[Handwritten in top right corner:] 53

A.S. Amjah,

C/- P.C. 817,

Tanjong Pagar Police

SINGAPORE.

2nd April, 1948.

Dear Sir,

I am one of the Malays who was recently repatriated from Australia. I have been in Singapore now for a little over three weeks but up to fate have not been able to secure satisfactory work largely due to the injury I received at Milne Bay in 1943.

I am very anxious about my wife and children, one aged 2 yeard [sic] and the other 9 months, and I am appealing to you to place before the authorities a request that I should be permitted to return to Australia so that I can be with my family. My wife is pregnant, so you can imagine my anxiety.

There is no need for me to let you know that life in a Malayan Kampong would be quite impossible for my wife who comes from Sans Souci, New South Wales, from a very respectable family. I am also desirous that my two Australian children should be brought up in proper surroundings and become good Australian citizens.

As already mentioned to you I was wounded when serving on M.V. “Gorgon” at Milne Bay in 1943. This wound has rendered me unsuitable for ships work in future, and in fact prior to my return from Australia I had already been employed for three years by two firms namely the Burlington Mills of Australia Ltd., or Alexandria, and R.M. Hoskins, also of Elexandria [sic]. The references I secured from both of these firms could not be bettered.

I am a member of the returned Soldiers and Sailors League of Australia.

If the Commonwealth Government would permit me to return to Australia under any exemption or conditions whatever, I could gua [sic] guarantee to secure suitable employment. I therefore beg of you to place this application [sic] before the authorities in Australia, with an assurance that I am prepared to comply with any conditions that may be imposed.

I have just received word from Messrs. R.M. Hoskins, Pty., Ltd., that the Directors of the company are quite willing to provide a £100 Bond if thd [sic] Government will allow me to go to Australia.

Yours Sincerely,

[Space for signature, unsigned.]

[Addressed to:] The Australian Commissioner for Malaya,

Union Building,

SINGAPORE.