Personal Account of My Father Zulkifli Abdul Rahman

I was in the navy (Malay Section of the British Royal Navy). We sailed in HMS Scorpion (ABDUL RAHMAN B.Y. A.B. MN 713 (Malay Section) SCORPION) and sailed the South China Sea to the Borneo and surrounding areas. I was handling the telegraph machine, that was my job. It was the during the World War II. (The Japanese started to raid South East Asia December 1941 thru Songkla and Patani Siam, then Thailand, followed by Malaya thru Kota Bharu. From January to February 1942, heavy war between the Japanese and British over Singapore resulting in the British surrender.)

Then our ship was bombed by the Japanese. That caused a large hole on the ship and ship began to capsize. I was with two other ship personnel - Chinese. They were cooks. We jumped ship, and swam. (13/02/42 M.P.K. SHIP LOSS)

Then we made it into a sampan and got away. We made it to Padang of Sumatera. Then the Japanese found us and we were captured. (True account of HMS Scorpion is that it was attacked by Japanese fighter plane and later sunk by Japanese war ship February 12 1942, a few months after Pearl Harbour, when Japanese made mass attacks on British ships and conquered Asia. This was near the Banka Island near Singapore. Five ship crew survived the hit. Five hours left at sea in the dark the ship Mata Hari saw them and rescued them. Mata Hari anchored at Palembang. They were found by the Japanese and had to surrender. The ship was forced to sail back to Banka Island where most of the people on the ship became Japanese prisoners .)

We were send to Singapore then to Indochina, Vietnam. We were put in a Japanese captain's house. We only followed instruction.

Then directions came for us to be moved to Singapore. We were jailed at Changi jail for two weeks.

We were then released and I was sent to Batu Gajah. We traveled by military truck (possibly after September 1945, after the Japanese surrendered Singapore to the British. He must have served the RMN for at least four years 1941 till 1945.)

There I was directed to the Agricultural Department. Because I was in the military and very disciplined I was appointed Agricultural Officer looking over padi plantings.

There my father married Tun (my mother was Mariah.)

As a step mother, she, Tun, was cruel. We couldn't stand her (my wife was carrying a baby and all) so we moved to Batu Gajah. We stayed with our uncle Sulaiman. It was a small house, a government quarters. I was still with the Agricultural Department.

Then I had Tibi. I was hospitalized at Batu Gajah hospital the only medical facility for Tibi in the whole of Malaysia. I was treated by Dr Phang. I was held there for two years.

Then there was this new Tibi facility in Kuala Lumpur. I was moved there and spent another two years in that hospital. (All in all he spent four years of his life in hospital for Tibi.)

We lived at Jalan Pasar.

(We later lived at Jalan Ipoh, when he was posted at the Depot Pusat Bekalan Tentera. He retired from being a government servant. We moved to Taman Perwira, the house he had lived till today. He continued to work with RRI and later Hong Leong Bank. He resigned at 60.)

(Last June, at 90, he was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent a major surgery to remove the effected area. He recovered extremely well from the major surgery done at the KL General Hospital.)

(28th July, his second daughter, Zunaida, left him after battling Leukemia. It was after lunch 30th July he told us his life story when my son Hazem, his grandson, asked him about his life in the navy.)