By Tony Mariadass
Pictures by: Azneal Ishak
How the Malay Mail changed Peter’s life
The Malay Mail played a major part
in shaping veteran journalist and author, Peter Moss.
Moss who turned 81 on June 27, was
the first roving reporter of Malay Mail when he joined in September 1957.
Although he was with the newspaper
for only eight years and had spent more than 40 years in Hong Kong, he now
lives shuttling between Ijok in Batang Berjuntai and at the Laguna Bay in Luzon
City.
“We all have those
metamorphic moments that spin our lives around and send us in completely new
directions. I've had several, but perhaps the most transformative was a newspaper
cutting from the 'Malay Mail' newspaper in distant Kuala Lumpur,” said Moss
when met at his home in Ijok.
“A thoughtful aunt had dispatched this to me in England
when I was desperately seeking new horizons.
“That cutting sent me on an overland journey from London
to India by bus, and then on by sea from Calcutta to Penang. It also led me to
eight of the happiest years of my life as a roving correspondent in what was
then Malaya but has subsequently become Malaysia.”
Moss who met his old friend, Ong Ho Hin at Ijok said: “Ong
was recruited to the 'Malay Mail' library in August 1957, was just seventeen
years old. When I arrived two months later, to join the newspaper's editorial
team, I was 22.”
It was Moss’ story of his journey to Malaya from England that
landed Moss his job with Malay Mail.
He related: “I was born in Allahabad
India, where my father (William Frank Moss) was serving the British army before
India’s independence in 1947. (Mother was Holly Watson). Despite my British
inheritance, my British passport and my English education, I had not developed
a wholly British identity and outlook. Britain had failed to imprint herself on
my psyche.
“But while I could not consider myself a product of my
father’s land, I did see myself as a by-product of her empire. I had been
weaned on her imperial accomplishments and regretted the speed with which that
history was being relegated to the trash can. I was - as many in my family saw
me trapped in a time warp, floundering in the wake of a sunken liner, desperately
reaching for a life raft.”
Moss after completing his studies in England, was from 1950-1953 an apprentice reporter at Bexhill-on-Sea Observer, before
from 1953-1955 joined the National Service with the Royal Army Pay Corps.
From 1955-1957 he was a
district reporter at East Sussex Express & County Herald.
It was after receiving
the cutting from his aunt in Malaya about the overland trip he decided to
return to India.
He related: “The advertisement for the overland ride was 85 pounds and
I decided to take the trip.”
Moss travelled overland
from London to Calcutta, through France, Italy,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria,
Turkey, Iran, Baluchistan and India and said it took him 45 days and had 45
pounds as his pocket money – a pound a day.
But when he arrived in
Calcutta, he found out that Mother India too had effectively closed her doors on him
in the decade since his departure as he found life difficult as an Anglo Indian
because their resentment for the English.
Moss’ aunt in Malaya turned saviour once again, when she
bought him a ship passage ticket to board the SS Santhia, sailing from Kidderpore
dock in Calcutta for Singapore passing through Burma.
Moss disembarked in Penang but ran into problems with the
immigration
He had already realised that he would have problems
heading to Malaya as on August 31st 1957—at the hour of his departure from
London’s Victoria coach station on his overland odyssey—Malaya had severed her
ties with Empire.
Malaya’s independence from Britain also rang down the
curtain on his chances of obtaining residential status.
Moss managed to convince the immigration into giving him a
one-week pass to be in Malaya by which time he was hoping to get employment and
a work permit.
“I had actually written to Malay Mail before I left
England seeking for employment, but what I did not know was that they had
replied that there was no vacancies.
“When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, I went to Malay Mail and
met the editor, Martin Hutton. It was then he asked me if I had not received
the letter saying that there was no vacancies.
“I pleaded for a job and after I told him of my overland
journey to India and then my ship to Malaya to pursue my dream to work in
Malaya, then he decided to give me an opportunity to write about my travel
experience.
“The next I knew after my article was read by Hutton with
my first byline, I was offered a job and got my working permit eventually.
Moss was the chief reporter but given the roving reporter
status and had the freedom to write articles which interest him and eventually became the News Editor.
He worked with other
journalists and editors like Derek Fenney, Alan Wolstenholme and Leslie Hoffman
to name a few.
 |
| Moss back row 4th from right |
During his days with
Malay Mail from 1957-1965 he reported on the last years of the Malayan
Emergency, the first years of Malaya's independence following
Merdeka, the Rural
Development Scheme, the birth of Malaysia and Confrontation with Indonesia.
