Girl in coffee shop

My regular coffee shop has created a Malaysian first by employing an Indpnesian girl as coffee "boy." How the world is changing! While writing this I am looking at a splendid bungor tree in full bloom. The city council should plant more of these flowering beauties along the street. However poor Anwar, not being a flowering tree, is not allowed to speak in public and we read in the press again and again how the police act to end his public speaking. Which brings me to the news that four leaders of Partai Socialis have declared their assets. Why doesn't Anwar and the others do the same?

The police state is looking at amending the Interlok book. What a joke! Novels will be amended by the police to make the government happy! This is really funny!

Disgusting is the word that comes to mind about Berita Harian poking fun at the tsunami disaster that hit Japan. Is that the cultural level of UMNO's police state?

There is a beautiful kingfisher perched om the telephone wires outside my window. What's the bird
doing here miles from the sea, I wondered.

Rashid Maidin's memoirs

14 Meeting Abdullah CD again

I asked for help to contact Abdullah CD again. I was prepared to do the tough jungle journey to meet the troops which were the pride of the peasants. I vowed I would not shave until I met with the 10th Regiment.

The way from Malacca to Pahang was not an easy one. We could not use the roads or public transport. It was walking all the time. We had to do bukit bukau, mountains, ravines, and cross rivers.

Often we were forced to clash with the enemy or were fired on or bombed. It was in those conditions that I was passed from one unit to another, some big and some small, often forced to back track because of the enemy being in the way. Sometimes we had to wait a long time before proceeding. During this long journey I sometimes met once more young Malays who were active with us before the emergency like Jasmanan, representatives from Johore, who trained in the camp at Kerdau, Pahang. Although it was tough the journey had its rewards. When the situation allowed at each place I arrived at there were welcoming parties for me. First at Malacca, then Negri Sembilan than back to Malacca because when I was at Negri some guerillas had surrendered to the British. If these traitors were not immediately eliminated our hiding places would be exposed and would come under attack. So we had to move. If we moved north the enemy would get to know and block us and attack us. In this situation we had to remember a guerrilla tactic, “One step forward, two steps back.” So we went back to Malacca.

In fact there were less British troops in Malacca because they were concentrating on Negri Sembilan where they were rapidly doing containment and non-stop bombing. We could not meet them head on as they were fully equipped with weapons of war. The British troops were made up of Whites, Blacks and Gurkhas, the last invoking disgust as they are the paid dogs of the British colonialists.

When things were better I went back to Negri Sembilan. I was not sure which area or district were Batu Kikirkah and Kuala Lelawang which I knew. I did not want to ask where I was at the time. It was a rule of discipline that one should never ask what kampong or river it was that one was at like deer losing their way in a kampung. it would arouse suspicions. Most of the people in the area were Chinese with a handful of Malays. My bodyguards and those in charge of my affairs were Chinese. I was not allowed to swim in the river nor bathe at the well. The hut we were in was on top of a hill, the water lay in the valley and I was not allowed to go down to it. They would bring the water up everyday for my personal use. I did not feel comfortable at this, a companion being treated like a tuan as if the locals were coolies. I said, “Don’t bring the water, I will go down and bathe like you do.” but they would reply,”No Dato, you cannot go down.” They addressed me as “Dato.” It started when I was in the Propaganda Unit of the MCP in the days before the Emergency and we would give shows and I acted the part of Dato Onn - a reactionary and one against merdeka and the “Dato” stuck.

We walked and walked and eventually got to Bentong, Pahang and met Chin Peng. Abdullah CD was there too, in discussions with Chin Peng. We were elated for it had taken one year to get to meet Abdullah CD. From Bentong we went to meet the 10th Regiment stationed at Samantan, Temerloh.

At the Regiment I was welcomed by all the cadres and fighters. They celebrated my escape and welcomed me. I was proud and happy to be with the regiment that I loved. I shaved off the long beard that I had grown. From that time on I was fighting together with the commanders and fighters of the 10th Regiment.

Like everyone else in the army I was assigned tasks. I became a member of the headquarters i.e. I became one of the leaders of the regiment and was also in charge of mass work done by 12 men covering Kuala Krau, Termerloh, Pahang.

The experience of my escape was something new. Experience was confined to open political agitation. Army work lasted only one or two weeks before the declaration of the Emergency. Accepting new tasks was something difficult and awkward. But when the Party entrusted me with the new tasks I accepted without question. Later I was asked to lead a company. The company had three platoons each with 30 or 40 soldiers and it was our responsibility to maintain a strength of 100 men. Battles, attacks and clashes it was nothing to us. It was something to be expected by the fighters whose spirits were high. It was a question of logistics, a difficult one. It was for the top leadership but for the cadres lower down to manage, principally the underground cadre. They had the job of supplying clothing, equipment, food and drink, things for critical moments, for long journeys and other needs. This was not the work of the top leadership but I had to be familiar with such work and had to receive reports. Such work was given to people who could really be trusted.

Discipline in the Party and guerrilla Army was strict. We practised democratic centralism. Matters were discussed freely and the deepest feelings were expressed but once a decision was made all must consent. The higher levels had to listen to and pay heed to the matters of those in the lower ranks, who in turn must accept the orders and directives from above. We could not practice a free for all democracy. We couldn’t do that as we were in the middle of a war where there were many secrets to keep which once the enemy learnt would bring about death and destruction.

The fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army were not handpicked from childhood. When they joined they were old enough to carry guns, in their late teens, or early twenties. When would they become as revolutionary as us? That is why we had to practice democratic centralism.

We needed discipline. We had to be watchful for the disorderly ones. Then there were those who ran away. We were quick to administer corrections. Groups had to be reorganised. Delay would mean the enemy would know where we were and would launch large scale attacks. Members of other units would note the appearance of disorderly ones and we had to have long talks with them about this. They would be critical of the leadership if the leadership did not clear up their doubts about this. We had to quickly investigate and if confirmed that discipline had been breached which endangered the army not to speak of those who tried to contact enemy informers - these devils we had to kill.