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Malaysia’s first biographer
Published on: Sunday, December 10, 2023
By: James Sarda
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Victor interviewing Tunku soon after he was forced to step down as PM in 1972.
The apprehension was because two other Morais siblings succumbed to malaria after coming over.
However, Vic persisted and the decision to let him head east turned out to be in the nation’s best interests as Vic would eventually touch many lives as a journalist in his new found land.
If Vic had not come and had not taught himself journalism, Malaysians would be so much poorer today about the vision of the nation’s first leaders.
It was Vic who chronicled many of them whose influence and leadership mattered in infant Malaysia. Thanks to him, Malaysians now know about the life and struggles of people like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Dr Ismail and Tun Tan Siew Sin, to name a few.
How he eventually came to play that biggest role is interesting. Viktor enrolled into Form Four the moment the ship docked at Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) when he was 15 or 16.
“At that time he had an Indian accent and was made fun of by others. But he improved by learning, watching others and listening to the radio,” said Ben.
He was about to take up teaching but again fate intervened – an older brother decided he was better off in journalism after watching how he (Vic) used to get a thrill seeing his “letters to the editor” published.
The brother even wrote the application on Vic’s behalf and bought him a second hand car to help him in his job. Never mind if he (elder brother) had to rely on rickshaws and trishaws to get around.
So, Vic joined the Malaya Tribune which was set up in 1935, as a reporter. He was then only 24 and an Indian practising a craft that was the exclusive domain of the white establishment.
Victor being appointed a Perak Exco member in 1948 by the Sultan.
That same year, he decided to venture into writing books, beginning with recording the craze over a new game taking Malaya by storm. It was called badminton.
“He used to cover badminton games for the Tribune and soon had an idea to do a book on badminton in Malaya.
“He went around and interviewed people and even got advertisements for the book which was eventually published with strong support from the Chinese community.
“All the books were sold out and brought him a tidy profit of $2,000 which was a big deal in the 1940s (after the war) when average salaries were only $30 per month,” Ben said. It was the first book to be written about the sport when it made its debut in Malaya.
Among his dad’s memorable experiences at the Tribune during the Japanese Occupation when it assumed the name of The Yamato News – he was by then its Editor – was being forced to churn out pro-Japanese propaganda. The heads of two executed Chinese impaled on wooden stakes at the entrance to the office premises served as a warning on what was expected from them.
He came close to losing his head as well when the Japanese Commander summoned him to explain why the bottom of the Yamato News still mentioned the word “Malaya” instead of Dai Toa Kyoeikan” (or Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere).
The Commander slammed his Bushido knife on the table, and after a long pause, decided to let him off with a warning. Vic recounts in his memoirs, “Witness To History” that his hand was shivering while clutching a Rosary in his trouser pocket.
After the war, Vic was hired as a sub-editor by Malay Mail. He was receiving ayurvedic treatment in India following an accident when tipped off about the vacancy by his elder brother. He rushed back and the white editor went all the way to Ipoh to interview him.
At the Malay Mail, he also ventured into writing books on subjects which would soon set him apart from other journalists of that era.
Vic’s penchant for writing, coupled with rubbing shoulders with newsmakers of the day and as head of the Rotary Club and Kinta Indian Association and Selangor Indian Association led him to try his hand at writing biographies.
As a journalist, he witnessed and reported the formation of Umno, MCA and MIC.
In fact, one of his best friends was an Indian national John Thivy who started the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), modelling it after India’s Congress party.
“He used that to start MIC and became the first president,” Benedict recalls dad telling him. It was possible then (Indian national to start MIC) because it was still the colonial period.
“John kept his Indian citizenship and was a member of the Congress party. He (John) also introduced my dad to (Indian independence activist) Subash Chandra Bose and my dad helped publicise the latter’s visit to Ipoh where he gave a speech at the padang opposite St Michael’s school to 40,000 people to raise funds.
“Thivy after India’s independence became a member of the Congress party and was close to (first Indian PM) Nehru who appointed him as Ambassador to Holland. His last posting was as High Commissioner to Mauritius.”
“Normally he will agree to write about who he considered to be worthy leaders and get organisations to sponsor it.”
Hence, the MCA sponsored a book on President Tun Tan Siew Sin while the army bankrolled the book about the army chief. Other books included Tan Sri Noah, the father-in-law of Tun Razak (later PM) and two books on Chief Justice Tun Suffian.
“He sought but did not get any cooperation from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed to do his biography,” said Ben. Vic traced Dr Mahathir’s roots to Kerala’s Malayalee Muslim community and the family of one Iskandar Kutty, in particular.
“Dad went ahead and published it anyway.” It became “breaking news” and was used by then opposition DAP to their political advantage. Vic also wrote a book about the emerging Anwar Ibrahim in the 1980s.
Perhaps, Vic’s greatest contribution was compiling all the important speeches made by the first batch of Malaysia’s leaders called “Selected Speeches” in 1967. There are plans to republish it as “Wisdom of the first Malaysians”.
Vic’s attention soon spread to other projects like putting out the first “Who’s Who in Malaysia” in the late 1960s and updating them every few years.
The book became a Wikipedia of sorts for anyone who wanted to know who were really influential in Malaysia and Singapore. Requests for copies came even from Russia, the US and Europe.
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