The atrocities of the ‘freedom fighters’

I am visiting this issue again. I had received many comments to the article I wrote. Nevertheless, not many could relate to the atrocities committed by these enemies of the state half a century ago.

Why was this issue being discussed in this modern day? In recent times, some people with vested interests were trying to stir old memories by deceptively painting  the CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) in a favourable light.

Some even hastily believed that the much maligned CPM was unfairly treated in history. Astonishingly, some quarters even believe that it was Umno who had twisted history. To them, the CPM was the ultimate freedom fighter and it was them who struggled for our independence. Not Umno, not anyone else.

Some people such as RPK retold history to suit his convoluted agenda. It is indeed sickening when we realise that RPK’s article was simply to insinuate and promote a fallacy that the fight for independence was initiated through the efforts of non Malay parties. He even emphasised in bold script the relevant paragraphs to strengthen his claims. Unfortunately, readers will ultimately fail to read the last few paragraphs where Mustapha Hussain stated that the Putera-AMCJA conference was his THIRD attempt to fight for independence.

According to Mustapha Hussain, the first two struggles were solely in the domain of KMM (Kesatuan Melayu Muda). RPK was trying very hard to undermine the first Malay struggles prior to 1946.

Coming back to the current matter at hand, it is not that I am trying to glorify the Malay struggles at the expense of the non-Malays’ contribution but it irks me no end when people try to distort history by misleading the people and arrogantly forced unduly oneupmanship of the non-Malays over the Malays.

Credit should be given where its due. Our independence in 1957 was won through a collective effort by a group of people – the Malays and the non-Malays. It was initiated by obscure Malay warriors from the 16th century and continued relentlessly to the 20th century. But above all, our independence was not won through the struggles of a person by the name of Chin Peng!

Some quarters, the pro communists and also the CPM sympathisers had been wailing and berating the fact that Umno had twisted history in maligning Chin Peng and his band of ‘freedom fighters’. Here, I would like to highlight the characteristics of the CPM which many of us did not know. Today, those who champion the struggles of CPM are either too young, or too naive or too far removed from the actual situation back then.

I am about to take an excerpt from a book written by Dato’ Sri J.J. Raj (Jr) which is titled ‘The Struggle for Malaysian Independence’. He is a high ranking, retired police officer that had served the Royal Malaysian Police for more than 30 years.

He retired as the Director of Management of the RMP and had held top positions in the force such as Chief Police Officer in a number of States and Commandant of the Royal Malaysia Police College. He was also the OCPD of Pagoh; Bukit Kepong was under his jurisdiction the morning it was ambushed by the communists in 1950. Reading that part of the book gave me goosebumps. You and I will never truly know the sacrifices our men in uniform had made during those Emergency Years.

Those were the days when our men had acted as men.

Please read the paragraphs below (and buy the book too). It is a summary about the atrocities the MPAJA had committed during the 3 weeks interregnum (note that the MPAJA is the armed force of the CPM);

There were about 5,000 MPAJA members in uniform with three star caps, swarming all over the country. They had a number of methods to kill these unfortunate people. One of the methods which I consider a little more merciful, was the tying of the accused to a tree blindfolded, and stabbing him or her in the heart. Then they scattered pamphlets near the body and escaped.

The MPAJA had other ghastly methods of killing defenceless victims whom they chose at random or who they pinpointed through informers. The public were compelled to attend the People’s Courts. Cases of victims hung by their ankles and kicked slowly back and forth over a fire, until death mercifully ended their misery, were not rare. Female victims had their heads shaved bald and nests of red ants heaped on them while tied to a tree.

The ghastly reprisals lasted until the arrival of the British Forces. In some areas it was almost two months before the British Forces could take over.

My only brother, the late Datuk J.J. Raj (Sr), who was in the Police Force during the Japanese Occupation, and who was stationed at Taiping at the time of the Japanese surrender was earmarked to be killed simply because he was a Police Officer during the war. On October 15, 1945, I was in Taiping visiting my brother when he received word that the MPAJA was looking for him. Very sensibly, he and his wife went off to the railway station nearby and left unobstrusively for Penang by train.

As I had no connection with the MPAJA or the Japanese Forces, I remained behind to watch the activities of the MPAJA in Taiping. Whilst I was in the house, the telephone rang and on answering the call, the caller, in a friendly voice, asked for my brother. I told the caller that he was out, and would be back in the evening. The caller said that some old friends wanted to see him and wold call at the house at 7.00 pm. Being young and brash at the time, I was not frightened, but rather curious of what the phone call was about. Could the phone call really be from some friends who wanted to restore lost contacts or could it be something else?

Whatever it was, I felt it would be sensible if I left the house about 6.00 pm and then out of curiosity observed the house from a distance. What I saw was dramatic. About 7.00 pm, a car came along and a few persons alighted, went up to the house and knocked the door. Not receiving any reply, they waited a few minutes. Later, 20 persons came in cars, and surrounded the house. They were armed and in uniforms with the ‘three star’ caps, known locally to us as bintang tiga or ‘three stars’. They broke into the house, ransacked and smashed everything they could lay their hands on, and left as quickly as they came.

The late Tan Sri Hamzah Sendut, related to me the ghastly murder of the Penghulu in his area during the short period of MPAJA rule. One morning, he noticed a number of MPAJA personnel dressed in uniform with their three star caps. They came looking for the Penghulu, whom they alleged was a collaborator with the Japanese and after a search, located him. The Penghulu was tied up and the MPAJA had a pig basket with them. A pig basket is made of rattan and hollow with just enough space to force a pig inside. The unfortunate Penghulu was forced into the pig basket, and the lid was then closed. Then the MPAJA armed with long spears, began spearing the man until he screamed no more. (Page 58 – 60)

 

 “Image of book cover is the copyright property of MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd and is being used with permission under license. This image may not be copied or downloaded without permission from MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd. Email them at : mphpublishing@mph.com.my”

It is indeed sad that some people could not get their perspective right. In reality, the CPM launched armed rebellion against the sovereign state of Malaya / Malaysia. From 1945 to the Haadyai Accord of 1989, the CPM had launched several  armed insurgencies against our country.

By default since 1957, any act of armed aggression committed by the citizens of this country is also an act of treason towards the King. A crime which is punishable by death. It does not make sense how we could glorify the CPM although it is publicly known that they had committed many heinous act in the past. The CPM was the enemy of the state and it had been declared illegal since 1948.

It is indeed a hypocrisy when in one hand we organise and submit various petitions to the King in order to justify our twisted agenda but on the other hand, we also alleviate Chin Peng and the CPM as national heroes.