Adnan Saidi
{{Short description|Malayan soldier (1915–1942)}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Malay name|Adnan|Saidi| note = on}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Adnan Saidi
| image = Adnan Saidi 1942.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Saidi in 1937 as a colour sergeant
| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|8|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = Sungai Ramal, Kajang, Selangor, Federated Malay States, British Malaya
| death_date = {{death date and age|1942|2|14|1915|8|14|df=y}}
| death_place = Pasir Panjang, Singapore, Straits Settlements
| placeofburial = Kranji War Memorial, Singapore
| spouse = {{marriage|Sophia binte Pakir|1938}}
| children = 3
| allegiance = Royal Malay Regiment
| serviceyears = 1933–1942
| servicenumber = ZV 90
| rank = Lieutenant{{Cite book |last=Johari Rahmat |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53058960 |title=In quest of excellence : a story of Singapore Malays |date=2002 |publisher=[Yayasan Mendaki] |others=Thusitha De Silva, Saat A. Rahman, MENDAKI |isbn=981-04-7383-4 |location=[Singapore] |oclc=53058960 |pages=114–115}}
| commands =
| unit = 7th Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Malay Brigade
| battles = World War II
| awards = 1939–1945 Star
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939–1945
}}
Adnan bin Saidi (Jawi: {{script/Arabic|عدنان بن سيدي}}; 14 August 1915 – 14 February 1942) was a Malayan military officer of the 1st Infantry Brigade under the Malaya Command in British-ruled Malaya. In 1942, Adnan, then a lieutenant, led his platoon to put up fierce resistance against the Japanese during the Battle of Pasir Panjang in Singapore, and was ultimately killed in action. He is celebrated as a national hero in present-day Malaysia and Singapore.
Family background and early life
Adnan was born in a Minangkabau family in Sungai Ramal, near Kajang, Selangor, Malaya. He was the eldest of six children in his family and attended Pekan Sungei Ramal School. After graduating, he worked as a trainee teacher at his alma mater for over a year.
He is the great-grandson of renowned Negri warrior Datuk Siamang Gagap.{{Cite book|title=Leftenan Adnan Wira Bangsa|first=Abdul Latip|last= Talib|publisher=Mika Cemerlang Sdn. Bhd.|isbn=9789670148908|location=33-1 Jalan USJ 1/1A, Regalia Business Center, 47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.|pages=23-25}}
Career
Adnan enlisted in the Malay Regiment in 1933 and was selected as the regiment's best recruit for his outstanding performance. He was promoted to sergeant in 1936. A year later, he marched alongside the Colonial Contingent representing the Federated Malay States at the coronation parade of George VI and earned a coronation medal.
In late 1941, Adnan was posted to Singapore to attend an officer conversion course and lived with his family in a house at Pasir Panjang reserved for the Malay Regiment's officers. After completing his training, he was commissioned as a lieutenant and appointed as company officer of the 7th Platoon in C Company of the Malay Regiment's 1st Battalion. In December 1941, he sent his family back to their hometown in Kajang, Selangor for their safety.
= Battle of Pasir Panjang =
{{Main|Battle of Pasir Panjang}}
In February 1942, Adnan led his 42-men platoon of the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade to defend Singapore from attacks by the 56th Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army. They fought at Pasir Panjang Ridge around Bukit Chandu between 12 and 14 February.[http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/seminars/docu/truelife/ppbattle.doc The Battle of Pasir Panjang Revisited-MINDEF.gov.sg] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220810/http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/seminars/docu/truelife/ppbattle.doc |date=3 March 2016 }} Despite being heavily outnumbered, Adnan refused to surrender and urged his men to fight to the end. They held off the Japanese for two days amid heavy shelling from Japanese artillery and tanks, as well as chronic shortages of food, medical supplies and ammunition. On the last day of the battle, Adnan and his men were left with only a few grenades and had to fight the Japanese with their bayonets in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Adnan was shot but continued fighting.
During the battle, Adnan identified Japanese soldiers who were attempting to infiltrate the Malay Regiment's base in disguise as "Punjabi soldiers",{{cite web|title=Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi|url= http://singaporeheroes.weebly.com|website=Singapore Heroes|access-date=9 January 2015}} who were marching four abreast (Japanese style) instead of three (British style).[http://web.singnet.com.sg/~nainz/malayregiment.html Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi and The Malay Regiment] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112221531/http://web.singnet.com.sg/~nainz/malayregiment.html |date=12 November 2012 }}
= Capture and death =
Although it is widely agreed that Adnan was killed during the Battle of Pasir Panjang on 14 February 1942,{{cite web |title=Lieutenant Adnan Saidi |url= https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_456_2005-01-18.html |publisher=Government of Singapore |access-date=14 February 2023}} the exact details surrounding his death differed between accounts from both sides of the war. The actual circumstances of his death were never officially recorded.
The Imperial Japanese Army's official account indicated that Adnan was executed and then hung upside down from a cherry tree after two days of stubborn resistance and refusal to surrender. Other accounts suggest that he might have been tied to the tree and repeatedly bayoneted to death.{{cite web|url=http://www.oocities.org/rcda_sg/Pages/bosmalay4.html|title=bosmalay4.html|website=www.oocities.org}} British accounts confirmed that his corpse was found hung upside down after the surrender and this has been repeated in a number of authoritative texts on the Malayan Campaign. His remains are buried at the Kranji War Memorial.
