THE authorities are now probing how the ashes of Chin Peng, leader of the former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), was brought into the country.
While there are thousands who condemn the move, the younger generation who glorify him feel his ashes deserve to be buried on Malaysian soil. They mistakenly believe that he had fought for Malaya’s independence.
As an octogenarian, who has lived through the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), permit me to shed some light on Chin Peng and the CPM.
Chin Peng was directly involved with the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), a clandestine British outfit like Force 136.
MPAJA fought against the invading Japanese forces. At the end of the Pacific War in 1945, the British government in recognising his efforts, awarded him the Order of the British Empire.
Subsequently, Britain banned the CPM which led it to wage an armed struggle against the British. CPM operated from the jungles, using the arms and weapons left with the MPAJA by the retreating British forces. To destabilise the country’s economy, CPM resorted to murder, kidnapping, arson, derailment of passenger trains and sabotage, among others.
A state of emergency was declared on June 17, 1948 and Malaya was governed by draconian laws, the Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948, for the next 12 years.
To bring an end to the seven years of terror and brutality, in 1955, the then Chief Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, hosted the Baling talks. He was joined by David Marshall, the Chief Minister of Singapore, and Sir Tan Cheng Lock, the MCA leader.
Chin Peng was accompanied by Chen Tien and Abdul Rashid Mydin. In the “face-to-face” meeting on Dec 19, 1955, Tunku offered the CPM amnesty, if CPM would lay down its weapons and surrender.
The terms of the surrender were not acceptable to Chin Peng. It was clear then that what Chin Peng wanted was not independence from British rule but a Communist-dominated government in Malaya.
Following the failure of the Baling Talks, the communist terrorists retreated to the north and continued their struggle from the Thai border. The CPM threat gradually ceased.
On Aug 1, 1960, Tunku, who was then the prime minister of Malaya, declared the Emergency “over and ended”. By that time about 4,000 civilians and members of the security forces had lost their lives.
The Malaysian Special Branch brokered a peace deal with the CPM which led to the signing of the Hat Yai Peace Accord in 1989. One of the terms of the agreement provided for all CPM members to return home with the condition that they cannot revive the struggle here.
Although CPM’s targets were British planters, thousands of civilians and members of the security forces were killed during the Emergency.
How does one expect Malaysians who had lost their loved ones to forgive Chin Peng?
S. SUNDARESON
Petaling Jaya, Selangor