In search of more dimensions of true history

One of the Berita Harian's racist and bodoh-sombong sophistries yang bukan-bukan against Amir Muhammad's internationally well-known semi-musical documentary Lelaki Komunis 'Terakhir' or The 'Last' Communist is that veteran communist Chin Peng is not a Malay hero ( in any case, the film which has been publicly screened and reviewed all over the world outside Malaysia does not even feature Chin Peng, either with interviews or images, at all ).

If this is the only 'reason', then the next 'logical' thing for Amir or other independent film directors or producers to do is to make movies with themes based on the memoirs of Abdullah CD, Rashid Maidin and Abu Samah who are still alive in southern Thailand. Veteran communist Abu Samah is a former Umno Youth leader in Temerloh in 1946-1948 and descendant of Pahang's anti-colonial aristocrat Datuk Bahaman Tok Noh.

The experiences of the anti-fascist and anti-colonial struggles, both peaceful and armed, of Abdullah CD, Rashid Maidin and Abu Samah are no less interesting and mind-opening than Chin Peng's.

From their narratives, one could derive more stories about, say, Ibrahim Chik, Kamarulzaman Teh, Mat Indera, Mat Amin @ Rosli and Abdullah Sudin. From them, one may even discover new information about former DPM Ghafar Baba and former Umno Wanita chief Aisha Ghani as well as the dark side of Dato' Onn Jaafar.

Although Samsiah Fakeh finally estranged herself from the CPM in late 1960s, her memoirs nevertheless are still more or less honest about the early stage of the anti-colonial armed struggle when the romantic girl from Kuala Pilah, like so many of her contemporary such as Maimun, Hitam, Asiah, Zahura, Aminah Hj. Hassan, Ropiah Mat Yatim and Siti Mariam was compelled by colonial perfidy and repression to retreat into the jungle of Pahang after 20 June 1948.

Last but not least, the stories of RG Balan, SA Ganapathy and P Veerasenam and what had happened to them are yet to be explored with more and greater details. Trade unionist SA Ganapathy, for example, was hanged by the colonial authorities on 4 May 1949 for allegedly in illegal possession for firearm but whether he indeed carried the firearm said to be in his possession illegally or whether death sentence was mandatory are still open to debate and re-examination.