In 1960 he was
hand-picked by Sir Robert Thomson, then Malaya’s secretary for security, to write
a series of articles on the ‘Hidden War’ which continued on the Thai-Malayan
border after the end of the Emergency - an assignment which attached him to
operational troops on both sides of the frontier.
“During these years I
also wrote numerous articles for the Straits Times
Sunday features pages,
and was given the freedom to act as roving correspondent, personally selecting
off-beat assignments which took me deep into the jungles to live with
aboriginal communities or visiting remote insular communities in the Malacca
Straits and South China Sea,” said Moss whose life story is so intriguing that
he had to write three volumes in
an autobiographical that began with Bye Bye Blackbird and Distant Archipelagos
and finally the No Babylon.
He has to his credit
authored 38 books among them include An
Anglo-Indian Memoir, Memories of Malaya, The Singing Tree, The Colour of Asia,
Hong Kong Handover, The Long March Back, Hong Kong Style, The Very Nature of
Hong Kong, Skylines Hong Kong, Passing Shadows, Lijiang: The Imperiled Utopia,
Chinese Symbolism Another City, Another Age; Hong Kong: What’s to See, Building
Hong Kong, The Age of Elephants, set
in India, White Guerrilla, set in Hong Kong and the Philippines; Landfall, set
in Vanuatu, River in Search of a Sea, set in South Africa.
Moss said he would have
loved to remain in Malaya, but he could not get his work permit renewed any
longer and that was when he moved out to Hong Kong in 1965, where he started
off as a Senior Information Officer, with the Hong Kong Government Information
Services writing feature articles for overseas publications for three years
before he was promoted to Principal Information Officer, editing all government
publications for another three years before he was posted to Hong Kong Government
Secretariat as its first Principal Information Officer (1971-1975).
He was then promoted to
Chief Information Officer in charge of all government publicity campaigns and
special promotions.
On retirement in 1993
from the Hong Kong Government he joined Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations (HK)
as Deputy Managing Director, handling public affairs and government liaison.
Then in 1995 he decided
to take up residence in Canada, which he described as the worst decision in his
life.
“I was hoping for a happy
retirement in Canada, but I was miserable, lonely and really did not like the
place.
“It was then I decided to
return to Hong Kong as consultant to Salon Films, Hong Kong’s principal one-stop
film production facility.
To date in addition to
several scripts for documentaries and shorts produced by
Salon Films, he has also completed
twelve screenplays, one of which, based on his novel The Singing Tree.
The multi-talented Moss
was Appointed Justice of the Peace in 1986 and in January 1994 awarded the
M.B.E. in the Queen's New Year’s Honours list.
Then he decided Malaysia
was his home, but could not afford the fees for making it his ‘Second Home’ and
decided he will shuttle between Philippines and Malaysia.
And in both places, it is
friends who have made it possible to make his home.
In Ijok, it was Mukti Mat
Sahid, a driver, whom he befriended during his early days in Malaya for him to
learn Malay and Mukti who was interested to learn English.
They became good friends
and he even took Mukti and his family to be with him in Hongkong and even
educated the two sons – Mazli, who became a banker in Malaysia when they
returned from Hong Kong.
Moss’ bonding with Mukti
grew strong after he had saved his life by rescuing the latter from his kampong
in Ijok, where he was dying from an illness, to take him to the hospital in
Kuala Lumpur and see him recover.
In Philippines, it is
another friend, an engineer, Rino Cantillano, whom he befriended while working
in Hong Kong, who has become his other adopted brother besides Mukti, and now
back in Luzon shares his home with Moss.
The Malay Mail in indeed
an institution which has indeed played a key role in charting and shaping the
lives of thousands who had worked with the paper.
Ends.
IN THE MALAY MAIL
ROLLING STONE THAT GATHERED MOSS
FOR veteran journalist and author
Peter Moss, Malay
Mail played
a major part in shaping his life.
Moss, who turned 81 on June 27, was the first roving reporter when
he joined the paper in September 1957.
Although he was with the newspaper for only eight years, it was Malay Mail that brought him to then Malaya
just after independence.
“We all have those metamorphic moments that send us in completely
new directions,” said Moss when met at his house in Ijok.
