Source: New Sunday Times, 6 August 1989
By: Chiang Siew Lee
HAJI ABDUL RAZAK bin Abdul Hamid is believed to be the only Malaysian survivor of the Hiroshima bombing. Today, Hiroshima Day and 44 years after the event, he still remembers the horror of that day and weeps for his friends.
"It is like a video tape that is constantly running in mu mind," he says now. Besides Pangeran Yusof from Brunei, who is still alive, there were two other Malaysians with him, Syed Omar and Nik Yusof. Both died from the bombing.
Haji Razak returned with the Allied Forces to Malaya in December 1945. Now Head of Japanese studies at the Mara Institute of Technology, he revisited Japan in 1987 to film the Japan Broadcasting Corporation's "Hiroshima in My Heart" a documentary on the dropping of the atomic bomb. Tears flowed as he was reunited with his Professor, Kiyoshi Toda, and found out the fate of his two Malaysian Friends, Nik Yusof's grave lies in Hiroshima. The Professor had found his remains, with the name marked in it, in an urn in a temple, and buried it according to Muslim rites.
Syed Omar is buried in Kyoto. On his deathbed, the doctor who had donated his own blood to try to save Syed Omar's life had asked him, "Do you want to return and see your parents?" and Syed Omar had said, "No, we are brothers now. You've given me your blood. I shall be buried here according to Muslim rites."
Tears flowed down Haji Razak's face when he visited the two graves and sprinkled holy water on them. In 1983, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese Prime Minister.
His experiences have also been documented in a book, Debu Hiroshima (The Ashes of Hiroshima) by Othman Puteh. Now 64, he and his wife have three children and nine grandchildren. For him however, the horror of Hiroshima will always remain and his message has always been "a hate for war, a love for peace."
This is his story:
Hiroshima was a beautiful, serene city with about half a million people. Once in a while, the air raid siren would sound, but always, the B-29s would just fly past.
"Why aren't they bombing Hiroshima?" asked Razak of his friends. "Ah, that is for you to ask the Americans," replied Nik Yusof flippantly. "Maybe they've run out of bombs," added Syed Omar. They all laughed.
"This is a safe place. We ought to be thankful," remarked Nik Yusof seriously.
One day, the planes dropped thousands of leaflets which fluttered through the city. People scrambled in the streets for a copy. The message is gave sounded ominous: "We warn you that Japan will be destroyed. Japan will fall to pieces if it does not surrender immediately!"
Warnings
Unknown to them, two years earlier in the New Mexico desert, the atomic bomb was being constructed. At the end of July 1945, it had been moved to Tinian Island, about 240 kilometres in nothern Guam. The bomb looked deceivingly ordinary, except that it was larger and longer, at three metres long and circumference (garispusat) of 0.7 metres; weighed four tons with a might of 20,000 TNT.
The morning of August 5, 1945, as Razak and his friends were preparing for their lectures as usual, far away across the waters the Americans were predicting clear weather ahead to carry out their mission. That afternoon, the bomb was placed aboard a B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay.
At 2.45am on August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay and its fleet left their base in Port Tinian. The first plane entered the city zone at 7.25am. It set off the air raid siren, but not many people bothered. Throughout the early hours of the morning till dawn, the siren had been sounding but no attacks had taken place.
It was a lovely morning with the promise of a beautiful day. The day was only beginning.
The atomic bomb was dropped at 17 seconds past 8.15am on Aioi Bridge, about one mile from the university. The bomb fell rapidly with a thick trail of red flames, and exploded with teriffic force 43 seconds later.
It was very hot. The heat of the explosion touched 300,000 degrees Centigrade. Granite within the vicinity of 1,000 metres from the centre of the explosion turned to liquid. People near the scene of the explosion melted without a trace.
The main building at the university remained standing. The clock had stopped at 8.15 a few days before. What was it a divine warning which had been ignored?
Razak, Pengeran Yusof, and Professor Toda were in their classroom when the siren sounded and they ran into the air raid shelter. About 15 minutes later, the all clear signal was given and the three went back to the classroom.
Suddenly, Razak saw this sudden flash of very bright light. "Kilat!" shouted Razak. It's too bright to be lightning," said Pangeran Yusof. There was a loud explosion. The whole building collapsed. They passed out.
What they saw as each regained consciousness sent them into deep shock. It was the most complete destruction anybody could ever imagine. It was as if all around them had been brought down by a giant bulldozer.
Bodies and carcasses, blistered and charred were scattered all over. Hiroshima had turned into the largest graveyard in the world.
Screams
Later, there were people running in panic, screaming in pain. They looked like aliens. Their faces were bloated. They resembled human beings but there was no skin in their bodies and no hair on their head. They were just raw meat. It was a gory sight.
"What kind of catastrophe is this?" asked Razak. "It was like a bomb," said Pangeran Yusof. "Yes, the most extreme, destructive explosion ever," said Prof. Toda. And they all looked at each other in despair.
"Go to the hostels, try to find out what happened and report to me," instructed the Sansei (teacher).
But where was their hostel admist the vast ruins? All they could try to establish was that it was near the river. Along the way, they met Nik Yusof and Tosyio Nagahara, the warden. "We're fine! We're fine," said Nik Yusof. "Go help the others," they said as they ran towards town.
When they finally located their hostel they were overjoyed to find a disoriented but alive Syed Omar staring unbelievingly at the desolation before him. They also found Takahasyi, their Obasan (Mrs. Takahasyi) (landlady). "I'm all right. Go look for my sister," she told them.
They had left her when they heard piercing screams coming from the opposite side of the river. There was a hurricane wind bringing with it a huge ball of flame which was sweeping everything in sight. People were running helter skelter, screaming for help. "Api!," shrieked Razak in panic stricken fright.
