No matter how they are vilified in Malaysia, former communist soldiers living in Thailand continue to celebrate the Haadyai Agreement, which led to them laying down arms in honour of peace.

The celebration to commemorate the peace agreement, signed by Malaysia, Thailand and the now-defunct Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), which has now entered its 25th year, was signed on Dec 2, 1989.

In an interview with Malaysiakini , former CPM chief Abdullah CD ( left in photo ) said his side will always stay true to the Haadyai Agreement, even though the Malaysian government has failed to respect some items in the document.

Abdullah said Thailand, the other party in the deal, has shown its sincerity in fulfilling its promises.

The former soldiers have been living in four friendship villages in Southern Thailand with the aid of the Thai government since then.

“Although Malaysia has helped to return some of our soldiers to their homeland, we regret that the Malaysian government is still at war with us,” said Abdullah, 91.

“The Malaysian government’s attitude towards the late Chin Peng shows they are still battling with CPM,” he added.

“Most days, the government repeats its propaganda against us, in newspapers, and over television and radio, as it did during the war,” Abdullah lamented.

Chin Peng ( left ), the former CPM secretary-general, died in Bangkok on Sept 16 last year and his ashes were banned from being returned for burial in Malaysia.

Abdullah claimed that in violation of the Haadyai Agreement, three of CPM’s former soldiers had failed to obtain Malaysian identity cards, while all those who opted to live in Thailand have already got their citizenship.

Although the agreement allowed the return of the former soldiers and for the setting-up of a political party, top communist leaders were not allowed to return.

Before his death, Chin Peng had challenged the Malaysian government ban on his return, but failed to obtain a favourable outcome.

Abdullah is still healthy, although he suffers a speech problem, as a result of being poisoned by an “agent” (enemy) who infiltrated the regiment.

His message was relayed by his assistant and former soldier Yaacob Ibrahim.

Probe on organisers of a dinner

Recently, Penang police have been investigating the organisers of a Nov 29 dinner in Butterworth to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Haadyai Agreement.

Communism is banned in Malaysia and so far, 25 police reports have been lodged against this event.

Yaacob said the former soldiers were indeed very happy to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the agreement, and they did so with much fanfare at a hotel in Haadyai.

He said CPM felt the agreement was the best way to resolve the conflict among the three parties in a long-drawn-out war lasting three decades.

“I still remember when Chin Peng visited our village (10th Regiment) several days after the agreement. He said, “Who is the winner in this deal? Three parties won, and so did the rakyat,” Yaacob, 51, recalled.

“We truly hope that the Malaysian government will honour this agreement and stop the propaganda against us,” he added.

Karimas, Abdullah’s daughter, also a former soldier, said if the celebrations were held in the kampung, it would have been very grand.

The party in Haadyai was humble as the organisers grappled with lack of funds due to the ever-rising cost of things, she added.

“But during the celebration, we got our children to be involved. They sang and danced, and several former soldiers sang nasyid (Muslim religious) songs,” she said.

“We could not do much as the journey from our village to Haadyai take many hours. If we were to celebrate at our place, there would have been more programmes,” added Karimas, who previously worked as a broadcaster with Radio Suara Revolusi Malaya.

"When we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the 10th Regiment last year, many friends happily went up on stage and performed all kinds of acts, like singing, dancing, short sketches, and poetry reading,” she said.