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The articles by Tun Hanif Omar, and Noh Omar in the local English press media on Sept 11 clearly indicate that the adverse reaction to Ronnie Liu's posting on the DAP website in this matter is being taken very seriously by Malaysians. Indeed, so seriously as to warrant his being investigated under the Seditions Act.

Clearly, although Liu has conceded his lack of sophistication in the proper use of the English language, he has nonetheless genuinely created confusion, to put it bluntly, as to "who won Merdeka?"

Hanif Omar has done a great service by attempting to clarify and to deny the various arguments advanced almost "blow -by- blow". Indeed, what is even more significant is that his retort has given a 'realistic' appraisal to the extent that one gets the feeling of literally living through the events and 'happenings". In a way this is not surprising considering that as the IGP he himself lived through those times.

However with respect, this is an extremely complex period in our history that requires a deep analytical description of the many contingencies that were actually involved. In fact the framework for the intricacies surrounding the entire conflict cannot ignore the implications arising from the fact of our being under British colonial rule. In this sense it can be argued that the entire conflict can be traced to British political and economic interests being challenged by the indigenous and immigrant communities to jointly forge the building of a new independent nation.

Chin Peng himself has stated in his book " It is about time historians began exploring these areas and putting perspective - solely lacking in documentation thus far - into the record of history" ( My Side of History , pp 490-491.

In this connection, I have the honour of being commissioned a year ago, by a renowned Institute of Southeast Asian Studies to write a book covering this period. In all humility, I am trying to put this entire anti-colonial nationalist struggle into proper perspective by recognising that while there is no question that Tunku Abdul Rahman and the UMNO he led, was the architect of Merdeka, many other groups were also directly or indirectly involved.

The tentative title of the proposed book is " The Finest Hour- the Malaysian-MCP Peace Agreement ". Hopefully, at least symbolically, it will encapsulate the struggles and sacrifices of Malaysians, that ultimately led to peace in our lives, and aim at national integration. In this sense the book will be in the nature of a "Truth and Reconciliation" study.

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