Keep Bukit Kepong alive for new generations - granddaughter of last survivor

MUAR: The granddaughter of one of the policemen who died in the communist attack on the Bukit Kepong police station in 1950, hopes the "bloody" event will be etched in history and not just "seasonally" remembered.

Fatin Amalina Abd Wahab, 29, said although her grandfather died in the ambush, the morale of the security personnel at that time was described as a triumph of national spirit.

As a descendant of late police constable (PC) Abu Bakar Daud, she said that usually the public would start to pick up on stories about 'him' only at certain important dates such as the Commemoration of the Bukit Kepong Tragedy every Feb 23.

"This is a matter of concern as we see that the current generation becoming more 'distant' with their appreciation of history fading, and sometimes seem uncaring about what happens around them every day as they wonder what life today has to do with history.

"History is a fact not just a general narration, and is based on evidence, studies and research, and not about a fictional 'screen hero', " she said when met at the Bukit Kepong Tahlil and Commemoration Ceremony at the Gallery Bukit Kepong in Muar here today.

Fatin Amalina added that society should keep historic events alive through story-telling to attract the interest of the younger generation on the sacrifices of the security forces.

"The Bukit Kepong incident is one of the important examples in the country's history (about) the courageous sacrifice made by policemen and their families in the face of the communist threat.

"My mother, Jamilah Abu Bakar, who is a living testimony of the incident, constantly tells me about the state of the police station when it was attacked by communists when she was six years old," she said.

Jamilah, 79, who was one of 10 living witnesses to the incident, survived to tell about the massacre when she feigned death after being shot as the advancing communists surrounded the police station.

Now wheelchair-bound, Jamilah is today the sole survivor of the bloody siege.

Meanwhile, Johor deputy police chief DCP M Kumar, in his speech, said the police greatly appreciate the gallantry of the policemen and local residents who died in the fight against communist terrorists at that time.

"I hope their sacrifices in the tragedy are not in vain and are not forgotten by the current generation as well as being used as an inspiration to emulate," he said when speaking on behalf of the Johor police chief at today's Muar commemoration.

In the tragedy that unfolded at 2.30 am on Feb 23, 1950, a group of 180 communist terrorists attacked and set fire to the Bukit Kepong police station, killing 25 policemen including a massacre of their families and civilians. – BERNAMA

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