Career

During World World War II, he supported the Japanese during their occupation of Malaya. Imprisoned by the British, he was freed by the Japanese in February 1942, only to be recaptured by British forces in Singapore later that same year. He died in Jakarta on 8 March 1979.

Yaacob was born in Temerloh, Pahang, to a family of Bugis descent.

During the 1930s, he wrote a series of articles that were critical of the British Administration to the Malay newspapers, and was later forced to resign after receiving a warning from the British authorities. He became the editor of a nationalistic newspaper, Majlis, and formed the KMM in 1938.

Achievements

• An opponent of the British colonial government, he was President and founder of the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM). The goal of KMM is to achieve independence for Malaya through union with Indonesia.

Membership

As a members of KMM, he welcome and work with Japanese as they belief that Japanese will give Malaya independence and actively assist them through fifth column activities.