PALEMBANG, SUMATRA - Mohamed Hassan, the Singaporean nabbed in Palembang recently for his involvement in the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network, led a double life.

To his family, friends and colleagues, he was a doting father, loving husband and a friendly man, if a tad religious.

To a small select group, however, he was an expert in bombs who worked with other top terrorists to bring violence and death to targets like Singapore.

But his wife, 32-year-old Sayuti, never knew that.

To her, Mohamed Hassan, 36, was simply Fajar Taslim, an Indonesian of Indian-Arab parentage.

Born in 1972 in Semarang, Java, he said he had attended primary school there but had gone to high school and college in India.

Fellow teachers shocked at terror suspect's arrest

Mr Hendi Afriyanto, principal of Cambrichindo English Centre where terror suspect Mohamed Hassan taught, and his colleagues recalled him as being religious, but not in a way that stood out. -- ST PHOTO: ARLINA ARSHAD Mohamed Hassan was an excellent English teacher who was sought after by many schools, but he chose to work in the Sumatran village of Sekayu at the Cambrichindo English Language Centre as he liked the environment there.
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'He didn't talk much about his family, except that he has older twin siblings and his parents have gone back to India. He missed them a lot, and broke down every time he talked about them,' said Madam Sayuti.

In an hour-long interview with The Sunday Times at her sparsely furnished rented house in Palembang yesterday, the terror suspect's wife described him as a caring and responsible husband and loving father who doted on their sons, three-year-old Azam Abdullah and 10-month-old Abdul Mussowwir.

Madam Sayuti is also four months pregnant with their third child.

'He gave me a weekly allowance to buy groceries and allowed me to mingle freely with my neighbours. He never scolded or hit me. He is tall and fierce-looking, but he is actually soft-hearted,' she said in Bahasa Indonesia.

Madam Sayuti has yet to come to terms that Abi, as she called him, is a bomb-maker and a wanted man in Singapore.

'He has never talked about Singapore. What were his crimes in Singapore? Tell me. Do you know if he has family there? Will the Singapore police question me? I am very frightened and stressed because I don't know anything. I am still shocked myself to hear this news,' she said.

She had learnt about his arrest last week from watching the news on TV. Mohamed Hassan was arrested in Sekayu district, two hours' drive from Palembang city centre. He taught English at Cambrichindo English Language Centre there on weekdays, and would return home every weekend, she said.

'He did not come back that weekend, and I found out why after watching the news,' she said. 'I cried and cried. It must have been a mistake. How can my husband be a terrorist?

'He is a very good man. He took care of the family well. Even though we may not be rich, we have no debts. He took the bus as he could not afford a motorbike.'

The couple lived simply, in a two-bedroom rented house in the Mega Asri Complex residential estate, on Mohamed Hassan's two million rupiah (S$300) monthly salary.

There was no sofa or chair in the house, just a straw mat on the cement floor. In one corner stood a small TV set with a copy of the Quran on it. A thin mattress took up part of the floor in one bedroom, and a telephone in the other.

'Our house is empty, but just look at those toys,' said Madam Sayuti, pointing to plastic cars and lorries scattered on the floor.

'Abi loves our sons very much. He spent most of his time at home playing with them, and he saved up money to buy the toys. I am the disciplinarian in the house; he spoiled the kids and they were not scared of him.'

The couple had met at a market in Jember, Java, in 2003. Divorced with a child, she was earning a living as a vegetable seller, and he, an optical shop assistant.

Soon after meeting, he asked for her hand.

'I accepted his proposal as I thought I would have a better future with him. After all, he was a private tutor,' she said.

But her family disliked him, saying he was 'too religious'. Her father kicked them out of the house in Java about a year after marriage as he could not stand being criticised for missing his prayers.

Pregnant with her first child, Madam Sayuti moved to Palembang in 2004 with her family. She left her child from the first marriage in Java.

After marriage, she was told to cover herself up in a hijab. She was also expected not to delay performing her prayers. Mohamed Hassan himself never missed the five obligatory daily prayers and would attend religious speeches at a friend's house for a few hours every weekend.

'I followed him on a few occasions. The speeches were about how to be a good Muslim, nothing extraordinary or radical,' she said.

'He never behaved strangely. When I checked his bag when he returned from work every weekend, it was filled with just dirty clothes for me to wash.'

The couple moved every two to four months because he was choosy about his neighbours - which stemmed from his religiosity.

'We moved once when the neighbours were playing too much pop music. Then another time, we moved when we learnt the neighbours were setting up a gambling place. Abi did not like that,' recalled Madam Sayuti.

Her husband's arrest has left her lost, unsure about what to do next and wondering about what the future would hold. Neighbours have been supporting the family financially.

One of them turned up at Madam Sayuti's house during the interview with a plate of rice and chicken soup. 'Eat up, Sayuti, before the food turns cold,' she said.

The neighbour declined to give her name, but before leaving, she told The Sunday Times: 'I pity Sayuti and her children. They don't know anything.'

Madam Sayuti is appealing for Singapore relatives to contact her, through The Sunday Times.

She said: 'I have no relatives here. I have not told my family in Java about this. My neighbours have been supporting me the past week, but they cannot do this for long.'

Asked about her husband's alleged involvement in terrorist activities, she replied: 'I read that he wanted to bomb some places in Palembang. It is scary to hear that. To me, that is a very wrong thing to do. A lot of people, and fellow Muslims too, will be killed.'

She stared into space, and went silent for a while. And then added: 'No, I still cannot believe my husband will do such a thing.

'I miss him. I depend on him and now that he is taken away, what will happen to our children? What am I to do?'