Ex-CPM chief to meet Karl Marx soon, let him return

Ex-CPM chief to meet Karl Marx soon, let him return

Hamdan Ibrahim | Jun 16, 09 5:47pm

I refer to the Malaysiakini report Anwar: Let Chin Peng return. Trust Anwar Ibrahim to raise the political temperature higher by suggesting that the grand old man of communist Malaya, Ching Peng, who at 85 years old in the winter of his life, be allowed to visit his birthplace in Sitiawan, Perak A Pandora's box has been opened by the opposition leader's open call for Ching Peng to be allowed in this country and one would expect the BN leaders to use the issue to run down Anwar Ibrahim and vilify him as a traitor who has sold his soul just to win the Chinese votes in this country. Whether we like it or not, the communist party in old Malaya had played their part in liberating our country from colonial yoke. Initially, they fought with the Japanese occupation forces with the help of the British colonial government and later, they turned on their British army after the Japanese were defeated in 1945. Whether we should call Ching Peng and his communist cadres' 'traitors' or 'liberators' of this country is very subjective but while one acknowledges the people's pain and suffering under the communist reign of terror, one has to admit that because of the communist insurgence, our country achieved independence earlier from our colonial masters. A Malay paper which has been chastised by our deputy prime minister for their slanted reports against the non-Malays in this country has become a torchbearers for those people and organisations who welcome the government's move not to allow Ching Peng to return. In fact, it has also demonised the old man for all the wrongdoings his Communist Party had done to this country in the early days before independence. But one wonders whether if Ching Peng was a Malay like Rashid Mydin - another senior cadre of the Communist Party of Malaya - would he have been allowed to return to this country? Race and religion are still a raw nerves in this country and our weak government will use any issue it can, as well as that Malay newspaper which it owns, to arouse the people's sentiment to support them. Really, our country is not suffering from a communist paranoia as only the insane would support a move for communists to gain a foothold in this country. A weak and inept leadership plus graft are the real problems facing our nation and the government should not use the communist bogey to divert the people's attention. If we can accept other freedom fighters like Mat Daud Kilau who fought against the British colonial masters in their time as heroes of their time, I don't see why Ching Peng who had fought against the Japanese and British be regarded as the same. After all, we have forgiven the Japanese and British for their past sins so can't we forgive our countryman who spent his life fighting the colonial masters albeit with different methods as compared to Tunku and the other iconic leaders who manage to achieve independence from the British colonial leaders? In order for our country to progress, we should learn to forgive and forget and let the old baggage of our country's history remain as our nation footnotes. We should be proud of the fact that our country is one of the few nations in the world that managed to defeat the communists not only through guns alone but through winning the hearts and minds of the populace then. Even communist nations have now accepted an open economy to progress for the benefit of their own people. China, Vietnam and Laos, all staunch communist nations who had a closed economy before, have now embraced foreign investments to improve their economies. Only Cuba ruled by Castro's brother seems to hold true to the communist belief but look at the state of their economy which has caused their citizens to suffer for so long. Communism as practiced by Karl Max can be consigned to history as even Eastern Europe which was once under the influence of Russia has abandon the communist ideology and has instead embraced capitalism to lift the standard of living of their people. Ever since the Portugese conquered Malacca in 1511, our country has been under colonial rule, with the Dutch, British and Japanese ruling our country one after another before we achieved independence in 1957. That is our historical past which cannot be erased from our country's legacy. The communists reign of terror is just a footnote in our country's history and we should learn to live with it and not make a big hue and cry just because the party's ex-top gun wants to return home to die peacefully in his country. While I don't agree with what the communist cadres did to our people during the dark days of their insurgency, let the past be the past. Chin Peng is an old man for whom the communist ideology has lost its lustre. He should be allowed to return home to pay homage to his parents' grave before he meets Karl Max in the other world. Let bygones be bygones.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/106596