PUTRAJAYA, 14 JANUARY – The death of one of the last senior members of the defunct Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), has closed another chapter in the country’s tumultuous struggles pre- and post-independence.
Abdullah C.D.- born Che Dat Anjang Abdullah on Oct 2, 1923 at Lambor Kanan in Parit, Perak – died in Sukhirin Peace Village in the Narathiwat province of southern Thailand at 9.29am Thai time (10.29am Malaysian time), on Saturday (Jan 13).
His son-in-law Indra Djaja Abdullah announced that the former CPM chairman and founder of the 10th Regiment of the Malayan National Liberation Army, was 100 years and three months old.
Together with the late CPM secretary-general Chin Peng and late central committee commander Rashid Maidin, Abdullah led a reign of terror over the peninsula for nearly half a century, as they launched their guerrilla assaults from their exiled bases along the Malaysia-Thai border.
They were initially part of the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya during World War II in 1941-1945; and then with the Malayan National Liberation Army opposing the British Malaya Administration and fighting with Commonwealth forces during the First Emergency in 1948-1960 in an attempt to establish an independent socialist state.
After the failed attempt, leading to the Independence of Malaya in 1957 and the subsequent formation of Malaysia (with Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah) in 1963, CPM recouped to launch the second wave of communist insurgency (Second Emergency in 1968-1989) against the Malaysian security forces (Armed Forces and police) to yet form a socialist state – People’s Democratic Republic of Malaya – adopting the Marxist-Leninist ideals of the Soviet Union and China.
Abdullah, Chin Peng and Rashid had earlier in 1955 attempted to negotiate peace with the British colonial government during the failed ‘Baling Talks’ in Baling, Kedah.
Decades later, Chin Peng had revealed that the ‘Baling Talks’ could have succeeded if Malaya’s chief minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-haj and his Singapore counterpart David Marshall had not demanded for CPM members to capitulate and surrender unconditionally under the British administration.
Abdullah was part of the CPM top brass – along with Chin Peng and Rashid – who finally laid their arms, leading to the Haadyai Peace Accord with the Malaysian government (and ratified by the Thai government) at the Lee Garden Hotel in the Songkhla provincial capital on Dec 2, 1989.
It was a huge relief for Malaysia’s security forces who battled the CPM for over four decades.
Nonetheless, the injuries and scars (not to mention the fatalities sustained and those maimed by booby-traps) remained, as many soldiers and policemen found it hard to forgive the atrocities of the communist insurgents who were responsible for ambushing military convoys, bombing national monuments and assassinations of marked military and police officers and political ‘enemy targets’.
News of Abdullah’s death went viral on social and mainstream media.
It also received numerous condolences from many national leaders like Parti Amanah Negara president and Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali, Pasir Gudang member of parliament Hassan Abdul Karim and Parti Sosialis Malaysia deputy chairman S. Arutchelvan.
Abdullah’s wife Suriani Abdullah (born Eng Ming Ching) since 1950, passed away at their residence in Narathiwat, Thailand in 2013, and is survived by daughter Karisma.
Abdullah had received his early education at Sekolah Melayu Parit, before attending the Tapah English School and Clifford Secondary School in Kuala Kangsar, Perak until Standard 7 (Form 1) when his studies were disrupted by World War II.
In later life, Abdullah was involved in the publication of two books: ‘The Memoirs of Abdullah C.D.’ and ‘The Movement Until 1948’; and a movie ‘Village People Radio Show’.
In one of his last public opinions upon Chin Peng’s death in 2013, Abdullah had written that they had devoted a glorious life in combat with their compatriots of all races, comrades-in-arms, relatives and friends to fight for the people’s cause and their beloved motherland.
“Nothing could replace the comradeship that has bounded us together.
“We fought to death to defend our country against foreign aggressors. Together we mustered the courage to fight against evil forces and injustices in society.
“Together we dared all our adversaries to continue bullying the weak and the oppressed. We shared the same ideals, the same political beliefs that held us together for a life time.
“We dreamt together for a better world. We showed to future generations that the road for change is long and tortuous.
“We were a bunch of people who dared to fight and dared to sacrifice for the betterment of mankind,” Abdullah wrote.
After many failed attempts to return home and gain Malaysian citizenship, Abdullah, Chin Peng and Rashid were among 500 former CPM members living in the southern Thailand provinces who were granted Thai citizenship in January 2006.
They were resettled in four Peace Villages in southern Thailand and became farmers, livestock breeders and traders. They were adapted to the new environment and assimilated into the local community.
However, news reports indicated that some 330 former CPM members, who had resettled in a Friendship Village in South Thailand known as Chulaborn Village, were allowed to return home after they agreed to fulfil the Malaysian government’s requirements including allegiance to the king and country.
Rashid, born on Oct 10, 1917 at Kampung Gunung Mesah, Gopeng in Perak died aged 88 years on Sept 1, 2006 in Si Sakhon, Narathiwat.
He published two books: ‘The Memoirs of Rashid Maidin’ and ‘From Armed Struggle to Peace’.
Chin Peng, born Ong Boon Hua in Sitiawan, Perak on Oct 21, 1924, died aged 88 years in Bangkok, Thailand on ‘Malaysia Day’ on Sept 16, 2013.
Like Abdullah and Rashid, there were many publications on Chin Peng’s exploits and life: Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History; and Dialogues with Chin Peng: New Light on the Malayan Communist Party.
There were also two documentary films on Chin Peng: ‘The Last Communist’ and ‘I Love Malaya’. – airtimes.my
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