BERSIH

The Bersih crowds

The Bersih rallies in KL were a startling eye opener. They demonstrated that there is an enormous number of people fed up with the government who used the opportunity to show their frustration. The arrest and expulsion of the French lawyer who came for the popular investigation into the submarine deal only shows that there must be something substantial about public fears; the government must be fearful that some truths will emerge. Suspicions that clouded the Altantuya case will be thicker. There will be an increase in the distaste for the government. And of course laughter at their clownishness, unavoidable following the blacking out of the Economist magazines report on Bersih, as effective as the censors inking out the breasts (male as well as female) from my London Review of Books. And there is more laughter at the banning of Zunar’s cartoons.

Kelantan has banned the use of toilette rolls as serviettes. This incident shows the clash of cultures. The people there are used to water in the wc not paper and they don’t think it is wrong to use toilet paper which is a stranger to them. I have not found it uncomfortable to use the toilet paper at the eating stalls on the East Coast. But I am sure that if the authorities think the practice a disgrace to Kelantan, a “civilized” state. If so they should supply Kleenex free of charge.

A letter in The Star asks why Ah Longs are untouchable. Despite the propaganda about police action they survive and give all and sundry their phone numbers. This certainly raises suspicions.

China is an amazing place, thanks to Deng Xiao Ping, the anti Mao man and darling of the West. In the series introducing China made by a Shanghai unit we were entertained with a camera shot of a huge “Pirates of the Carribean” poster in Shanghai while the commentator was talking to us about Chinese culture.

I read that Marx once went on a pub crawl from Oxford Street to Hampstead Heath, London. Which reminds of the time when I did one from the East End to Golders Green, during the bombing of London. The young do have fun don’t they!

Tpf new rashmai 19

Rashid Maidin memoirs (cont)

19 With Chin Peng at Baling

In 1955 I was appointed by the central committee to be one of the representatives of the Communist Party in talks with the Federal government to be held on the 28-29 December 1955. Chen Ping and Chen Tien were waiting for me at Baling. We discussed at length the likely subjects of the talks. We were sure that the main objective of the Communist Party - to be declared a lawful political party and take part in politics like the other parties - would not be agreed to. For this we were willing not only to have a ceasefire but would lay down our arms and take part in the political process. The second objective in the talks was to reduce the powers of the British and bring about merdeka.

It would perhaps be possible to achieve the second objective. After the era of Dato Onn, UMNO, led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, was calling loudly for merdeka.. So, if the Communist Party, which opposed the British with arms, and UMNO, which called for merdeka in open politics, could come to an understanding or agreement on this issue, the demand for merdeka would become bolder and the British colonialists would become more isolated, not to speak of the certainty that with the talks with the communist party it could no longer be denied that the Party existed and played a part in the political developments. Thus it was best we kept silent during the talks and avoid being cast as anti-peace; we had to show our true colours as a party that was patriotic.

If we rejected the Baling Talks that would allow the British colonialists to brand us stubborn, something to be expected of uncivilised communists. And the British would no doubt add more to that in their propaganda war. We decided after pondering over the matter that we should go to the talks which would be beneficial for us, even if they reached a stalemate.

We were aware that Tunku Abdul Rahman had no authority to come to any agreement with us. He was only a chief minister, a puppet, while the power was with the British who had the army, the police and the economy. The Tunku was a political tool in the job of defeating us. On the other hand, the Tunku was a wise man who would use this opportunity to strengthen his demand for merdeka. This explains why he did not curse us like David Marshall, the Jewish chief minister of Singapore whose attacks like a wild boar perhaps would make his bosses, the colonialists, believe more in him and love him more.

It was more or less with Tun Tan Cheng Lock’s quibbling. We just ignored their criticisms. Tunku then talked about our surrendering, of the communist party being forever banned, of party members who were members of the Malayan Nationa Liberation army being ‘“processed”,by the British special branch while being held in detention camps.

