Although Malayan history as told by Chin Peng in his memoirs is thrilling, extraordinary and highly factual, it may still be a problem to understand without a clear timeline of the period.

In the third and final part of the series based on his just-released account, 'My Side of History' (Singapore, Media Masters, September 2003), I attempt to draw the timeline needed to appreciate his story.

The memoirs, as authors Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor point out, is not about the history of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) that was officially founded in April 1930. Chin Peng only joined CPM in 1939 and became its 11 th secretary-general in 1947.

Chin Peng reveals that he met Ho Chih Minh in North Vietnam and was told that he (Ho) had attended the inaugural meeting of CPM.

Although Ho ( photo ) could not remember the exact date, he "recalled seeing red banners fluttering in the streets after he emerged from the meeting", suggesting that it was possibly May 1 or a few days before. (p 57)

For a detailed study of the origins and formation of the CPM from 1919 to 1941, Singaporean historian CF Yong's 'The Origins of Malayan Communism' (Singapore, South Seas Society, 1997) appears to be the best available currently.

Personal journey

Born in 1924 in Sitiawan, a town in western Perak, Chin Peng took an interest in politics in the 1930s, the decade of the global Great Depression and the rise of Japanese militarism in Northeast Asia.

He, like so many contemporaries and elders at that time, was particularly radicalised by Japanese aggression in China and the rise of European fascism.

Chin Peng relates his personal journey as he grew from an energetic boy and bookworm to a card-carrying member of CPM. (pp 29-56)

Incidentally, his description of the socio-economic landscape and political atmosphere of his hometown would be of interest to those who want to know what pre-war Malayan society was like.

At the time, CPM was still an illegal organisation proscribed by the colonial authorities. Many Malayan communists were detained or banished. However, the relationship between CPM and the colonial authorities was soon to change from opponents to allies.

Other books that may be helpful for a greater understanding of that period of political upheaval in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore are Ban Kah Choon's 'Absent History - The Untold Story of Special Branch Operations in Singapore', 1915-1942 (Singapore, Horizon, 2002); and Ban Kah Choon and Yap Hong Kuan's 'Rehearsal for War - The Underground War Against the Japanese' (Singapore, Horizon, 2002)

Ong Chit Chung's 'Operation Matador' (Singapore, Times Academic Press, 2001) also critically examines British preparations and planning for the war against Japanese expansion in the 1930s.

After the surprise and devastating attack on Pearl Harbour on Dec 7, 1941, the Japanese landed along the northeast coast of Peninsular Malaya and begin to invade the British colony with strategic speed and tactical surprise.

The British, Australian, Indian and Gurkha troops retreated like falling dominos towards Singapore.

Peter Elphick's 'Singapore - The Pregnable Fortress: A Study in Deception, Discord and Desertion' (London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995) vividly and factually reconstructs the Malayan Campaign, and re-examines the causes of the greatest military defeat in the history of the British Empire.

Allied backing

In Chapter 4, Chin Peng relates his perception of international situations, even as he fell in love with future wife Lee Khoon Wah.

He recalls his personal experiences in and around Ipoh, at a time when the Japanese had already destroyed the northern air defence of the British Malayan Command and had speedily advanced southwards.

Singapore fell on Feb 15, 1942. In 1943, the Southeast Asian Command of the Allied Forces under Admiral Lord Louise Mountbatten contacted CPM.

They wanted CPM and MPAJA to assist in a counter-invasion to re-occupy Peninsular Malaya. An agreement was reached between CPM and the British in mid-December to co-operate in fighting the Japanese.

CPM leaders and members were released from political detention, then trained and armed by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The Malayan communists formed the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).

Chin Peng says the first detachment of MPAJA was formed in Serendah, Malacca, on Jan 10, 1942. (p 67).

Surviving photographs of MPAJA suggest that they were armed with US-made M1 Carbine (1938 model) among other weapons. Theirs was to be a heroic and intriguing war of resistance that was fought until Aug 15, 1945.

Semi-legal status

Chapters 9 and 10 give an account of the post-war period and explains why CPM, which commanded a relatively huge number of armed personnel, did not seize power when a political vacuum was created after the Japanese surrendered and before the British returned.

It also clarifies that many racial riots between Malays and Chinese during that confusing period were not the work of CPM or MPAJA as alleged in anti-communist propaganda, but were caused by bandits, common criminals and followers of various cults.

Interestingly, Chin Peng also recalls that many defeated Japanese troops refused to accept surrender and offered CPM a new united front to fight the returning British. Only some sections of the party accepted the offer.

From Aug 15, 1946 to June 1948, CPM operated openly and semi-legally as a proud victor of the war of resistance. It was during that period that the British decorated Chin Peng and other CPM/MPAJA leaders like Liew Yao and Deng Fuk Lung with military awards.

