan Rabu was moved to a remote part of
Taiping, and after some propaganda defaming the businessmen there, it
was closed down. It is now a bus station. That was the fate of the Taiping
Malays – ‘being chased from pillar to post’.
To Be or Not To Be – A Candidate?
I thought of resigning from UMNO and the Town Council, but a Chinese
friend, influential in the MCA, advised me to be patient as the first