CHIN Peng is long dead but a sizeable segment of the population regards him as a traitor still. Malaysia made it very clear that the Malayan Communist Party leader’s remains were not welcome into the country when he died on Sept 16, 2013, in Thailand.
Despite this standing order, some have surreptitiously brought his ashes into Malaysia.
This they shouldn’t have done.Of all days, they did it on the day when we were celebrating Malaysia Day. To those who brought in the remains, we say this: Do not even dare argue that this was a coincidence.
You are not only glorifying a communist, but also an ideology that goes against everything that Malaysia stands for.
Those who stand with the communists must be treated as such. We call for the full wrath of the law to visit them.
Malaysia has ample reasons to look back in anger at communism and communists. Many men and women - civilians, members of the armed forces and police force — lost their lives and limbs fighting communists.
A nation lived in fear. People just disappeared, without a trace. At other times, bodies of men and women - shot at close range - were left lying here and there. Chin Peng and his massacring men robbed people of their dignity, even in death.
Those who were fortunate enough to be some distance away from this indiscriminate slaughterers were, however, not able to lead a normal life. Fear hung like a pall across the nation. Communism didn’t just inflict physical injuries. Our nation’s psyche was hurt as well.
The government, too, had to shift much of its limited resources to defend its people and assets. This meant that much less money and other resources for the development of the country and its people. Malaysia is developed today because the communists who stopped us from growing as a nation are no longer around.
But incidents such as this and the distribution of comic books on China’s Belt and Road Initiative in schools are signs that ideology foreign to Malaysia remains a threat.
It not only gets past our borders, but also past school gates. Vigilance at the national level is called for. We must remember that we are dealing with communism by some other name.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Huzir Mohamed is right. Bringing in Chin Peng’s ashes is sure to cause disharmony among Malaysians. From veterans’ groups to academics, people are looking back in anger.
Sani Osman, president of the Malaysian Veteran Commandos Club, did not mince his words. Saying that the move was an insult to the veterans who had served in the armed forces, he issued his warning thus: ‘Do not challenge us.’
It is a mistake to think that in New Malaysia, everything is up for change. Not so fast, people. The vicious communism that was visited upon us wasn’t welcome then. It isn’t now. Nor will it be in the future. Reconciliation with the past is needed, but certainly not this covert ‘ashes’ way.
Communism is against the very grain of what is Malaysia. Let’s be clear: this isn’t a quarrel over the ashes of one who is dead. It is about what Chin Peng stood for.