As Malaysian officials marked the spot where communist guerillas killed Britain's top colonial official 58 years ago, debate has erupted over whether to allow an exiled rebel leader to return.
Soldiers and policemen gathered at the weekend on the spot where British High Commissioner Henry Gurney was ambushed and gunned down, and where a commemorative blue and white plaque was erected in his memory.
Gurney, the colonial government's senior representative in what was then known as Malaya, was killed by communist guerillas on October 6, 1951, three years after the rebels launched a bid to oust colonial authorities.
"This (killing) was a historically significant event as it marked the beginning of a bloody war with the communists," district government officer and event organiser Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan told AFP.
Nor Hisham said state authorities plan to construct a permanent memorial in time for the 58th anniversary of Gurney's killing this October.
The solemn 10-minute ceremony on Saturday on a narrow tree-lined road leading to the highland resort of Fraser's Hill, also marked the beginning of the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency 61 years ago last week.
Gurney took over as high commissioner just months after the Emergency was proclaimed on June 18, 1948 to deal with an armed rebellion by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), supported by the Chinese Communist Party.
Gurney and his wife were being driven in their Rolls Royce to the popular resort when they were ambushed by insurgents.
Witnesses said Gurney deliberately left the car when the shooting began, to draw fire away from his wife and driver. He was shot and died in the middle of the road.
The brazen attack galvanized British authorities and marked a turning point in the campaign to crush the insurgency.
"Despite having numerous plans to tackle the insurgents, Gurney's death provoked a strong reaction from the incoming Churchill government in Britain, now determined to find a lasting solution to the insurgency," said Brian Farrell, associate professor of history at the National University of Singapore.
Government records show that at the height of the insurgency in the early 1950s, Malaya was home to some 40,000 British and Commonwealth troops, 70,000 police and a quarter of a million volunteer guards facing off 8,000 communist guerillas.
Several thousand civilians, insurgents and government troops were killed during the Emergency, according to colonial records, but historians are still divided over the exact number.
The insurgency ended two years after Malaysia gained its independence from Britain in 1957 but the MCP continued fighting until a 1989 peace agreement was signed.
The debate over Chin Peng's role
This long-forgotten chapter in Malaysia's pre-independence history is being examined anew as Chin Peng, the country's former communist leader, seeks to return home from exile.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last month ruled out the return of the insurgent chief - who fled Malaya in the 1960s and now lives in Thailand - after he lost his final legal appeal in April.
But several groups including ruling coalition members have urged the government to allow the 85-year-old to return on humanitarian grounds. His lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira has argued that his client is an independence hero.
"Had it not been for Chin Peng and the communists fighting the British, Malaysia would not have gotten its independence from Britain as early as 1957," he said.
But for Malaysian veterans like 50-year-old major Lee Hock Sun, who battled communist holdouts in the 1980s and who counts immediate family among the victims of the insurgency, Chin does not deserve to be welcomed home.
"So many lives lost," he said. "We cannot forgive Chin Peng for killing so many innocent people."
Historians also question Chin Peng's claim to hero status, saying he has yet to apologise for all the deaths his men caused.
"His claim that he influenced the timing of the country's independence does at least as much harm as any good, as it forced the birthing of Malaysia in circumstances of alarm, division and confrontation," Farrell said.
"Only if Chin Peng is willing to accept responsibility for the wanton murder and destruction his men had wrought and apologise and face the consequences, will anyone be willing to engage him."
AFP /Malaysiakini
24/06/09
Gurney, the colonial government's senior representative in what was then known as Malaya, was killed by communist guerillas on October 6, 1951, three years after the rebels launched a bid to oust colonial authorities.
"This (killing) was a historically significant event as it marked the beginning of a bloody war with the communists," district government officer and event organiser Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan told AFP.
Nor Hisham said state authorities plan to construct a permanent memorial in time for the 58th anniversary of Gurney's killing this October.
The solemn 10-minute ceremony on Saturday on a narrow tree-lined road leading to the highland resort of Fraser's Hill, also marked the beginning of the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency 61 years ago last week.
Gurney took over as high commissioner just months after the Emergency was proclaimed on June 18, 1948 to deal with an armed rebellion by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), supported by the Chinese Communist Party.
Gurney and his wife were being driven in their Rolls Royce to the popular resort when they were ambushed by insurgents.
Witnesses said Gurney deliberately left the car when the shooting began, to draw fire away from his wife and driver. He was shot and died in the middle of the road.
The brazen attack galvanized British authorities and marked a turning point in the campaign to crush the insurgency.
"Despite having numerous plans to tackle the insurgents, Gurney's death provoked a strong reaction from the incoming Churchill government in Britain, now determined to find a lasting solution to the insurgency," said Brian Farrell, associate professor of history at the National University of Singapore.
Government records show that at the height of the insurgency in the early 1950s, Malaya was home to some 40,000 British and Commonwealth troops, 70,000 police and a quarter of a million volunteer guards facing off 8,000 communist guerillas.
Several thousand civilians, insurgents and government troops were killed during the Emergency, according to colonial records, but historians are still divided over the exact number.
The insurgency ended two years after Malaysia gained its independence from Britain in 1957 but the MCP continued fighting until a 1989 peace agreement was signed.
The debate over Chin Peng's role
This long-forgotten chapter in Malaysia's pre-independence history is being examined anew as Chin Peng, the country's former communist leader, seeks to return home from exile.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last month ruled out the return of the insurgent chief - who fled Malaya in the 1960s and now lives in Thailand - after he lost his final legal appeal in April.
But several groups including ruling coalition members have urged the government to allow the 85-year-old to return on humanitarian grounds. His lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira has argued that his client is an independence hero.
"Had it not been for Chin Peng and the communists fighting the British, Malaysia would not have gotten its independence from Britain as early as 1957," he said.
But for Malaysian veterans like 50-year-old major Lee Hock Sun, who battled communist holdouts in the 1980s and who counts immediate family among the victims of the insurgency, Chin does not deserve to be welcomed home.
"So many lives lost," he said. "We cannot forgive Chin Peng for killing so many innocent people."
Historians also question Chin Peng's claim to hero status, saying he has yet to apologise for all the deaths his men caused.
"His claim that he influenced the timing of the country's independence does at least as much harm as any good, as it forced the birthing of Malaysia in circumstances of alarm, division and confrontation," Farrell said.
"Only if Chin Peng is willing to accept responsibility for the wanton murder and destruction his men had wrought and apologise and face the consequences, will anyone be willing to engage him."
AFP /Malaysiakini
24/06/09
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