What a country we are.  We’re so focused on the race issue that even a relatively minor issue becomes a full-blown us against them one.  I’m referring, of course, to the monument being built in Nilai.

On the one hand, we’ve got our Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin (Zam) asserting that building such a is tantamount to having a “memorial to communists” (unsurprisingly the likes of Berita Harian stands behind him).

On the other hand, we’ve got some Chinese leaders protesting; unsurprisingly, the issue has received a lot of focus in the Chinese press.

Now, I’m not about to take sides here, but having read a really quite provocative Berita Harian commentary on the issue, I can’t help but feel that we are, as usual, missing the point.

According to the Chinese groups, the memorial is to commemorate those who fought against the Japanese during WWII.  Zam however, asserts that the memorial essentially commemorates the communists, and as such, is an insult to all who fought during WWII.

Given our continuing inability to come to terms with our communist brethren, this is not surprising.

So, first things first.  For Zam’s information, yes, the MPAJA (Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army) was largely made up of communists.  However, the MPAJA also included within it those (non-communist) Chinese who were fighting the Japanese because their homeland had been occupied.  I believe MPAJA also included men from Force 136, British soldiers who were parachuted back into Malaya after the Japanese took control to help organise the resistance to Japanese rule.  I’m fairly certain MPAJA also included members who were non-Chinese.

malaysiakini reports that the monument includes a structure bearing the inscription: “In memory of Malayan heroes in the resistance movement against Japanese invasion 1941-1945“, so it sounds like this is hardly a communist memorial - however, it will appparently lie next to another memorial/altar remembering 18 MPAJA/CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) who died in 1942.  That memorial simply says: “September 1 heroes memorial“.  Perhaps this is why Zam is against the new one, because there is already one that remembers CPM members in the same cemetary.

All this wouldn’t be such a big deal if not for two things:
a) Zam is our Information Minister
b) More than 40 years after the end of the Emergency, and more than 10 after signing the peace accords with the CPM, we’re still unable to have a rational discussion about them.

What kind of a minister is Zam, if he can blithely go round labelling a monument designed to commemorate those who fought in WWII as a memorial to the communists? Sounds more like misinformation, to me.  According to Zam the MPAJA was a front for the communists: yes, I would agree with this, but as I said above, the MPAJA wasn’t solely a communist group, and he really should know his history first before making statements like that.  After all, if he hadn’t made that statement in the first place, most people probably wouldn’t care that such a monument was being erected (especially given that building works had started way back in August!).

Next, the frankly astonishing views espoused by Berita Harian writer in an article titled “Bina memorial komunis tanda tak peka sejarah” (trans: Building a communist monument shows a lack of knowledge of our history).

Leaving aside any debate about whether the monument is a communist memorial or a WWII one, I find it quite incredible that there are people who hold the following opinions:

a) “Sejarah membuktikan walaupun Jepun banyak menyebabkan kesengsaraan, tetapi mereka turut memberi dan menyediakan ruang untuk orang Melayu khususnya memperjuangkan kemerdekaan.” [1]
b) “Kesedaran menerusi nasionalisme, keyakinan kepada diri, semangat setia kawan, politik berparti dan semangat orang Timur adalah sumbangan pendudukan Jepun di Tanah Melayu.” [2]
c) “Jepun jugalah yang meletakkan beberapa asas perjuangan orang Melayu khususnya untuk berpolitik, berparti dan akhirnya membolehkan mereka menjalankan kegiatan menuntut kemerdekaan.” [3]

Good grief.

According to that article, we the Malays can thank the Japanese for our freedoms!

What bollocks.

In case Mr BH writer didn’t know, the Japanese slogan of “Asia for Asians” was simply a way for them to gain support of the natives, which would make it easier for them to throw out the existing colonial powers.  Does Mr BH really think the Japanese would give us full independence? Of course not - they were after our oils and minerals on their terms to support their war machine, and as long as they got that, they would happily allow the Malays all the freedom we wanted to organise political parties and such like.  Making statements like the ones above to me shows just how much historical knowledge the writer lacks.

As for the communists, yes, they were evil.  In fact, more Malaysians would know just how evil they were had our censorship board not banned Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (for which we can thank, guess who, Berita Harian!).

Should there be memorials to the communists, though? Well, why not? We’re never going to have official ones (and I don’t think we should), but if a private citizen wanted to have a memorial for people he or she knew who were CPM members … well, as much as I would find that distasteful, I don’t really see what business it is of the Government’s to interfere.
[1] History proves that although the Japanese brought suffering, they also allowed and provided space for the Malays, specifically to fight for freedom.

[2] Nationalism, self-confidence, group loyalty, politics through partisan lines and Eastern self-belief are things that the Japanese occupation brought to Malaya.

[3] Japan also started the basic steps for the freedom of the Malay people, specifically through politics and political parties which eventually allowed them (the Malays) to start activities which brought them freedom.