Martin Vengadesan
COMMENT | When I was a teenager, my ambitions moved back and forth from rock star to Jesuit priest to Marxist revolutionary.
Not quite the normal route, considering most around me were marching confidently towards careers in engineering, law and medicine.
In the late 1980s, I was living in Bangkok where my father was serving as Malaysia’s deputy ambassador. I had this vague notion that I should hop off the overnight train from Bangkok to Penang and walk into the jungle to meet the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) members. As you do.
What I did not know was that the CPM was in tripartite negotiations with the governments of Malaysia and Thailand to end its armed struggle. Eventually, the deal was struck and inked in December 1989.
In the run-up to its 20th anniversary, I was able to meet three leading lights of the CPM, namely secretary-general Chin Peng, party chairperson Abdullah CD and women’s leader Shamsiah Fakeh.
Unfortunately, during my meetings with them, both Chin Peng and Shamsiah were in ill health and barely spoke, so that conversation was carried out through a third party.
When I met Abdullah (above), it was at Kampung Chulabhorn 12, an hour’s away from the town of Sukhirin in Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat.
The village is still home to Abdullah and his veteran cadres of the CPM’s 10th regiment that he once led. Sadly, most of them who had survived until 2009 when I visited, have passed away since.
This includes Abdullah’s wife, Suriani Abdullah (formerly Eng Ming Ching), one of the CPM’s most prominent leaders.
COMMENT | When I was a teenager, my ambitions moved back and forth from rock star to Jesuit priest to Marxist revolutionary.
Not quite the normal route, considering most around me were marching confidently towards careers in engineering, law and medicine.
In the late 1980s, I was living in Bangkok where my father was serving as Malaysia’s deputy ambassador. I had this vague notion that I should hop off the overnight train from Bangkok to Penang and walk into the jungle to meet the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) members. As you do.
What I did not know was that the CPM was in tripartite negotiations with the governments of Malaysia and Thailand to end its armed struggle. Eventually, the deal was struck and inked in December 1989.
In the run-up to its 20th anniversary, I was able to meet three leading lights of the CPM, namely secretary-general Chin Peng, party chairperson Abdullah CD and women’s leader Shamsiah Fakeh.
Unfortunately, during my meetings with them, both Chin Peng and Shamsiah were in ill health and barely spoke, so that conversation was carried out through a third party.
When I met Abdullah (above), it was at Kampung Chulabhorn 12, an hour’s away from the town of Sukhirin in Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat.
The village is still home to Abdullah and his veteran cadres of the CPM’s 10th regiment that he once led. Sadly, most of them who had survived until 2009 when I visited, have passed away since.
This includes Abdullah’s wife, Suriani Abdullah (formerly Eng Ming Ching), one of the CPM’s most prominent leaders.
Abdullah CD and his wife Suriani Abdullah circa 1990s
This week, Abdullah turns 100. His assistant Yaakob Ibrahim tells me that the designated date of birth is Oct 2, 1923, but that a number of wildly differing dates have been claimed for the native of Lambor, Perak.
Even in 2009, while Abdullah was in good physical shape and very jovial, his memory was erratic and he frequently retold the same story in answer to different questions.
Abdullah was one of the leaders of the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) in the 1940s and he found himself working with the CPM.
The PKMM, a largely leftist Malay nationalist movement, and its affiliated youth and women’s wings (API and Awas - Angkatan Wanita Sedar - respectively) were breeding grounds of leaders who eventually became prominent figures in Umno (Ghafar Baba, Sardon Jubir and Aishah Ghani), PAS (Burhanuddin Helmi and Asri Muda), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (Ahmad Boestamam), the Labour Party of Malaya (Ishak Haji Muhammad) and, of course, the CPM (in the form of Abdullah, Shamsiah Fakeh, Rashid Maidin, etc).
As Abdullah put it, “nationalism came first for me, and only then did Marxism follow.”
He told me that he couldn’t abide it when the Japanese surrendered to end World War II but the British returned to quickly reimpose colonial rule.
This week, Abdullah turns 100. His assistant Yaakob Ibrahim tells me that the designated date of birth is Oct 2, 1923, but that a number of wildly differing dates have been claimed for the native of Lambor, Perak.
Even in 2009, while Abdullah was in good physical shape and very jovial, his memory was erratic and he frequently retold the same story in answer to different questions.
Abdullah was one of the leaders of the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) in the 1940s and he found himself working with the CPM.
The PKMM, a largely leftist Malay nationalist movement, and its affiliated youth and women’s wings (API and Awas - Angkatan Wanita Sedar - respectively) were breeding grounds of leaders who eventually became prominent figures in Umno (Ghafar Baba, Sardon Jubir and Aishah Ghani), PAS (Burhanuddin Helmi and Asri Muda), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (Ahmad Boestamam), the Labour Party of Malaya (Ishak Haji Muhammad) and, of course, the CPM (in the form of Abdullah, Shamsiah Fakeh, Rashid Maidin, etc).
As Abdullah put it, “nationalism came first for me, and only then did Marxism follow.”
He told me that he couldn’t abide it when the Japanese surrendered to end World War II but the British returned to quickly reimpose colonial rule.
Abdullah CD (left) with Chin Peng in 2009.
At that time in the late 1940s, the colony of Malaya was crucial to the UK rebuilding itself as it was rich in rubber and tin.
While many believed that communism and religion were incompatible, Abdullah said his belief was that true Marxism and Islam were indeed both meant to uphold the welfare of the common people.
He said that socialism, and not capitalism, was in keeping with the religious philosophy of sharing wealth and caring for the less fortunate.