To be sure such a conditions could not be accepted by us. The main points of Chin Peng’s reply: Tunku: We of the MCP want peace, but it must be a just peace. We shed blood fighting fascist Japan shoulder to shoulder with the British. After World War II the British came once more to colonise, proclaimed the emergency and mercilessly suppressed us. We were forced to take up arms and shed blood to defend the life of our Party. It is not reasonable to demand our surrender and to put us in a temporary confinement. It seems there is a hidden agenda. If there is to be peace it must be a just peace where our fight for independence is respected. We need not argue about this. Tunku has no power to make decisions. Go to London and demand independence. After independence we can negotiate again, however long it takes.

The Tunku was brief in his reply. “Never mind, if they don’t want it, never mind!”

Before that, to prepare the route to the talks, the government and the communist party had agreed to a cease-fire stretching from Klian Intan to Baling. Our delegation was made up of Chin Peng, head of delegation, Chen Tien and me and a friend from the 10th Regiment as head of the guard with a local Chinese troop. We were met by Captain Davis at the edge of the forest in a mining area at Klian Intan. Davis was a member of Force 136, a British guerrilla unit that contacted the Malayan Communist Party during the war. He had secretly entered the country by submarine. He entered into a treaty for co-operation and the supply of arms to the Malayan People’s Anti Japanese Army. Arms then came supplied from the air. Some we gave to Force 136 led by Captain Davis and some we concealed for use by the MPAJA.

Captain Davis got to know Chin Peng well; besides, he could speak Chinese. He was our escort during the journey. British and Gurkha troops were mobilised to guard the meeting area. A British officer told us he was tired of the war and that he hoped it would end quickly. I agreed with him.

For us, there were basically two ways of ensuring the safety of our delegation. One was that we had one hundred armed men broken up into groups at strategic places. The second was Captain Davis. If the British betrayed us, he would have to die. But we reckoned that although we were the hated enemy of the British colonialists they would not dare betray us. They would present themselves as “gentlemen.”

We also did not want to prolong the talks. Nor did we want it to proceed too fast or pressing. Three days was enough. So the government would provide food and drink for us for three days.

From Klian Intan we were driven in a car to a small area then from there we changed vehicles for Baling. Perhaps the British wanted to humiliate us for this transport was no different from the Black Maria. I was angry but did not protest because Captain Davies also travelled in it and also for the sake of smooth progress of the talks. We were in a convoy, with escorts back and front. The OCPD Baling was with us and on both sides of the route were people, crowding to catch sight of us . We could hear them shouting “Merdeka! Merdeka!” Some ran after our vehicle, I was stirred by the sight of these people and their shouts moved me. We waved to them to thank them.

Our convoy moved at a leisurely speed until we got to the English School at Baling where the talks were to take place, Thousands were there but they were held back by barbed wire, army and police. We were given a room prepared for us. Food had been prepared.

I could just make out a voice from the crowd calling my name. I went out for a look but could not recognise anybody that I knew. Later I learnt that the voice was that of my younger brother, Yusof Maidin, whom I had left seven years before.

In the middle of the day Captain Davis asked Chen Ping, Chen Tien and me to our places at the table. We went in. The air was quiet and tense. There were no greetings nor handshaking. We sat facing the government representatives, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, David Marshal and Hamid Jumat from Singapore, and government officials, none of whom I knew. During the talks no drinks were served. Perhaps the omission was deliberate as being inappropriate, meaning that if we had an appetite for “friendliness”. Anyway we liked it that way. The less we ate, the less we drank, the less the risk of being poisoned.

The details of what both sides talked all tumble in my memory. To summarise, the government wanted us to surrender and to outlaw the communist party; there was no compromising this. This also was our basic stand. If not for these two unjust conditions the agreement would have been easily reached.

Anyway, both sides agreed to talks after merdeka. Our delegation gave its support to the Tunku delegation in their talks with the British.

