Salute anti-fascist martyrs, patriots of all races !
May the souls of allies and friends of all nations rest in peace.
The issue of "communist monuments in Chinese cemetary " stirred up by 'Information' Minister Zainuddin Maidin certainly requires reasoned response based on intellectual clarity and moral courage:
1. During the 44-month of Japanese occupation of Malaya, the largest and only effectively functioning armed opposition to fascism was undeniably the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) which, also undeniably, was organised and operated by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in alliance with the former Soviet Union, Britain, China, the United States of America and Free France, and the resistance was named Resist-Japan-Defend-Malaya Guerrilla War;
2. Although the MPAJA is largely Chinese-based, there were also Malay, Indian and Eurasian participation, both as communists as well as non-communists, as armed partisans or underground workers or Allies' personnel of special operations; there were also some tiny groupings, led by some conscientious Kuomintang men and women such as Lim Bo Seng, which resisted the Occupation;
3. Before the fall of Singapore on 15 February, 1942, the main fighting forces against the invasion were the British, Australian and Indian troops who were defeated in the 70-day Malayan Campaign by fascist Japan;
4. The armed resistance to Japanese occupation by the people of Malaya of all races, spearheaded by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), is a critical part of the process of the multi-ethnic struggle for national self-determination and independence;
5. All insidious attempts to erase or distort the true history of our multi-ethnic nation must be firmly and decisively opposed, and the honour and integrity of the tombs of the anti-fascist martyrs of all races as well as those of fallen allies and friends of all nations must be defended with no intellectual or political compromise.
May the souls of allies and friends of all nations rest in peace.
The issue of "communist monuments in Chinese cemetary " stirred up by 'Information' Minister Zainuddin Maidin certainly requires reasoned response based on intellectual clarity and moral courage:
1. During the 44-month of Japanese occupation of Malaya, the largest and only effectively functioning armed opposition to fascism was undeniably the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) which, also undeniably, was organised and operated by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in alliance with the former Soviet Union, Britain, China, the United States of America and Free France, and the resistance was named Resist-Japan-Defend-Malaya Guerrilla War;
2. Although the MPAJA is largely Chinese-based, there were also Malay, Indian and Eurasian participation, both as communists as well as non-communists, as armed partisans or underground workers or Allies' personnel of special operations; there were also some tiny groupings, led by some conscientious Kuomintang men and women such as Lim Bo Seng, which resisted the Occupation;
3. Before the fall of Singapore on 15 February, 1942, the main fighting forces against the invasion were the British, Australian and Indian troops who were defeated in the 70-day Malayan Campaign by fascist Japan;
4. The armed resistance to Japanese occupation by the people of Malaya of all races, spearheaded by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), is a critical part of the process of the multi-ethnic struggle for national self-determination and independence;
5. All insidious attempts to erase or distort the true history of our multi-ethnic nation must be firmly and decisively opposed, and the honour and integrity of the tombs of the anti-fascist martyrs of all races as well as those of fallen allies and friends of all nations must be defended with no intellectual or political compromise.
posted by James Wong Wing-On at 12:21 AM
1 Comments:
Hi James,
The MPAJA's role as the principal armed resistance to the Japanese occupation of Malaya is well documented and very much part of mainstream history. Why is our Information minister trying to re-write history ?
Malayans of different backgrounds resisted or helped the resistance. Does anyone still remember Sybil Karthigesu ?
Even if many of them were communists, there is nothing wrong with honouring those who had died resisting the Japanese invasion, if it is done in a non-political manner. I don't know what exact words are used in the Nilai memorial, but I don't believe there is anything said about communism.
The suffering during the Japanese occupation is part of the family folklore of many Malaysian Chinese homes, and for those who had lost a loved one, the pain never goes away.
Zam is being very insensitive in simply branding all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice as communists.
I happen to think the CPM was dead wrong in its subsequent armed campaign to create a communist state in Malaya.
But that doesn't invalidate the MPAJA's central role in the struggle against the Japanese in WWII.
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