Painful Memories of A-Bomb Survivor

Source: New Sunday Times
             October 22,1989, pg.10

The threat of a nuclear war is very real to Haji Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid. He is believed to be the only Malaysian survivor of the Hiroshima bombing of 1945 and has only stories of sorrow and pain when recalling the infamous event. 

A healthy 65-year-old grandfather of seven, Haji Abdul Razak thanked his lucky stars that he suffered no after-effects from the bombing. 

"I had a check-up at a special hospital in Japan for bomb victims and the doctors said my body was free from radiation," he said during a talk today for students in the Federal Territory. 

Now head of the Japanese/Korean language intensive programme at Institut Teknologi Mara, Haji Abdul Razak said he could never forget those years in Japan. 

"I was sent to Hiroshima University to study the language with two other Malaysians. Unfortunately, they did not survive the blast. Both were buried in Japan." 

"The worst experience was not the actual bombing but the aftermath as the whole city was flattened and we had to scrounge around for food and shelter." 

His experiences had been documented in a book Debu Hiroshima (The Ashes of Hiroshima).