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Anti-Japanese fighters and CPM not the same

I am not here to glorify the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), but to speak the truth. It is a proven fact that the CPM had threatened the security of the country by involving themselves in killing, arson, kidnappings, and organising strikes and demonstrations. They had also infiltrated themselves into political organisations and schools to carry out anti-establishment activities.

 

However, there should be a delineation between the Malayan people fighting against the Japanese military during the Japanese occupation and the CPM. It is not appropriate to generalise people fighting against the Japanese military during the Japanese occupation as members or supporters of CPM.

 

I wish to make this comment in order to clear up the misunderstanding that those involved in fighting against the Japanese military during the Japanese occupation were terrorists because of their association with the CPM.

 

In the first place we must ask why did those people fight against the Japanese military during World War II. Very clearly they wanted to protect their homeland  from being destroyed by the Japanese soldiers who had committed crimes like burning of civilian houses, shops, and places of worship including mosque and shrines. These soldiers also had forced local young women to become comfort women.

 

So those who fought against the Japanese should be highly saluted for volunteerism and their willingness to defend the country .

 

The next question is why did they cooperate with the CPM in their fight against the Japanese soldiers? Because the British government did not have enough manpower to train the volunteers to fight, therefore they had agreed to let the CPM, which was more experienced, train local volunteers. The British colonial government had also supported them with weapons and ammunition.

 

Most of those who fought against Japanese military returned to normal life and some had became businessmen, while there are also others who became teachers and civil servants.

 

Not only commoners were involve in the fight against the Japanese military, prominent figures like Lim Chong Eu and Abdul Razak Hussein were also among others who were involved in the fight against the Japanese military during World War II.

 

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