Octagenarian recalls life during Japanese occupation
KOTA BHARU: “Miyo! Tokai no sora akete, Kyokujitsu takaku kagayakeba, Tenchi no seiki hatsuratsu to, Kibo wa odoru Oyamashima,” – from the Japanese song Aikoku Koshinkyoku, is sung so eloquently by Umar Senik, 89.
The song that carries the meaning: “Look! Above the eastern sea clear down the sky, Glorious and bright the sun rideth up on high, spirit pure of heaven and earth fills the hearts of all, Hope abounding springs o sweet Isles Imperial” was compulsory for all Malayan residents to memorise during the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945.
Umar, who was 14 years old back then, still remembers the early moments of the Japanese invasion, when they came to Pantai Pak Amat at midnight on Dec 8, 1941.
Recalling the darkest moment of his life, Umar said he and some of his friends were attending a ‘dikir barat’ show after Isyak prayers, held nearby the post of British mercenaries who were monitoring Pantai Pak Amat.
During the show, one of the mercenaries, a Punjabi, came and told them to head home, as there was information that the Japanese would attack Malaya that night.
“We dispersed, however, we did not go home, and chose to play around at a nearby madrasah, when we suddenly heard cannons being shot one after the other from the sea near Pantai Cahaya Bulan (here) followed by machine gun shots fired from the land,” he said when met at his home in Kampung Gong Tengah here.
At the time, Umar thought the British mercenaries were only training, because rumours of war might have spread, but after some time came, several elders came to the madrasah and told them all to go home as the war had begun.
“At around 3am, the Japanese army landed at Pantai Pak Amat near my home. I still remember when the chaos began, two women were killed by a bayonet while two men were shot dead by the Japanese army.
“At the time, I looked for a sandy open space away from where the war was taking place, to dig a shelter from Japanese military air strikes,” he said.
Umar said he did not have any food during the first three days of the war, for fear of being shot and remained in the shelter with his family.
He said there was a Japanese spy named Kawasaki who disguised himself as a labourer before the war began, and he had told him to dig a shelter, warning him of the air strikes.
“After three days in the shelter, I returned home and searched for food, but everything was taken away by Japanese soldiers. Even the rice sold at the grocery store had been looted.
“Fortunately, our neighbour’s banana plantation which bore fruit at the time was not touched, and we filled our hungry stomachs with the fruit,” he said.
Umar said life during war time was very hard, as food supplies, medicines and daily necessities were extremely difficult to obtain.
“Garments were made using rice sacks, and if they were torn, there would be no thread or needle to patch the spot. Kerosene was also difficult to find, and the people were forced to use coconut oil to light the lamps.
“Tapioca was the most popular food for survival, as it was not seized by Japanese troops... it was hard to find rice, and other foodstuff was very limited,” he said.
Umar said it was enough to go through once the phase of war, which claimed many lives.
“Young people should not take our independence for granted. They should study well because we need to run the country. If we do not study, how will we rule the country.
“We appreciate independence. They (freedom fighters) fought so hard to get it (independence). After Independence we could do whatever we wanted.
“I was happy to find out that Malaya would become independent (after the war). But the generation today do not care much (about independence),” he said. - Bernama