A Vietnamese rights activist has called on the Malaysian government to preserve the Vietnamese Boat People Memorial in Pulau Bidong, Terengganu.

Vo Van Ai, president of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, urged Malaysia today not to tear down the memorial set up by former Vietnamese boat people on the island.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar had directed the state government to demolish the memorial on the request of the Vietnamese government, the Star reported.

A local travel and tour company erected the marble memorial in March on the request of 142 former refugees now resettled in the United States and Australia. The group had visited the island that month.

"In commemoration of the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people who perished on the way to freedom (1975-1996). Though they died of hunger or thirst, of being raped, of exhaustion or of any other cause, we pray that they may now enjoy lasting peace. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten," inscribed the memorial.

According to Vo, the Malaysian government has directed that the memorial be demolished following complaints from their Vietnamese counterparts.

Wrote to PM

Vo has also written to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi not to tear down the memorial which commemorates the boat people who died fleeing their homeland in makeshift boats after the communist victory in Vietnam in 1975.

A quarter of a million Vietnamese passed through the refugee camp in Pulau Bidong between 1975 and 1991.

The activist explained that it is "not a political memorial," but an expression of gratitude by former boat people to the Malaysian government and the Malaysian Red Crescent Society who assisted them in their hour of need.

"This monument is part of the Vietnamese people's memory. What happened in our history must be recorded and Vietnam must come to terms with this," read Vo's letter to Abdullah.

"Hanoi should not use diplomatic pressure to try to erase the people's memory by destroying this memorial," the letter said.