With the talks deadlocked we were sent back to Klian Intan forest there to continute our struggle.

Not long afterwards the British started encirclement and propaganda including broadcasts from the air calling on us to surrender and offering rewards for us dead or alive, meanwhile bombing and machine gunning our area.

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I did not immediately return to the 10th Regiment but remained with Chin Peng to study the situation and to wait for the talks after merdeka.

In 1959 while at Sadao with Comrade Chin Peng I was drawn to a Chinese woman guerrilla. I got to know her and proposed to her. She replied, “I will think about it.” Yes, think about that, we were in the same army and met every day. In the end she agreed . Next we had to write to the Party leadership for permission. Next was for Party members to express their views. As no one objected we got married in accordance with Islamic law, my wife taking the name of Selamah binti Abdullah.

We went to a Malay kampong in Thailand where Selamah learnt the Malay language and customs. In fact Selamah’s mother was of Malay descent who had married a Chinese in Singapore. They left for Perlis where they set up as tailors making clothes and songkoks. The family with eight children were neither rich nor poor. With the declaration of the Emergency father, mother and some of the children were deported to China. An elder brother fled to Thailand. Selamah and two other brothers entered the jungle and joined the guerrillas. Today an elder brother and one younger are still in Perlis, one is in Thailand and one in China.#

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Waging war

At the Anwar tape trial the Anwar tape was shown even though the accused had pleaded guilty. It has always been thought that the legal procedure is that when an accused person pleads guilty the evidence is not produced. That the magistrate had the “evidence” screened shows how low the standard of our courts is. That is the level of thought in this police state, with its tendency to hysterics as shown recently with a Bersih gathering for clean elections which was greeted with screams of “waging war against the King”! This war cry exposes the staggering ignorance of the ruling clique. They don’t even know that we have no “king” in their sense of the word. We have however an “Agong” who swears allegiance to the constitution on taking office. Will they cook up a new law to be called “waging war against the constitution”?

The electrifying emergence of the famous A Samad Said in support of the movement for clean elections signals how fed up people are. We are in a police state and yet there are writers who still write that “we are sliding into a police state”! Will they please wake up, and ask themselves why A Samad Said is angry! Except of course the PAS Sarawak who seem proud of the official uniform that their legislators wear. At least that is the impression we get when we read in the papers that PAS Sarawak condemned the DAP for not wearing the official uniform.

Here is something from the blog, Malaysia Today:

“Remember, Imam Malik issued a fatwa forbidding us from pledging allegiance to the Ruler (whether Caliph, Agong, Sultan or whatever). And for that he was jailed and flogged. However, the Caliph realised he had erred and later released Imam Malik, apologised, and offered him compensation.”

Rashid Maidin memoirs (cont)

18 Wak Mat Tinggal

In 1955 when Kamal (Ibrahim Chik) and I were at Kem Bukit Tinggi, about an hour from the main body led by Abdullah C.D. and Musa Ahmad, we saw smoke. What was it?

For an answer, I sent two guards to investigate. One returned to report that they found a man with a rifle who said he wanted to join us. I asked the man to come and meet us. The man told us that his name was Wak Mat Tinggal. He said he had escaped from prison in Narathiwat and had lived the life of a guerrilla and had tried to find our army. He said, “Whatever happens to Wak, Wak will join you.”

It was policy not to accept recruits and I would be wrong if I allowed him to join us. But take him or not, Wak was not going to leave this place. He was 55 years old.

From that moment we educated him to make him a good man, to serve the people without reserve, truly study, work and to train. He was diligent and learnt the A B C, then to read and write. His world view underwent a rapid change and he learnt fast.

Towards the end of 1955, the 10th Regiment received some instructions from Central, one of which was that Musa Ahmad and two other fighters were to be sent to study abroad. I was to go to Betong to meet Chin Peng so as to attend the talks with the Tunku Abdul Rahman administration.