Pulau Ubin, The Island That Saved Pak Ahamad bin Kassim
*I only just found out that Pak Ahmad's actual name is spelled "Ahamad", as stated in his NRIC, so from here on out for accuracy of documentation, I shall now refer to him as Pak Ahamad bin Kassim.
I paid a visit to Pak Ahamad at one of his children's home on mainland Singapore last Saturday (13 Feb). He had not been on the island during my many visits to Ubin in recent weeks, so I thought it was timely for me to meet him, much closer to home.
We chatted for a while to catch up on the latest developments on Ubin, but more significantly, I wanted to strengthen my knowledge of Pak Ahamad's life on the island, and to properly document them in this blog post. In light of Total Defence Day, I feel that it is timely for me to share with you his stories of life on Ubin under Japanese Occupation.
Pak Ahamad bin Kassim is a WWII survivor, and Pulau Ubin is the island that saved him.
The youngest in the family of four brothers and three sisters, Pak Ahamad was only seven when the Japanese invaded his village near Masai, Johor. He vividly recalled the troops snatching away their livestock when a couple of soldiers approached his father, Cik Kassim bin Haji Sahar, who was then a manager at the rubber plantation that they lived in.
The soldiers demanded from Cik Kassim for a Rolex watch, to which he replied that he could not afford one as he was a lowly-paid worker. Unhappy with his response, the Japanese soldiers stabbed Cik Kassim in the stomach with a bayonet. Miraculously, he was not fatally injured. The family knew that they had to flee from their village if they wanted to survive.
With just a handful of clothes, the family of nine trekked through dense forests, got onto a sampan and rowed their way down Sungei Kim Kim, before landing on Noordin Beach in Pulau Ubin, twelve hours later.
The family took refuge in an abandoned wooden bungalow in Kampung Bahru with the help of Cik Suraton - a Javanese Ubin resident - who was a caretaker of those bungalows owned by Brits. The owner of that bungalow was believed to have fled upon hearing news of the rapid encroachment of the Japanese down the Malay Peninsula.
The Japanese eventually made their way onto Pulau Ubin on the evening of 7th February 1942; making the island the first soil in Singapore to be occupied.
Ubin was merely used as a distraction to pressure the British army into believing an imminent invasion of mainland Singapore through the east, which resulted in poorer artillery and infantry presence in the northwest; where the Japanese eventually invaded from. Singapore fell in just over a week on 15th February 1942.
When Pak Ahamad was 10, he worked for the Japanese on Ubin; taking on odd jobs such as planting grass on an airfield and ferrying vegetables from Changi to the Japanese barracks there. For eight hours of work, Pak Ahamad would earn five banana notes and a kilogramme of rice.
Throughout the Japanese Occupation, Pak Ahamad observed a significant presence of Japanese troops on Ubin; recalling how they would walk around the Sam Heng Rubber Tree Estate - armed with bayonets and swords - as they made their way to and from their quarters. Despite living a hard life with their menacing presence, he said that it was mostly peaceful on Ubin throughout those three years.
Pak Ahamad only found out that the war was over in 1945 when he realised that there were no longer any Japanese troops patrolling the island.
He then grew up on Ubin, building and moving into several houses in Kampung Sungei Bamap (Mamam), Kampung Sungei Durian and Kampung Surau. He worked as a cleaner on Noordin Beach before making that leap of faith into selling cold drinks and coconuts; the thing he is most known for to residents and visitors alike since the 1990s.
Now 86, Pak Ahamad still proudly calls Ubin his home, adding on to say that this was the island that saved him and has openly expressed that he wished he could exhale his last breath on Ubin, too.
Unfortunately, following the passing of his beloved wife last August and the looming uncertainty of the pandemic and his health, he had not been able to return back to Ubin and has since stayed with his children in the mainland upon their concern over his safety and well-being. For now, Pak Ahamad only yearns to be healthy enough to come back to his island home every now and then.
I ask Allah SWT to ease him in his affairs. I never got the chance to meet my grandfather, but Pak Ahamad will always be treated as my own; for the kindness and blessings that he had showered upon me over the past two years - in my journey of discovering my family roots and heritage on Pulau Ubin.
A similar story on Pak Ahamad's WWII recollection has been reported on TODAY in 2017, you may read up on the article here.
May Pulau Ubin thrive again, with its people in its heart.
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