“I’ve had several, but perhaps the most transformative was a
newspaper cutting from the Malay
Mail in
distant Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
“A thoughtful aunt had dispatched this to me in England when I was
desperately seeking new horizons.
“That cutting sent me on an overland journey from London to India
by bus, and then on by sea from Calcutta to Penang. It also led me to eight of
the happiest years of my life as a roving correspondent in Malaya.”
It was Moss’ story of his journey to Malaya from England that
landed him a job with Malay
Mail at
22.
 |
| Fond memories for Peter as he reads his article about his overland trip from London to India which earned him the job in Malay Mail in 1957 |
He said: “I was born in Allahabad, India, where my father William
Frank Moss was serving the British army before India’s independence in 1947.
“Despite my British inheritance, my British passport and my
English education, I had not developed a wholly British identity and outlook.”
After completing his studies in England in 1953, he became an
apprentice reporter at Bexhill-on-Sea
Observer, before joining the National Service with the Royal Army Pay
Corps.
From 1955 to ‘57, he was a district reporter at East Sussex Express & County
Herald.
It was after receiving a news cutting from his aunt in Malaya
about the overland trip that he decided to return to India.
He said, “The advertised cost of the overland ride was 85 pounds
and I decided to take it.”
Moss travelled from London to Calcutta, through France, Italy,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Baluchistan and India.
He said the journey took him 45 days and he had 45 pounds as
pocket money — a pound a day.
When he arrived in Calcutta, he discovered that India too had
effectively closed her doors on him in the decade since his departure.
Moss’s aunt in Malaya turned saviour once again when she sent him
a ticket to board the SS Santhia, sailing from Kidderpore dock in Calcutta for
Singapore.
Moss disembarked in Penang but ran into problems with immigration.
He realised he would have problems heading to Malaya. At the hour
of his departure from London’s Victoria coach station on Aug 31, 1957, Malaya
severed her ties to Britain, effectively snuffing out his chances of obtaining
residential status.
Moss managed to convince immigration in Penang into giving him a
one-week pass by which time he was hoping to get a work permit.
“I had written to Malay Mail before I left England seeking
employment, but what I did not know was they had replied that there were no
vacancies.
“When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, I went to Malay Mailand
met the editor, Martin Hutton. He asked if I had not received
the letter.
the letter.
“I pleaded for a job and after I told him of my journey, he
decided to give me an opportunity to write about my travel experiences.
“The next thing I knew, I had my first byline. I was offered a job
and got my work permit eventually.”
Moss was made chief reporter with roving status. He had the
freedom to write articles which interested him and he became news editor.
He worked with other journalists and editors, such as Derek
Fenney, Alan Wolstenholme and Leslie Hoffman to name a few.
During his days with Malay Mail from 1957 to ‘65, he reported
on the last years of the Malayan Emergency, the initial years of independence,
the Rural Development Scheme (Felda), the birth of Malaysia, and Confrontation
with Indonesia.
In 1960 he was handpicked by Sir Robert Thomson, then Malaya’s
secretary for security, to write a series on the ‘Hidden War’ which continued
on the Thai-Malayan border after the end of the Emergency, an assignment which
saw him attached to operational units on both sides of the frontier.
“During those years, I also wrote numerous articles for The
Straits Times and
Sunday feature pages, and was given the freedom to act as roving correspondent.
“I went on off-beat assignments which took me deep into the
jungles to live with aboriginal communities or visit remote insular communities
in the Malacca Straits and South China Sea,” said Moss.
Moss’ life story is intriguing enough for three volumes of autobiography
— Bye
Bye Blackbird, Distant Archipelagos, and, finally, No Babylon.
In all, he has authored 38 books, inluding An Anglo-Indian Memoir, Memories of
Malaya, and The Singing Tree.
Moss said he would have loved to remain in Malaya, but could not get
his work permit renewed any longer.
He moved to Hong Kong in 1965, where he worked with Government
Information Services, writing and editing articles for overseas and government
publications.
He also wrote screenplays, documentaries and films.
The versatile Moss was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1986 and
in January 1994 awarded the M.B.E. in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.
  |
| FOR REMEMBRANCE: The interview done at Peter Mos's home in Ijok. Librarian Ong Ho Hin a very good friend of Peter came along. It was great to meet Peter. |
He opted to shuttle between Philippines and Malaysia. In both places, it is friends who are instrumental in making him feel at home.
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