Wednesday 6 May 2009

The Other Side of History

The Other Side of History (Warning: Some of the sketches contain extreme violence.) Now that the Insurgency War in Malaya was over 20 years ago when the Peace Agreement was signed between Malaysia, Thailand and the CPM on December 2, 1989, looking back at some of the episodes on the other side could be most revealing and interesting. Soon after that, members of the 10th Regiment, which was formed on May 21, 1949 in Temerloh, Pahang by Abdullah C.D settled down in Kg Perdamaian Sukhirin (kg Chulabhorn Patana 12) in Southern Thailand.
In 1981, in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of CPM, a 72-page comic entitled "THE OUTSTANDING JOURNEY 1930 - 1980" was published by "Pejabat Pembebasan Malaya." No doubt to raise and maintain their morale and fighting spirit. Here are some excerpts from the comics. They are taken from blog: http://matamin.blogspot.com/
Attacking a Police Station
An ambush in Chenor, Pahang. Notice the descriptions.
An ambush on Sir Henry Gurney's convoy
at Frazers Hill on October 6, 1951 The CPM's interpretation of May 13, 1969 Riot
CPM's depiction of a battle. Again take note of the
casualty figures all done to increase their confidence
and morale.

13 comments:

  1. History is written by the victor, or something like that.

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  2. Mostly, yes. Books were also written by the vanquished. The Vietnam War for instance. I'm sure there are lots of books written about it by the Americans.

    Chin Peng wrote his version of the Insurgency War he perpetrated from 1948 to 1989.

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  3. i understand your sentiment and the other warriors, sacrificing lives for the nation.i agreed the pkm`s publication was mere propaganda for their own consumption and to boost their morale.but on the other hand,i look at the publication as part of our country rich but violent history pertaining to the pkm arm conflicts.i personally salute the brave soldiers as do millions of Malaysian but we also cannot set aside the role played by pkm in shaping this country.i believe pkm`s arm struggle was futile and they knew they will never win.
    for the record,my father`s uncle were missing to this day during those turbulent time and my father also served as askar wataniah while my uncle who was in askar peninjau at that time was twice ambushed by them.
    once again my utmost respect and love are towards the people such as yourself and your band of brothers.and once again i reiterated that the pkm struggle is part and parcel of our country`s heritage.we the younger generation are trying to understand the struggle through both side of the story.
    salam.

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  4. The good side of the Insurgency was that it kept the people closer together and pressured Britain to grant independence to Malaya quickly.

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  5. Dear Col, I wish that the youth nowadays values the sacrifice of you & the previous generation defending the countries...I am not sure if they are really care about this history...

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  6. Dear Akat,

    I think that is usual anywhere. When the new generation study the history of an older generation, they are just stories taken from the pages of a history book. They don't feel the emotions that was felt by the generation that created it.

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  7. Salam Tuan,

    Sejak dua tiga hari ini, isu berkaitan Chin Peng dan meledak pula mengenai blog mat amin ini menyebabkan saya merasakan bahawa generasi sekarang memang benar-benar terkeliru dengan sejarah hari ini.

    Saya berasal dari Temerloh, ramai tokoh yang tidak sehaluan dengan British lahir di daerah ini Ibrahim Yaacob, Pak Sako, pimpinan API malah Rejimen Ke 10 PKM.

    Saya mengakui peranan tokoh-tokoh ini dalam menjuangkan kemerdekaan bagaimanapun, bagi mereka yang memilih PKM sebagai jalan perjuangan adalah mereka yang terkeliru. Malah Rejimen Ke 10 terus berperang walaupun merdeka telah dapat dicapai. Kekejaman mereka pada generasi hari ini tidak memberi kesan apa-apa. Mungkin dibesarkan dalam kesenangan, lantas melupakan malah mengutuk perjuangan ATM.

    Walaupun datuk saya cuma home guard, ayah saya ahli Pasukan Pertahanan Tempatan (PPT) tapi saya selaku generasi muda menghormati jasa tuan-tuan semua untuk negara.

    p/s: kepulangan Chin Peng akan membawa lebih banyak ketegangan. Lihat situasi sekarang.

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  8. Kudabesi,
    Assalamualaikum. Terima kasih kerana memberi komen yang amat tepat sekali.

    Saya faham sangat kenapa generasi sekarang tidak dapat memahami apa yang telah berlaku pada masa silam disebabkan mereka tidak menempuh keadaan tersebut.

    Pada kita yang telah mempertahankan Tanah Air, kita hanya memerlukan simpati dan jangan lupakan kami.

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  9. Assalammualaikum Tuan,

    Hakikatnya... kempen bersenjata PKM telah berkubur. tapi fahaman yang dibawa PKM tidak pernah mati. Mungkinkah fahaman komunis telah kembali.? berwaspadalah...

    Marc Zman...

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  10. Marc,

    Communism as is practised by the China of today is very open. You don't think, regard and feel they are Communists - unlike in the old days when they want to annex and convert other countries in communism.

    Today we have no fear of that and infact consider them as a valuable friend.

    Yes, we can consider "communism" as good as over and buried.

    We are more concerned now with terrorism and religious extremism which can create a lot of trouble and hardship.

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  11. Tuan,

    I agree with you on the China part.

    But what I'm more concern nowadays are the tendency of some groups in our country that make a hero out of PKM or its leaders. Don’t they read anything about our nation history? Or maybe, they are being feed with the wrong history book?

    Marc Zman

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  12. Marc,

    These people are actually not interested to defend and fight for Chin Peng's case. You just mark my words - when Chin Peng dies, these same people wouldn't even go to his funeral and pay him the last respect. What more, they wouldn't even say a word. The are just taking advantage of the situation to gain the support of the Chinese voters and to gain popularity amonmgst them.

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  13. Agreed. If Chin peng is so powerful, I think Thailand already become a Communist Country.

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