Proponents and opponents of former CPM head’s appeal to return disagree over his legacy
(TPT) – KUALA LUMPUR: There has never been a more acrimonious issue than the question of Chin Peng’s legacy and the role he played during Malaysia’s formative years. To some, the man (whose real name is Ong Boon Hua) is the face of their worst nightmares and an antagonistic enemy of the independence movement. To others, he is a misunderstood freedom fighter and reluctant leader of a losing battle against colonial hegemony. In this report, we highlight some of the surprising (and not so surprising) views of key players in the debate over the one-time leader of the defunct Communist Party of Malaya.
Chin Peng is harmless
“I have met Chin Peng before, and he is a harmless old man.”
So says the man at the forefront of the debate on Chin Peng’s return to Malaysia. The former law minister Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim has recently come under a hail of fire from the Government for a post on his blog which questioned if the decision to dismiss Chin Peng’s appeal to return had been flavored by racism.
“Even during the peak of the Emergency, he was not as dangerous as many had claimed him to be. He is like a bear – he is frequently misunderstood to be ferocious and vicious when he is merely trying to protect his territory from colonial interests.”
When queried on the CPM’s murders of government workers, especially the police and military tasked to maintain order, Datuk Zaid insisted that the claims of “50,000” deaths were grossly overestimated and inflated by British propaganda.
“The Parti Komunis Malaya was a forerunner of the 1 Malaysia concept that is espoused so much by this Government. Within PKM, race, religion and social standing meant little, and all were made to pledge allegiance to the ideals of Marx, Engels and Lenin. There was no Ketuanan Melayu or New Economic Plan to contend with, and everyone had to contribute equally to building a workers’ paradise.”
Datuk Zaid went on to say that history was harsh on Chin Peng’s legacy because it was written by the winners of the Emergency.
“It goes without saying that the victors in war always get to write about how glorious their victory was, and how they were right to have fought off the barbaric enemy. Even today, we are living in the lies and propaganda created by the British colonial masters to divide and rule the disparate peoples of Malaya. We see this in the bumiputra policies of UMNO, which is also a legacy of the British colonials.
“If you really want to know how Chin Peng looks like today, and how he is really a harmless elderly gentleman, I have a picture that I took of him during the launch of his biography in 2003.”
The picture below has been obtained by the Petai from Datuk Zaid for reproduction in our report.
Chin Peng is an enemy of the state
Chin Peng was and probably still is the most dangerous man that Malaysia had ever faced in its 52-year history. Information Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais said this at a Putrajaya community event on Sunday that had been attended by several ministers, including Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“Do not be lured by the rancun that comes out of that ular’s mouth. Undoubtedly he can still ferment dangerous ideas despite his age. He is a committed and unrepentant socialist despite the passage of 20 years, and he even declared that himself in his biography,” said Datuk Seri Dr. Rais.
When asked about his earlier statement that the ISA should be used against anyone who did not subscribe to the view that the communists were dangerous, Datuk Seri Dr Rais added that he personally thought that detention without trial was too lenient, and that more drastic measures should be taken.
“Communist sympathizers will not get any mercy from our Government. We need a Phoenix Program (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program) to flush out these belligerents. There will be search-and-destroy missions to ensure none of them are left to pollute the minds of our youths.”
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad also chimed in with his views on the Chin Peng question.
“To allow Chin Peng to return would be disrespectful to the 50,000 Commonwealth and Malaysian servicemen who sacrificed their lives. More importantly, it would be like inviting a tiger into the hen house.
“We believe he has set up a base at Hatyai from which he has hatched a plot to destroy the democratically-elected Government of Malaysia, and he will do this by deceiving the rakyat into believing they are voting for an alternate voice in the Dewan when they are actually voting for Chin Peng’s agents.
“Recently our Kor Risik DiRaja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kor_Risik_DiRaja) operative Special Agent Tanya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_characters_of_Command_%26_Conquer#Tanya_Adams) has, at great risk to her personal safety, obtained valuable intelligence on Chin Peng’s hideout in Hatyai. This is the photo she obtained, and the evidence that Chin Peng is still plotting to destroy Malaysia.”
The Petai would like to add that the photo below was obtained as-is from the Public Information Office of the Ministry of Defence.
More details can be found after the jump (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/29/nation/4007309&sec=nation).
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