Pak Abu Samah comes in ...

While I was interviewing Pak Rashid (right), Pak Abu Samah (left) came in from his house next door to say hello to me.

Abu Samah bin Mohamad Kassim, 80, was sent to the Sabak Beach in Kota Baru, Kelantan as a 14-year old child soldier on 7/8 December, 1941 to defend Malaya from the first assault mounted by Japanese troops. So, he is our Pearl-Harbour class of veteran.

However, like so many other true, not tiruan, war veterans in our country, he lives in Thailand and published his memoirs Sejarah Dan Perjuangan Kemerdekaan (Nan Dao, 1996) in Hong Kong. What a bloody shame.

Abu Samah had a very interesting life before and you can read about it in my new book From Pacific War to Merdeka (Kuala Lumpur, SIRD, 2005) or his own memoirs Sejarah Dan Perjuangan Kemerdekaan which is also available in Chinese.