Lieutenant Jetti Ahmad
Haji Jetti Ahmad with family
I always wonder why i love to watch war movies, battle strategy in History Channel and play a strategy war games on pc, this is because i am a 4th generation descendant to Lieutenant Jetti Ahmad.
When the Japanese invaded Malaya in World War II, my great grandfather, Jetti Ahmad was serving as a Lieutenant as part of the Volunteer Corps (Regimen 502) formed by the British Military.. Though conferred several military medals for bravery in the line of duty, his name is one of the many that was never mentioned and perhaps will never be in the history books - only to be remembered by the military as one of their unknown heroes.
When the Japanese over ran all defending forces in the peninsular on their way to Singapore, Lt Jetti Ahmad and his fellow officers decided to hide their uniforms and resume their village life. But the Japanese, in their pursuit of territory, were short of people and began ferreting the VC officers. Initially, they guiled several officers into submission, including a Captain Abu Bakar. Captain Abu Bakar and several officers who thought the Japanese were sincere in their offer, surrendered, were never seen again; they were believed to have been killed by the Japanese Army in a fit of revenge for the resolute stand of the VC. Lt Jetti and a few other officers on the other hand, were later ferreted out and forced to serve the Japanese Army.
When the war ended, the old man resumed his teaching post and was appointed the Headmaster of a school quite nearby to the village, a post he held till his retirement. Sometime in 1972, an automobile accident made him almost cripple and he was immobilised till his last breath sometime in early 1990’s, some 10 years after his wife passed away.
To the people in the village of Melaka Pindah, the old man will always be remembered as ‘Cikgu Jetti’. To the British Military, the records may show him as Lieutenant Jetti. But to us, his great grandchildren, he will always be remembered as Datuk. And his wife as Encik.
Recently i have created a genealogy of Haji Jetti's family tree and now already reach 5 generations with my grandma is the oldest one and my nephew is the youngest one.
