Anti-colonial struggles in our nation's history

Just obtained a complimentary copy of Dr. Collin Abraham's newly published book,"The Finest Hour" - The Malaysian-CPM Peace Accord in Perspective (Kuala Lumpur, SIRD, 2006) (left). There are actually four Forwards written respectively by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, serving National Front MP for Kota Baru Zaid Ibrahim, myself and University of Malaya's Associate Professor Dr. Edmund Terence Gomez .

Veteran social scientist, political writer and son of the legendary anti-colonial fighter Ahmad Boestamam, Rustam A. Sani also wrote a note of appreciation for the book which reads:

" I am quite certain your book will make a great contrbution towards a renewed understanding and interest in the proper interpretation of our nation's history. I find the work to be very interesting and acedemically very important as well. May I congratulate you for completing this book at a very important juncture of our intellectual history ".

By the way, a central point of observation in my Forward reads:

" As a matter of fact, the Communist Party of Malaya itself acknowledges in its official history the progressive role played by the anti-British Malay aristocrats and peasant leaders although the party also asserts that it, being a modern and worldwide anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movement, had transcended or superseded them after they had failed ".

The book is going to be soft launched tomorrow (4 Nov) from 11 a.m to 1.00 p.m at Kuala Lumpur's Royal Selangor Club.

* The topmost picture shows some war veterans of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in December 1989 after the signing of the Haadyai Peace Accord between the Party and the Government of Malaysia in Southern Thailand: (from left to right) Suriani Abdullah (aka Eng Ming Ching), the late Rashid Maidin, Abdullah C.D, Chin Peng, Abu Samah, Ibrahim Chik and the late Abdullah Sudin.

PAS: Communist party helped secure Merdeka