Chin Peng

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Chin Peng (Traditional Chinese: 陳平, Simplified Chinese: 陈平, Mandarin Chén Píng) (born 1924), was born Ong Boon Hua (Mandarin: Wang Yonghua or Wang Wenhua Chinese: 王文華) in Sitiawan, and was a long-time leader of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Rise to prominence 1.2 The Emergency 1.3 Application to return to Malaysia 2 Media portrayal 3 Chronology 4 Reference Books 5 Bibliography 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Rise to prominence

Chin Peng rose to prominence during World War II when many Chinese Malayans took to the jungle to fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese. These fighters, inspired by the example of the Communist Party of China, became known as the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Chin Peng was the liaison officer between the MPAJA and Lord Mountbatten, the leader of the British South-East Asian Command (SEAC). In the course of the war, Chin was awarded an OBE(subsequently withdrawn by the British government), a mention in despatches, and two campaign medals by Britain. He was elected the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Malaya after the betrayal of previous leader Lai Tek who turned out to be an agent for both the British and the Japanese and had denounced the leadership of the Party to the Japanese secret police. Chin Peng was the most senior surviving member.

He gained notoriety for being the leader of the CPM armed insurgency, which led to a large number of civilian casualties. Some have claimed this was in contrast to the stance adopted by Mao Zedong and his policy of the Eight Points of Attention to avoid civilian casualties. He withdrew to southern Thailand with the remnants of his forces during the latter part of the Emergency as a result of security force pressure and at the end of 1960 moved to Beijing, which became his base for many years. He was thus effectively exiled from Malaya and remains so until this day. He was a firm anti-colonialist who opposed the British rule of Malaya, but wished to create a Communist dictatorship under the Communist Party of Malaya. For that reason he continued the struggle even after Malaysia achieved independence.

[edit] The Emergency

There exists a certain amount of controversy whether he was responsible for the deaths of civilians and colonialists, marked when members of the Communist Party of Malaya killed three pro-British civilians in 1948 in Sungei Siput. Many Singaporean historians and anticommunists allege that Chin Peng knew about and ordered the killings, although there is a degree of dissent over this. Some argue that Chin Peng was forty kilometres south and was at a fellow party member's bungalow, and was ignorant of the incident. In his book, written many years later and after the defeat of the CPM, Chin Peng states clearly that he did not order the attacks. In any event Chin Peng was the leader of the Party and the killers operated under his orders and through his inspiration. The MPAJA had spent most of the war killing ethnic Chinese who collaborated with the Japanese rather than actual Japanese soldiers, so it is clear that this was similar to their past behaviour. Inevitably, the killings forced the Malayan colonial administration to declare a state of emergency. This also provoked an immediate crackdown on the Communist Party of Malaya, when British troops raided his house. Chin Peng managed to escape, but did lose various key documents, including his passport in the process. Unsure of the status of the rest of the party, he eventually learned that his comrade Ah Hai was hiding in Ipoh, and devised a scheme with his sister, disguised as a couple on a reunion, such that he managed to re-establish a secret base there. From then on, the Communist Party of Malaya led an underground insurgency resisting British suppression of the movement.

This initial resistance by the Communist Party of Malaya eventually erupted into full hostility, and developed into a form of a civil war, which became the Malayan Emergency that lasted for twelve years until 1960. In 1960 Chin Peng wished to give up the armed struggle, but, after travelling to China, was told by Deng Xiaoping that South-East Asia was ripe for Revolution. The CPM maintained a theoretical armed struggle for decades after. The death toll eventually climbed into the thousands. Those sympathetic to Chin Peng tend to portray the violence perpetrated by the CPM as defensive and reactionary, while right-wing opponents tend to portray it as aggressive and unethical. During the Cultural Revolution the CPM was split into three factions and Chin Peng ordered purges resulting in mass trials and many summary executions.

[edit] Application to return to Malaysia

At the beginning of 2000, Chin Peng applied to be permitted back into Malaysia, and a complex legal issue has arisen out of this. Hearings on whether to permit his return to Malaysia were scheduled for May 25, 2005 but the High Court postponed the hearing to July 25, when his application to be allowed to return to Malaysia was rejected.

His return is opposed by victims of attacks committed by the Communist Party of Malaya, those who served in the armed forces during the Emergency, and members of the public. There have been a resurgence of accounts of the alleged atrocities the Communist Party of Malaya committed in newspapers by those who against his return to Malaysia (such as the Ex-Servicemen's Association of Malaysia).

Chin Peng has lived in exile in southern Thailand and has also been giving lectures in the National University of Singapore.

The current Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, suggested the Government might reconsider its position in the future. He said he would wait for the outcome of the Court case before making a decision.

[edit] Media portrayal

In 2006, a documentary film about Chin Peng was made called The Last Communist. It was banned by Malaysia's Home Affairs Ministry.

[edit] Chronology

• October 22, 1924: Birth.
• January 1940: Accepted as probationary member of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM); put in charge of Communist members in Sitiawan.
• July 4, 1940: Leaves home.
• December 1941: Communists’ offer of help accepted; joins the fight against the Japanese.
• January 10, 1942: The first batch of the Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).
• 1942: Meets future wife, Khoon Wah.
• 1945: World War II ends.
• January 1946: Awarded 2 war medals; boycotts tour of British bases; forced to sign letter of apology.
• Mid-October 1946: In Penang, Yeung Kuo reveals that Lai Teck has betrayed the CPM; Lai Teck subsequently absconds with most of party’s money.
• March 6, 1947: Truth is revealed about Lai Teck; he is killed. Chin Peng made secretary-general of CPM
• 1948: Three planters killed at Sungei Siput; Emergency declared; CPM declared illegal.
• Late 1950: Briggs arrives in Malaya and implements "Brigg's plan" – resettling people into "New Villages". If the people refused to move, the British would forcibly remove them and sometimes burn down their houses. This made it difficult for the Communists to gain food supplies from the "Min Yuen", their supporters in the villages.
• October 6, 1951: Sir Henry Gurney, British High Commissioner in Malaya, is assassinated on Gap road to Fraser's Hill by Siew Ma. It was a "chance" ambush by Siew Ma and his party and not a plan to assassinate Gurney.
• February 7, 1952: Sir Gerald Templer arrives to take the place of Gurney, and implements harsh measures against the Communists.
• December 28, 1955: Baling Talks held with David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman, unsuccessful because of surrender terms. After the Baling Talks, Chin Peng retired to Thailand. Ah Hai replaces him as acting Secretary-General in Malaya.
• 1960: The Emergency is officially declared at an end. However, fighting still continues.
• December 2, 1989: A peace treaty is signed between the communists, Thailand and Malaysia. The long, hard war the British had preferred to term an Emergency was over.
• October 6-8, 2004: Chin Peng visits Singapore for 3 days to speak at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies (ISEAS).
• 2005: Chin Peng is pending to return to Malaysia. His hearing was scheduled for May 25, 2005, and the High Court postponed it to July 25, 2005. This application was subsequently rejected.

[edit] Reference Books

• 劉鑒銓等人，青山不老－馬共的歷程，(2004)香港：明報出版社 ISBN 962-8871-28-5
• Chin, C. C., and Karl Hack. eds., Dialogues with Chin Peng: New Light on the Malayan Communist Party. (2004) Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2004 ISBN 9971-69-297-2

[edit] Bibliography

• Chin Peng, My Side of History (2003) ISBN 981-04-8693-6

[edit] External links

• Online Biography
• Project Sitiawan, Networking Sitiawanians Globally