Flames
Pursued by the flames, people ran into a culvert which soon became jammed. Others hid against the edge of the river bank. As the flames approached, some jumped into the river and were swallowed by the river. There were people thrashing in pain, their bodies aflame. They tried to get up once, twice, then fell back again, their bodies charred.
"We'll soon meet the same fate," said Pangeran Yusof.
Razak ran towards the water's edge and saw a big raft parked just by the riverbank. As he and 12 others jumped into the raft, they saw flames sweep across the bridge towards the hostel.
"Obasan! Obasan!" screamed Razak, as he thought of his beloved Takahasyi trapped in the debris. "Yusof! Obasan is going to be burnt!" he cried to his friend. His heart cried out for her.
"We've sinned, Yusof! We've sinned! Why did we leave her alive? Why did we allow her to die?," asked Razak hysterically.
To which Pangeran Yusof replied despairingly, "Haven't we tried to save her? We tried! But the fire is too strong. There is nothing that we can do, Razak. There is nothing we can do." Razak was silent. He was filled with remorse.
As the heat became too intense and the flames threatened to burn them alive, all 13 in the raft jumped into the water and clung on to the boat. They submerged themselves in the water, coming up once in a while to breathe. Some injured Japanese, their energies sapped, were soon swept away by the current.
When the flames subsided, there was nothing else to do but set up camp for the night. People were crying out for water. Wanting to help, Razak and Pangeran Yusof took some water in a can and gave the men a drink. All thos who drank died immediately after. "We're killing them! We're the second muderers!," cried Razak.
They determined not to give any of them water again. But the cries for water continued. Unable to withstand the pleas, Razak suggested that they should perhaps boil the water first, thinking that the water was only contaminated with a certain kind of organism. (Nobody had any idea then of an atomic bomb).
Bodies
They boiled the water over their campfire and gave it to the injured to drink. The men just died. They resolved never to give water to the injured.
The pleas continued. "But you'll die if you take the water," Razak told them. "Sindemo kamawana! Mizu kudasai! (Never mind! I would prefer to die!") they said.
Razak saw a white chicken alive standing on some debris. He approached from behind and caught it. That night, they shifted through a can of rice given by Prof. Toda, as it was filled with shards of broken glass. They tried to slaughter the chicken to make soup. They used a nail to pierce the chicken at the neck. The chicken refused to die. "It dosen't want to die tonight," said Razak. "May be we'll try tomorrow."
It was one long endless sleepless night. The moans and the screams pierced the night air. It was obvious the injured no longer had the strength to contain their suffering. And there was no medicine to ease their pain.
As dawn approached, Razak found that many Japanese had died. The white chicken which they had tied to a pole, was dead, tucked under the head of a Japanese who had used it as a pillow.
It was the last straw for Razak. He burst into tears. Pangeran Yusof soon admonished him. "We've to be thankful we're still alive. We've to think of the less fortunate now." Razak wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks with the back of his hand. He dreaded the days ahead, but it had to be faced.
At 10am the following day, the Japanese Red Cross arrived. Razak then suggested that they should go to the hospital to find Nik Yusof, "to look for him if he is alive; to see his body if he is dead."
They found the hospital packed with stacks of dead bodies, and wailing, grieving people. Some of the bodies were beginning to rot and they had to close their nose to shut out the stench. There was no sign of Nik Yusof. They left in sorrow.
On the way back, Razak spotted a body on the road. Something looked familiar. The face was no longer recognisable. The body was red, blistered and cracked. There were no clothes on the body. Suddenly, the blood seeped out of his as he croaked, Yusof! The buckle of the belt! I know it well. It is Nagahara's. "Pangeran Yusof looked at the buckle and said, "You are not mistaken. This is the body of Nagahara."
Razak removed the belt, and later gave it over to Nagahara's son.
Tests
For 10 days, they remained at the capsite where the days and nights merged into one horrific endless nightmare. News soon filtered through that what struck Hiroshima was "an unusual bomb." The Japanese never referred to it as an atomic bomb.
News also reached them that the Americans had bombed Nagasaki on August 9. "This war is madness," said Pengeran Yusof. "It's the people who are mad," replied Razak.
Japan surrendered on August 15. People gathered in the hall of the university. The declaration of surrender was read, but the conditions were not made known, The air was filled with sadness and gloom.
A commotion broke out. A group of soldiers were screaming, "Why should we lose?." "Yes! We must continue to fight!" "Didn't we pledge that we would fight till our last drop of blood!"
One soldier came to Razak and said, "We're were sorry we've put you through all this suffering. Believe me, Razak, this humiliating loss we will avenge. We will rise again as a strong nation in this world and as a great and proud race. Witness it 20 years from now."
A week later, arrangements were made to bring all the foreign students to Tokyo for further medical test. It was while waiting for the Tokyo-bound train on August 25, 1945, that Syed Omar started displaying signs of distress. "What's the matter," asked Razak in concern. I'm feeling chilly," replied Syed Omar, his voice shaking.
Five days later, the train arrived in Kyoto. "I'm getting off here. I want to see a firend," said Syed Omar. His body soon began to crack. The doctor gave Syed Omar his own blood amounting to five pints, but by then, Syed Omar's body has turned septic and he eventually died on Sept. 5, 1945.
In Tokyo, after a series of test, Razak and Pangeran Yusof were declared radiation free. Razak, however, was required to return for daily injections because his white blood cell count was low.
Razak arrived home in December, 1945. His mother asked him what he wanted. Thinking back to the white chicken, he said simply, "Chicken Soup."
