Rashid Maidin
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Rashid Maidin (October 10, 1917 - September 1, 2006) was a senior leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). He was born in Kampung Gunung Mesah, Gopeng, Perak. He received his early education at the Gunung Panjang Malay School and the Kampung Gunung Mesah Madrasah, which were both in Gopeng. However, due to poverty Rashid dropped out of school in 1929.
After leaving school, Rashid travelled and sought employment, ending up in Cameron Highlands, Pahang. While working odd jobs there, he befriended a Christian missionary who taught him to speak basic English. He furthered his proficiency in the language via correspondence courses. Later, Rashid returned to Gopeng and worked at a French-owned power station. While employed at the power station, he studied basic electrics and eventually obtained a first-class electrical chargeman certificate. Rashid was also active in the trade unions, which led him to join the CPM as the party's first Malay member. In his memoir, Memoir Rashid Maidin: Daripada perjuangan bersenjata kepada perdamaian (The Memoirs of Rashid Maidin: From Armed Struggle to Peace), Rashid justified his decision to join the CPM due to the party's strong anti-imperialist stance. CPM was among the first anti-colonial movements in Malaya.
In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied Malaya. The CPM, of which Rashid by now is the party's top Malay leader, organised armed resistance via the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). After the return of British rule, the CPM continued its armed insurrection, this time against the British colonial government, via its new militant wing, the Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA). Rashid was entrusted by CPM leader Chin Peng to lead the MRLA's Malay-dominated 10th Regiment. CPM's armed insurrection led the British to declare a state of emergency, which lasted between 1948 to 1960. In 1955 the CPM attempted to negotiate peace with the colonial government. Rashid was a member of the CPM delegation at the talks, which were held at the town of Baling, Kedah. After the collapse of the Baling talks, the CPM continued its insurrection. However, due to government anti-insurrection measures, CPM's guerilla struggle gradually waned and eventually ended after a peace treaty was signed with the Malaysian government in Haadyai, Thailand in 1989. Rashid was again a CPM delegate to the peace treaty.
In January 2006, 500 former members of the Malayan Communist party were granted Thai citizenship.[1] In the past, Rashid had failed to acquire Malaysian citizenship, like many other ex-communists living in Southern Thailand.[2]
However, a stipulation in the treaty signed disallowed former senior CPM leaders from returning to Malaysia; hence, Rashid settled to a quiet, post-guerilla life in Southern Thailand. He died on September 1, 2006 in Sisakoin, Narathiwat, and was laid to rest after Friday prayers on the same day.
