KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to continue barring former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng from entering Malaysia, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, has received mixed reaction from various public figures.

A few that Malay Mail spoke with expressed dissatisfaction at the decision while others sighed relief.

 

PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will not be attending a ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Haadyai Peace Agreement purportedly organised by Chin Peng and his representatives.

 

THE word “communist” today has negative connotations and one who identifies with those ideals can expect to be vilified for it. Malay Mail speaks to an 82-yearold ex-communist, identified as H.C, who wears his history as a badge of honour.

“We joined the party to fight the British, not the locals. All we wanted was independence,” said H.C, who was the leader of his troops stationed in the jungle between Johor and Malacca.

TODAY marks an important date in the history of Malaysia. A State of emergency was declared on June 16, 1948 that started a 12-year-long war led by the Setiawan-born Chin Peng.

The quest for independence from the British by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) proved to be a long, hard one. Together with others, the CPM formed the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army which fought the Japanese occupation forces.

CONTROVERSY surrounds Chin Peng’s request to return to Malaysia. The debate over the former secretary-general of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) has sparked a war of words between PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

Anwar has openly spoken in favour of Chin Peng’s return and, as he expected, has come under fire from many. Most prominent among them is Mukhriz who accused Anwar of having no regard for the sacrifices made by the security forces.

AN early chapter begins with a sentence as good as any Dickens opening: "Several months after my 25th birthday, I discovered that I was, in fact, only 23 years old." If the events of the past had been very different, mi