Remembering kin’s deaths in WW2
JERTIH: Older folk in Terengganu, especially those from Besut, remember the cruelty of Japanese military occupiers.
They especially remember when six Malay warriors, includ- ing Besut’s own Wan Embong Wan Zainal, were executed by the Japanese in 1945.
That episode haunts the memories of Wan Embong’s family, and those of the other five men.
Four who were killed alongside Wan Embong were village chiefs Abd Karim Abd Samad (Kampung Lapan Kejur), Husain Abdullah (Kampung Dengir), Othman Mamat (Kampung Bekok) and Ismail Ahmad (Kampung Teluk) and the imam of the Kempung Teluk surau, Yatim Ahmad.
Che Ku Abd Rahman Che Ku Abdullah, 75, from Kampung Gertak Seratus in Kuala Besut, said his granduncle Wan Embong was arrested by Japanese soldiers at his home in Kampung Alur Keladi, alleging that he had protected English soldiers.
“Wan Embong was born in Kuala Besut and after finishing school, he continued his religious education at the Haji Muhammad pondok school in Kuala Besut.
“Wan Embong was well-known among the people here as he was the penghulu of Lubuk Kawah and an influential leader,” he said at his home.
Che Ku Rahman said Wan Embong and the five Malay leaders, when they were arrested, were brought here in a lorry and sent to prison in Kota Baru.
“A few days later, they were taken to Kampung Kijang, Pantai Semut Api in Kota Baru.”
There, said Che Ku Rahman, the Japanese dug a big hole in Kampung Kijang.
“They brought my granduncle and the five others and made them stand beside this hole.
“One by one, they shot the five, but when it came to my granduncle, they were said to have shot him three times.
“When they failed to kill him, they kicked him into the hole and buried him alive. That was what it was like during the Japanese occupation,” he said.
In November last year, the next of kin of the six leaders agreed to exhume their remains and rebury them in Kampung Alor Keladi.
Che Ku Rahman, who was the chairman of the organising committee for the reburial, said about 100 family members were present at the time.
In conjunction with this year’s Merdeka Day, the family intends to hold a reunion in Kampung Alur Keladi.
Some 1,000 family members are expected to attend the event, which is to be officiated by Besut member of parliament Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.