STORIES of police bravery in the line of duty abound, and the most memorable and stirring of them all must surely be that of the defence of the police station at Bukit Kepong, an isolated community in the Pagoh district of Johor. This is what Brian Stewart, formerly of the Malayan Civil Service and the author of Smashing Terrorism in the Malayan Emergency — The Vital Contribution of the Police, has to say in his introduction to the chapter on the “Gallant Last Stand” at Bukit Kepong.
“This is the story of how 13 Malay policemen, supported magnificently by their wives, made a stand against overwhelming odds holding the enemy off for several hours and how, finally the exasperated CTs (communist terrorists) showed their usual barbarity and threw men, women and children, some still alive, into the burning remains of the police station.”
The 200 heavily armed communists launched the attack at 4am on Feb 23, 1950. A surrendered Chinese communist, years after the event was interviewed by a gallant officer, Police Lieutenant J.W.G. Moran, the author of Spearhead in Malaya. This was what the Surrendered Enemy Personnel had to say: “We encircled the police station at four o’clock in the morning. We had chosen that hour because we thought the sentries would be asleep.
“As it happened they were not and that was the first setback to our plans. At exactly 4.30am our bugle was sounded and the attack was underway, firing into the police station from all sides. We received a heavy barrage of return gunfire. The greatest resistance to our attack came from under the police station because the brens were there.
“We concentrated our frontal attack on that position, and after about an hour it was silenced. We then received orders to charge the front of the police station. This we did with fixed bayonets, but the gunfire from the Charge Room was so intense that we withdrew to reform for another attack.”
The attackers took nearly five hours to accomplish their dastardly work because every policeman fought to the last and refused to surrender. The wives followed their brave example and died fighting. A small boy found trembling with fear among the dead policemen was thrown alive into the fire.
J.J. Raj (JR), now Datuk, who achieved great distinction as a police officer, was a young inspector of police officiating as the OCPD (Officer in Charge of Police District) of Pagoh in Johor. Bukit Kepong was in his neck of the woods.
This is his account of the epic defence of the remote police station, the symbol and embodiment of authority, law and order as recorded in his book, The Struggle for Malaysian Independence: “The scene was horrible; a burning police station, dead policemen everywhere, women and children who had survived were wailing and crying. Fortunately, the discipline of the force was such that any thoughts of Min Yuen-type reprisals against the local Chinese were quickly overcome.
(Min Yuen or People’s Movement was an arm of the CPM whose members organised the food and logistical supply chain.)
“This was as gallant a defence as any in history; the garrison had many opportunities to surrender, and the fact that their families were under fire as well added to their plight.”
The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) was a full-scale war that for purely commercial reasons was described as an emergency.
To describe it as war would have meant leaving their assets without insurance cover as no insurance company would be willing to cover war risks.
I am intrigued by the versatility of the English language: it can be relied upon to oblige with the right word to fit any linguistically awkward situation. The war, however described, was a policeman’s war against forces determined to impose their foreign ideology on the people of Malaya. How magnificently the police acquitted themselves to deny the communists their dream of turning this country into a satellite state of China.
In 1948, when the Emergency started, the Malayan Police Force comprised 8,000 officers and men. None had been trained for jungle warfare.
In spite of the great handicaps under which they were required to operate, they remained steadfast in keeping the better-trained jungle fighters of the CPM at bay and giving them a good run for their money. In the first few months, it was touch and go until Commonwealth reinforcements began to arrive.
The police took heavy casualties throughout the Emergency because they were at the sharp end. Without the brilliantly-led Special Branch with its expertise in intelligence gathering and analysis, the war would have been lost or victory considerably delayed.
The police, in the more than 200 years of recorded history, have kept law and order in good and bad times. It has not always been easy for them but they have shown what esprit de corps and discipline can achieve.
So, next time you feel like criticising them for their shortcomings, remember their last stand at Bukit Kepong, the Emergency and the peace and security we enjoy in this blessed land. Last but not least, remember we deserve the police we get.
The writer is a director of International Institute of Public Ethics and board member of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.