We should allow Chin Peng to come home!
Chin Peng
Why is Chin Peng denied entry to Malaysia, the place he called home, the place he fought so relentlessly for its independence??
Even, our Bapa Kemerdekaan , Tunku Abdul Rahman acknowledged this in years of his retirement. This was what he said,
"Just as Indonesia was fighting a bloody battle, so were the communist of Malaya, who too fought for indepenence. With the difference that the communists of Malaya were not the indigenous people of this country and they were fighting to set up a communist regime which the believers in the fait of Islam [i.e. the Malays] could not support nor could those orthodox people, who believed in democracy and freedom. So the struggle for the independence of this country was carried out by the communist alone and they fought a subversive as well as a shooting war, losing many of their men and at the same time killing many of our men and the Commonwealth soldiers. The battle continued for 12 years [1948-1960] and would have gone on had the British Government not yielded to our demand for a general election as a step towards independence"
- Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Lest We Forget:Further Candid Reminiscences, Pg34
In the Baling talk on 28 and 29 December 1955, Chin Peng voluntarily committed to ceasefire if the Alliance could obtain independence and get the British to transfer internal security and defence powers into its hands as the present goverment is still not fully independent.
Here's the exchange according to the official minute of the meeting:
Chin Peng: The presence Government, although it is a popularly elected government still is not an independent government.
Mr Marshall: Tell him we recognise that fully.
Chin Peng: Under such circumstances, therefore, w hen we bring out our suggestions we have got to have regards to this situation. If those popularly elected Government of the Federation and Singapore have self-determination in matters concerning internal security and national defence, then all problems could be solved easily. As soon as these two Governments have self-determination in internal security and national defence matters, then we can stop the war immediately.
Tunku: Is this a promise? When I come back from England that is the thing that I am bringing back with me.
Chin Peng: That being the case, we can straightaway stop our hostilities and also disband our armed units.
-"Report of the chief minister of the Federation of Malaya on the Baling Talks": draft summary by Tunku Abdul Rahman on the verbatim record, 29 Dec 1955, in CO1030/30, ff3-16, in Stockwell, op.cit, Malaya: Part III The Alliance Route to Independence, 1953-1957, pg. 224.
Therefore, British had to expedite independence in order to end the Emergency.
The above facts are mentioned the book Malaysia, The Making of a Nation, by our historian Cheah Boon Kheng. He also mentioned that "the communist insurrection had forced the British Government to accelerate its plans further for Malaya's decolonisation".
Sigh, instead of acknowlegding his contribution towards independence, these people opposed his homecoming?!
Labels: Chin Peng, malaysia, Merdeka, TARC
posted by ee chia @ 10:33 pm
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