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.

Sex videos

The thing about the anti-Anwar sex videos is that they reveal the makers and their friends have nothing to present by way of argument. They resort to gutter tactics. But how far will that bring them to their target of demolishing Anwar? If the opposition to Anwar continues to shout from the wc what headway will they make?

Flogging

30,000 workers have been caned. The British notorious for their savage flogging of the lower classes did away with this barbarous practice long ago but colonies like Malaya continue this cruel inheritance despite UN codes of behaviour. They have never questioned whether this British barbarism is Islamic or not. We are not Islamic experts but cannot fail to note that we do not see this sort of flogging in Iran.

The colonial mind

Both Edward Said and Syed Hussein Al-Attas have explained the colonial mind which continues to guide writing in this country. The latest proof of this is in an article in the magazine Penang Economic Monthly in which the author says that the All Malaya Council of Joint action failed because among other things "the Malays were unwilling to trust the non-Malays." To say that the British war to crush the opposition formed by the solid unity of the many political organisations to ensure their survival aided by the dollar earning rubber and tin was a "failure of the Council" is an outright lie serving the propaganda of colonial Britain. Sadly worship of colonial Britain still continues in this country.

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has announced his withdrawal from public speaking. That he should have done long ago. He is to the Tebetans a living god, the reincarnation of the goddess of mercy. It was the Panchen Lama who handled the affairs of state. The Panchen was proChina but the Dalai Lama was anti and funded by the CIA and failed to act as a god.

We see that our universities have failed to be included in the Times' list of the world's top 100

Radhis Maidin (cont)

13 Escape

One of us building the police station was a young man called Yusof. A rubber tapper from Johore, he was not political. But he too was held under the Emergency Operation in 1948. He became close to me and I spoke to him about politics, about the cruelty of the colonialists to the people and country whether they were Portuguese , Japanese or British, about the early patriotic struggles of Datuk Maharajalela and Datuk Sagor and the development of the independence struggle Their greediness in scooping the wealth of the country and oppression led to the people rising up in struggle to expel them from the country. It was after my talks with him that he became aware that the political detainees here were good people who had sacrificed everything for independence. I explained also that the armed battle in the jungle and in all corners of the country was to drive the British colonialists out and that it was part of the national struggle. Finally the spirit of freedom sparked and burnt in him. He seemed ready to join the struggle and to carry the gun. I was sure of him and thought he would make an excellent guerrilla, both brave and disciplined. I had no doubt as to my escaping and joining the guerrillas.

Near our place of work was a Chinese owned coffee shop. Everyday a Chinese boy of about twelve would bring his cows to graze in the area. He attracted my attention. It was strange to see a Chinese cowherd. What if this boy had contacts with the national liberation army guerrillas? Could he help in my plans to escape? In the beginning I called out to him but he was shy but eventually came to me. I sang the International in Chinese so he could hear and I told him that I was Rashid Maidin. Two days later, while I was wondering about the boy, he suddenly turned up with a letter written by a Malay friend working in a masses work unit. Among other things the letter suggested a surprise attack on the police. I replied that that was not necessary as I had other plans. All we had to do was to name the signal, the place and the date and time.

I did not show my joy. It was when the decisions had been made by the guerrilla unit that I told Yusof that we move the next day. It was not difficult to escape because Sergeant Pak Mi was sure of us and often let us go to the latrine unescorted. But there was one who was very pro-British. He would probably cause difficulties.

On the named day the sergeant was having his usual meal with his boys I pretended I had a stomach ache and asked to go to the latrine. Yusof also had the same problem. So we went to the latrine which was located about 70 to 80 metres away. On my asking him, the sergeant said a guard was not necessary and when I said he would be in trouble he said it was ok as the “albino cattle” were not around.

I took a hammer and Yusof a work tool in case we were attacked but, as luck would have it, no one followed us. We pretended to go to the lavatory but headed for the coffee shop where we disconnected the phone, then hurried to a rubber estate where we came across three persons doing survey work. It was very possible that they saw that I was an escaped prisoner for they started to run away. I shouted to them not to go, for we were not going to stay but they did not turn to look but continued to run. They left behind their instruments and food and drink. Surely they would report what happened.

We had taken a few steps then we saw a red flag waving in the wind. There was a guerrilla section of about 12 men there, probably of the 4th Regiment of the National Liberation Army waiting for us. We had successfully contacted the masses work unit and the Malay fighter from Malacca who had written. They asked Yusof and I to have coffee. I said no, the police were nearby and were sure to pursue us; and we were only a few. The commander placed men all round us to protect us and this protection continued when we stopped to rest. After about 10 minutes, we heard continuous firing. Perhaps Pak Mi had just discovered our escape.

I was thankful for the help the revolutionary Chinese cowherd gave me whose name I did not know. I thanked the fighter from Malacca as well as the detachment.

Five days after my escape, came a British plane calling me on a loudspeaker to surrender myself. The loudspeaker abused me and tried to frighten me by saying I would be treated as rubbish and would not be accepted by the MCP nor by the National Liberation Army. In addition thousands of leaflets were dropped signed by British officials of Malacca asking me to surrender. The leaflets asked me to return, saying they knew what I wanted and that I was unwanted by the MCP.

I asked for paper and wrote a reply to the leaflets, leaving the reply at a place where the colonialists were sure to find it. After a few days I heard that it was known that I had left a message and that the news about it was not only known among the troops of the colonialists but the subject of talk among the people. If I remember right the note that I wrote said, “End the emergency immediately. You have brought about chaos and suffering. You British colonialists should go back to your country.”

What happened was that Malay kampongs and Chinese were driven out. Their fruit trees left to the squirrels and paddy fields put to the torch. Each person was forced to carry only one broken pot and live in camps under curfew. Many were killed, their heads cut off and hung on the side of the road. I saw this when I was moving from Malacca to Pahang. It was a painful experience for me

And to call me rubbish! I was warmly welcomed by the mass working unit and guided from place to place until we reached the central authority. Wherever I went the friendship shown was real. After about one year I reached Kerdau, Pahang where I was able to rejoin the 10th Regiment and Abdullah CD. But I left Yusof in Malacca, as planned, as he was a Johore man. In Johore there were many guerrillas led by Mat Indera.

Freedom Film Fest

We liked Freedom Film Fest's (Komas) latest which among others tells us about the plight of the Orang Asli. Very good because it tells us about the people and the tragedy of how they are losing their traditional lands. Another subject makes the resiting of an Indian temple the centre of a piece on religious tolerance