My dad's mother, Asmaniah, was the middle child in the first generation family of Baweanese-Japanese mix. Grandma Asmaniah married Grandpa Rawi bin Hj.Noor, a local Baweanese. Grandpa Rawi happened to be a relative of my maternal Grandpa Hj.Siddik bin Ismail. My two grandfathers were related by blood to each other.
(My late Grandma, Asmaniah binte Maksar)
Grandpa Rawi was very much in love with travelling. Perhaps, it was rather a job, earning some income to support his family than merely a passion to travel abroad. I assume he was a small time trader for according to my paternal aunt, he often travelled to the Malay Peninsula even after he got married and had a family of his own. He used to bring his entire family with him to any destination he travelled to. Hence, Grandma Asmaniah was always on the move, accompanying her husband. My two older aunties, Aunt Saleha and Aunt Jamaliah, were born in Kuala Lumpur while my dad, the third child was born in Bawean Island in 1940. From the stories related to me about my grandfather's family, it seems that they were living comfortably.
(My late Grandpa, Rawi bin Hj.Noor)
My father was near two years old when the family travelled to Singapore in late 1941. It was unexpected that the trip turned out to be a one-way journey that changed the life destiny of my dad's family. In December 1941, the Japanese dropped the first bombs on Singapore. The next year the Japanese invasion forces swept through Indonesia and Malaya. In January 1942 they took over Malaya and Singapore was captured in February the same year. Due to war, my father and his family could not return to Bawean. Grandpa Rawi had no choice but to settle in Singapore during the two terrible years of Japanese occupation. The family took shelter at Pondok Kalompang Gubuk.
(My late dad, as I remember him always)
After the dropping of atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by US military, the Japanese soldiers in Singapore and other parts of the Malay Peninsula were instructed by their government to surrender themselves to the British authority. Aunt Jamaliah narrated to me that the ordeal of war was terrifying and unforgettable. She said that during the Japanese occupation life was very difficult and full of misery. Most of the time, she had to hide because she was afraid to be taken away by the Japanese soldiers. Aunt Jamaliah was sad to see her mother very much traumatized by the warning sirens and the sound of Japanese jet planes. According to my aunt, her mother used to hide and scream out of fear, closing her ears tightly with her hands, every time the sound of planes could be heard, even after the war was over.
(My Aunt Jamaliah and her dear niece during Hari Raya AidilFitri 2007)
After the Japanese occupation, the torn and tattered Singapore was very much in-need of manpower to build up the country's economy. Like many other foreigners who were stranded due to war, my grandfather and his family were given the opportunity to become Singapore citizen by the British government. They became Singaporeans and never had the chance to return to Bawean after that. Their home and a plot of cultivated land in Bawean were taken care by their relatives. My dad had given all his properties in Bawean to his relatives before he passed away.
(My Aunt Saleha during 1980s)
The family continued to live at Pondok Kalompang Gubuk. Grandpa Rawi earned his income working as a personal driver for a British family. My grandfather's family expanded with the birth of two more children, Aunt Nema and Uncle Samad. Unfortunately, he was unable to see his youngest son. He passed away before my uncle was born. Grandma Asmaniah became a widow for a while. Later on, she married to a Singaporean Baweanese by the named Ustadz Sainay. She remained as his wife until her death in late 1964. I was then near two years old.
(Aunt Nema and her husband during 1960s)
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