Perak Royal Family Member Who Fell on the Battlefield
YM Captain Raja Aman Shah was the son of YAM Raja Haji Harun al-Rashid ibni Almarhum Sultan Idris Murshidul Azzam Shah, the Raja Kechil Sulong of Perak from 1918 to 1945.
He was born in 1902 and received his education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). He married YAM Tunku Baharum binti Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid, who was the daughter of the Sultan of Kedah. One of his children was an officer in the Malaysian Armed Forces, YM Major (Ret.) Raja Ahmad Feisal Raja Aman Shah. Raja Aman Shah was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the First Battalion of Perak within the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force (FMSVF) in 1929. He also served as an Assistant District Officer in several districts within the Federated Malay States, including Ulu Selangor from 1933 to 1934, Kuala Langat from 1934 to 1936, and Jelebu from 1936 to 1938. He eventually became the District Officer of Port Dickson in 1938.
Raja Aman Shah became a Captain in the Third Battalion of Negeri Sembilan and served in World War II after Japan began its invasion of Malaya in 1941. When the armed forces of the Federated Malay States and the Straits Settlements were mobilized to face the Japanese army, he submitted his resignation as the District Officer of Port Dickson to focus on defending Malaya, even though he could have served without resigning from his position.
Together with his comrades in the Volunteer Force, he fought against the Japanese with great courage in Johor and finally in Singapore in 1942. Following the fall of Singapore to the Japanese on February 15, 1942, Captain Raja Aman Shah, along with soldiers from the Royal Malay Regiment and the British Volunteer Force, was detained at the Farrer Park Detention Centre. According to Mustapha Hussain in his book titled Memoir Mustapha Hussain: Kebangkitan Nasionalisme Melayu Sebelum UMNO, it is mentioned that Captain Raja Aman Shah refused to attempt an escape from the Farrer Park Detention Centre and was willing to protect his comrades in the prisoner-of-war camp, especially those from Perak, during Japanese interrogations. He was once offered the chance to be released by the Japanese, but he rejected the offer when he learned that he was the only one being given the opportunity to be released while the others were not. He later stated that it was God's will if he were to be released, and it was also God's will if he and his comrades were to die together. We at orangperak.com are deeply moved by the words of this great member of the Perak Royal family.
On February 28, 1942, he and other prisoners of war were forced to march from Farrer Park to Geylang. While many Malay volunteers were allowed to return home by the Japanese army, most Malay military officers remained detained and were taken to Bedok, where they were all executed by a Japanese firing squad. The bodies of the Malay military officers, along with the body of Captain Raja Aman Shah, were left where they were shot without being given a proper burial. Captain Raja Aman Shah and the names of other fallen fighters have been commemorated on a memorial plaque at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore. Posthumously, Captain Raja Aman Shah was awarded military honors and his name is also inscribed on the Singapore Memorial at the Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.
You might also want to read the article
The Story of the Taiping-Born Soldier Executed by the Japanese
as well. The story in that article is closely related to the story of YM Captain Raja Aman Shah. They were comrades-in-arms with YM Captain Raja Aman Shah and were executed on the same day.
