29-04-2025
Last survivor of Bukit Kepong incident dies
JOHOR BARU: The last survivor of the bloody Bukit Kepong tragedy, Jamilah Abu Bakar, 78, drew her final breath at her home in Taman Skudai Kanan here yesterday morning.
Jamilah, who was three years old during the brutal Communist attack on the Bukit Kepong police station on Feb 23, 1950, died of old age at around 9.36am.
Her youngest child, Raja Zamzura Raja Buntat, 46, said her mother had shown signs of weakness over the past few days as she had lost her appetite.
"Mother had diabetes, but she had not been particularly ill these past few days, she had just been eating and drinking less.
"We noticed the changes, she was tired and weak last night, and then passed away this morning.
"All of us siblings were by her side when she drew her final breath," she said when met at the Bukit Aliff Muslim Cemetery yesterday.
Jamilah's remains were laid to rest at the Bukit Aliff Muslim Cemetery yesterday afternoon, where her father, Constable Abu Bakar Daud, who died in September 1979, is also buried.
Abu Bakar was a marine policeman at Bukit Kepong police station and was among those severely wounded during the tragic incident.
Nevertheless, he continued serving with the force until his death.
Asked further about the Bukit Kepong incident, Raja Zamzura said her mother still vividly remembered the Communist attack that claimed the lives of her own mother, Fatimah Yaaba, and her younger brother, Hussin, as it happened before her eyes.
"Mother actually witnessed how her father, mother and brother were shot. She was also shot in the arm.
"She saw her mother and brother being burned as well. They died at the scene.
"Only their ashes remained and were buried at Pusara Pejuang Bukit Kepong," she said.
Raja Zamzura said that every year, her mother would be invited to Bukit Kepong for the Bukit Kepong commemoration ceremony.
"Mother kept photographs and would often recount the incident. Every year, the police would invite her to attend the ceremony," she said.
