Farewell, salute to Pak Rashid !

True warrior for Merdeka, organic leader of Malaya's anti-colonial and anti-fascist people and proud Communist to the last moment in life, Rashid Maidin passed away this morning in southern Thailand. Rashid Maidin never forgot for a moment in his life that he was the son of a poor Sumatran migrant and born in the year and month of the Bolshevik Revolution in Kampung Gunung Mesah, Gopeng, Perak.

Rashid formally joined the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in Tanjung Tualang, Perak, on the eve of the Japanese invasion in 1941. The Communist Party of Malaya was inaugurated on 30 April 1930 in a rubber plantation workers' quarters near Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan.

Early last year, Pak Rashid deposited with this blogger a public statement of gratidute to the Communist Party of Malaya: "As a poor boy born in a backward kampung in colonial time and without sufficient formal education, I am still very grateful to the party which has transformed me into a man who knows politics and the world in all its complexities, and also trusted me for so many years". In his memoirs, he paid special tribute to martyr Toh Lung San @ Lai Lai Fook (1922-1943) as " my true teacher in politics".

Farewell, our dear pakcik ! All the grateful people salute you !

Rest in peace with all the martyrs and forerunners of all races.

Rashid: Why I turned Red
http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinionsfeatures/34906

Saved by cowherds
http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinionsfeatures/34946

Merdeka history in new light
http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinionsfeatures/42665

The titans of Malay communist leaders
http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinionsfeatures/34780