Personal life
Adnan's younger brothers, Ahmad and Amarullah, also served in the armed forces. Ahmad was killed in action after his ship, HMS Pelandok, was sunk in January 1942 in a Japanese air raid en route to Australia.
Adnan married Sophia Pakih, an Islamic religious teacher, in 1938. They had a daughter who died soon after birth, and two sons: Mokhtar, who lives in Seremban, and Zainudin, who lives in Johor. Mokhtar recalled that his father "did not talk a lot", was "a strict man and believed in discipline", and was "always serious and fierce ... yet had a good heart. There seemed to be a 'light' illuminating his face."{{cite web |date=9 September 1995 |title=Biography – Lt. Adnan Saidi, 1915 – 1942, Infantry Officer, War Hero by Liza Sahid in 1995 |url=http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/heritage/pasirpanjang/articles/adnan_saidi_infantry_officer_war_hero-liza_sahid1999.html |access-date=26 February 2017 |publisher=Habitat News – National University Singapore}} Sophia died in 1949.
Legacy
Adnan is considered a war hero in Singapore due to his courageous and valiant actions at the Battle of Pasir Panjang.{{cite web|title=Adnan bin Saidi|url=http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=437334923010|website=Badass of the Week|publisher=Backroom Productions, Inc|access-date=9 January 2015}} The promotion of Adnan as a national hero was championed by the Singaporean Malay-language newspaper Berita Harian in 1995. In 1999, Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong honoured Adnan as a national hero and his story begun appearing in history school books.{{cite book |last2=Blackburn |first2=Kevin |first1=Karl|last1=Hack|title=War memory and the making of modern Malaysia and Singapore |date=2012 |publisher=NUS Press |location=Singapore |isbn=9789971695996 |pages=314–316 |access-date=13 February 2023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yO_wBgAAQBAJ&dq=Adnan+Saidi&pg=PR10}}
Adnan is also well recognised in Malaysia as a national hero and his story is made into a novel used in secondary schools as part of the Malay-language curriculum.
= War memorial =
A war memorial plaque honouring Adnan and the Malay Brigade was commissioned by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1995 at Vigilante Drive, Kent Ridge Park, Singapore.{{cite web|last1=Sahid|first1=Liza|title=Biography – Lt. Adnan Saidi|url=http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/heritage/pasirpanjang/articles/adnan_saidi_infantry_officer_war_hero-liza_sahid1999.html|access-date=9 January 2015}}
A colonial-era bungalow at Bukit Chandu was converted into Reflections at Bukit Chandu, an interpretative centre about the Battle of Pasir Panjang.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nhb.gov.sg/museums/reflections-at-bukit-chandu |title=Reflections at Bukit Chandu |access-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218145421/https://www.nhb.gov.sg/museums/reflections-at-bukit-chandu |archive-date=18 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}
The Art in Transit programme of Pasir Panjang MRT station, titled Lieutenant Adnan, by Ho Tzu Nyen, features mock posters all around the station and lift shaft for a fictional movie about Adnan, who is portrayed by Singaporean actor Aaron Aziz.{{cite book|author=Justin Zhuang|title=Art in Transit: Circle Line MRT-Singapore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3m4IngEACAAJ|year=2013|isbn=978-981-07-4982-8|pages=22–183|publisher=Land Transport Authority }}
= Portrayal in film =
Adnan was portrayed by Malaysian actor Hairie Othman in the 2000 film Leftenan Adnan.{{Cite web |title=TIDAK LAGI KU KEJAR GLAMOR - HAIRIE OTHMAN |date=11 November 2019 |url=https://kitareporters.com/hiburan/xkazREraJ0 |language=ms}}
He was also portrayed by an unknown Malay actor in the 2001 Singaporean television series A War Diary.
Aaron Aziz also portrayed Adnan in an episode of the 2004 historical series Life Story from Mediacorp Channel 5, which also covers his personal life.[http://ch5.mediacorptv.com/shows/drama/episodes/1233/1/13/.html Life Story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023055007/http://ch5.mediacorptv.com/shows/drama/episodes/1233/1/13/.html |date=23 October 2007 }}, Channel 5 12 September 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
In May 2016, a Singaporean actor Fadhlur Rahman also played as Adnan in Heroes: Battle of Bukit Chandu aired by Mediacorp Channel 5, Channel 8, Suria, Vasantham and Channel NewsAsia. In the episodes, there were interviews with Adnan's granddaughter Wan Sofia Zainuddin.
= Singapore's bicentennial =
On 5 June 2019, on Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Singapore President Halimah Yacob launched commemorative notes featuring Adnan along with 7 other historical Singaporean figures in a $20 commemorative notes marking Singapore's bicentennial celebrations, 1819–2019 edition.{{Cite news |title=A war hero, Singapore River and gold: Details of the bicentennial S$20 note |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-bicentennial-commemorative-note-details-features-11602142 |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=24 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624155739/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-bicentennial-commemorative-note-details-features-11602142 |url-status=dead }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121112221531/http://web.singnet.com.sg/~nainz/malayregiment.html Adnan Saidi]
{{portalbar|History|Singapore}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Singaporean people of World War II
Category:British colonial army officers
Category:Malaysian people of Minangkabau descent
Category:Singaporean people of Minangkabau descent
Category:Malaysian people of Malay descent
Category:Malaysian emigrants to Singapore
Category:Singaporean people of Malay descent