Interestingly, it was under Abdullah that the 10th Regiment made the difficult decision to flee Pahang for southern Thailand.
Forgotten by history
Former Parti Rakyat Malaysia president Syed Husin Ali was a non-Marxist socialist who began student activism during the 1950s. He told me that the choice that faced Abdullah and his peers was different.
“Most of Abdullah’s generation started as Malay nationalists during the colonial era. In a way, they were driven to communism because they had no legal alternative after the British returned.
“The choice was either joining Umno or going to prison. And when they went to the jungle, it was natural to join the communists.”
“Of course, Abdullah, like Rashid Maidin, was a communist even before he went into the jungle but in his view, he took up the armed struggle to fight for a free and just Malaya,” reflected Syed Husin.
At that time in the late 1940s, the colony of Malaya was crucial to the UK rebuilding itself as it was rich in rubber and tin.
While many believed that communism and religion were incompatible, Abdullah said his belief was that true Marxism and Islam were indeed both meant to uphold the welfare of the common people.
He said that socialism, and not capitalism, was in keeping with the religious philosophy of sharing wealth and caring for the less fortunate.
Interestingly, it was under Abdullah that the 10th Regiment made the difficult decision to flee Pahang for southern Thailand.
Forgotten by history
Former Parti Rakyat Malaysia president Syed Husin Ali was a non-Marxist socialist who began student activism during the 1950s. He told me that the choice that faced Abdullah and his peers was different.
“Most of Abdullah’s generation started as Malay nationalists during the colonial era. In a way, they were driven to communism because they had no legal alternative after the British returned.
“The choice was either joining Umno or going to prison. And when they went to the jungle, it was natural to join the communists.”
“Of course, Abdullah, like Rashid Maidin, was a communist even before he went into the jungle but in his view, he took up the armed struggle to fight for a free and just Malaya,” reflected Syed Husin.
The CPM headquarters in KL before the party was banned.
A few months ago, I met Temerloh-based lawyer Ahmad Nizam Hamid in KL. Associated with PKR and the reformasi movement, he nonetheless displayed an interest in the CPM era.
I was about to give him a mini-speech on the 10th regiment when he laughed and told me: “I know this history because my grandfather was one of those who left the kampung and fled into the jungle to join the CPM. He gave his life for the struggle.”
Yaakob was one of the youngest members of the party at the time that it chose to lay down arms.
“I originally came from a village in the Pasir Puteh, a district in Kelantan. The people there were very poor, and still are.
“At first, I was just curious about these people fighting in the jungle for a better life. The Malaysian government’s anti-communist propaganda was very strong but I wasn’t that happy with what I learnt in school. Then when I joined them, I found that I could accept their ideas and their way of life.
“I was trained to survive in the jungle, use arms and certain martial arts tactics. Sometimes we fought for self-defence, sometimes we had to create trouble to maintain a presence in the area,” he told me back in 2009.
A few months ago, I met Temerloh-based lawyer Ahmad Nizam Hamid in KL. Associated with PKR and the reformasi movement, he nonetheless displayed an interest in the CPM era.
I was about to give him a mini-speech on the 10th regiment when he laughed and told me: “I know this history because my grandfather was one of those who left the kampung and fled into the jungle to join the CPM. He gave his life for the struggle.”
Yaakob was one of the youngest members of the party at the time that it chose to lay down arms.
“I originally came from a village in the Pasir Puteh, a district in Kelantan. The people there were very poor, and still are.
“At first, I was just curious about these people fighting in the jungle for a better life. The Malaysian government’s anti-communist propaganda was very strong but I wasn’t that happy with what I learnt in school. Then when I joined them, I found that I could accept their ideas and their way of life.
“I was trained to survive in the jungle, use arms and certain martial arts tactics. Sometimes we fought for self-defence, sometimes we had to create trouble to maintain a presence in the area,” he told me back in 2009.
Abdullah CD in 1947
Today, he says that Abdullah is surrounded by those who honour him but he is not in great health.
“He is 100 now, and we will have a small gathering of friends. Nothing formal but those who want to come to celebrate his 100th birthday are welcome.
“Sadly, his health is deteriorating although he can still walk with assistance,” said Yaakob, adding that Abdullah is one of three survivors from the party’s heyday of armed struggle.
MARTIN VENGADESAN is associate editor at Malaysiakini
Today, he says that Abdullah is surrounded by those who honour him but he is not in great health.
“He is 100 now, and we will have a small gathering of friends. Nothing formal but those who want to come to celebrate his 100th birthday are welcome.
“Sadly, his health is deteriorating although he can still walk with assistance,” said Yaakob, adding that Abdullah is one of three survivors from the party’s heyday of armed struggle.
MARTIN VENGADESAN is associate editor at Malaysiakini
Lest we forget, the Communist Party of Malaya was led by merciless extremists , and they carried out deliberate brutal barbaric killings if innocents.
ReplyDelete& yet u r tasting their spillover effect of farting in an independent sovereign country while still licking the butts of the colonial masters!
DeleteThese melayu pioneers were the 'thought' of their people then.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, most of the melayu then were just owning yoo much onto their 'tak apa-ism' while their elites took opportunities to enrich their bases for political & wealth power by aligning with the pommie colonial master.
However, not many of their offsprings r "chip off the old block" - cf Shamsiah Fakeh's China born son!
BTW, ask the current giatunas incubated professionals - who's Pendita Zaaba & what were his idealism. 9 out of 10 will buat tak tau, while the remaining one farts about he been a traitor to the melayu ketuanan-ism!