In 1946, a contingent of MPAJA commanders was even invited to London to join the Victory Parade. They included Chou Yang Pin, Chen Tien, Wang Ching, Sun Wen Chin, Liao Wei Chung, Liew Yao and Deng Fuk Lungm who camped out in Kensington Gardens prior to the event.

The British authorities tolerated CPM until the Cold War began in March 1947.

'Anti-colonial war'

The same year, CPM received a body blow to its internal workings when the 10 th secretary-general Lai Te ( photo ) - the wartime paramount leader - was exposed as a triple agent.

It appeared that he had worked for the British police Special Branch before the war and for the Japanese military intelligence during the occupation - in effect, he sold out both the British and his fellow-communists.

After the war, he reverted to being a British spy working within CPM. The British seemed not to mind his betrayal of the Allied cause during the Japanese Occupation.

Thai communists killed him in Bangkok after he absconded with party funds and escaped from Malaya.

Chin Peng recalls the psychologically tortuous process of exposing and "eliminating" Lai Te, whom many had admired and respected as the 'Lenin of Malaya'. (pp 167-194)

As the next secretary-general, Chin Peng led the Malayan communists and former MPAJA members to take up arms again from June 1948, to begin what they called " the anti-colonial war". The British colonial authorities, however, called it the 'Emergency'.

In Chapters 13 and 14, Chin Peng tell why the "anti-colonial war" began and who should bear the moral and political responsibility for this. It lasted until 1960.

Chapters 15 to 20 detail the "anti-colonial war", including the military offensive, guerilla warfare, assassinations and British atrocities against civilians.

According to Chin Peng, it was a war. However, the British decided to dub it the 'Emergency' for the purposes of monetary and international insurance claims.

Failed peace talks

In December 1955, Tunku Abdul Rahman - who was then negotiating with London for Malayan independence - accepted CPM's offer to hold peace talks in Baling, Kedah.

They met over two days, but the talks failed because the Tunku could not agree to the terms set by CPM, especially for the party to be made legal. In Chapters 21 to 23, Chin Peng ( photo ) recalls that the process was as intriguing as the war of resistance.

British liberal historian Anthony Short's 'In Pursuit of Mountain Rats - The Communist Insurrection in Malaya' (Singapore, Cultured Lotus, 2000; first published in 1975) makes good supplementary reading on the 'Emergency'.

Although an establishment historian, Short shares Chin Peng's concern over the Batang Kali Massacre, in which the British were aggressors.

In the preface to the second reprint of his book (2000), Short writes: "Many issues, events and assessments are still in dispute. One, which is still to be resolved and which has not gone away, is how and why 25 unarmed men were shot dead at Batang Kali in December 1948. Not perhaps, the most important question of the Emergency, but one which still deserves an answer".

After Baling, CPM and Chin Peng resumed their armed struggle, but their cause was diminished by Malaya's first general election in 1955 and independence on Aug 31, 1957. Chin Peng then went off to China to set up his high political command.

Khong Kim Hoong's 'Merdeka! British Rule and the Struggle for Independence of Malaya' 1945-1957 (Kuala Lumpur, SIRD, 2003; Insan, 1984) details the political dynamics that involved CPM up to Aug 31, 1957.

Homecoming thwarted

Chapter 28 is special because it relates CPM's power struggles that led to the party splitting into three factions - Chin Peng's Central Faction, CPM (Marxist-Leninist) and CPM (Revolutionary). Purges were reported.

CPM began to decline in the late 1970s and early 1980s when China adopted a realistic approach to international relations and co-operated with the Anglo-American defence alliance and with Asean.

This was to check and balance what they commonly perceived as the Soviet threat of global expansionism. In 1974, the Malaysian government also established diplomatic relations with China.

The stage was thus set for feelers to be sent out for peace. Chapters 29 to 31 outline the process that led to the signing of the peace agreement between CPM and the Malaysian government.

CPM agreed to end its armed struggle and political activities and to pledge loyalty to Malaysia and its constitutional monarchy. In return, the government undertook to allow Chin Peng and other leaders and members of CPM to return to settle in Malaysia.

However, Chin Peng later complains that the Malaysian government did not fulfill certain parts of the agreement. So, he and some CPM leaders and members have been unable to return to Malaysia.

Chin Peng, now 79, says he dreams of coming home to pay his respects to his deceased parents and ancestors who are buried in Malaysia.

After all, he had fought against British coloniaslism and Japanese militarism for the independence of this country, and has paid a heavy price for a struggle that consumed the best years of his life.

JAMES WONG WING ON is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM). Wong is a former member of Parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily (now Sin Chew Daily ). He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew , he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.