Despite the objection and accusation made by Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, the new WWII monument commemorating Malayans of all ethnic communities who sacrificed their lives in the armed resistance to the Japanese invasion and occupation from 1941 to 1945, was officially unveiled at the Nilai Memorial Park last Saturday.

Leading the ceremony of dedication was Zhan Gujing, a political attach of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Malaysia.

Among the 350 people who attended were representatives of the Federation of Chinese Assembly Halls of Malaysia, Chinese Assembly Halls of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur as well as Negeri Sembilan, Dong Jiao Zong (DJZ) and veterans of the resistance movement from Malaysia, Singapore and China.

MCA, the second largest component party of Barisan Nasional, was represented by Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho.

The monument, which took four years to complete, is inscribed with words in honour of all those who perished in the 1941-1945 war of resistance in four languages, namely Malay, Chinese, English and Japanese.

Before the ceremony of dedication, part of the crowd also gathered at the Sept 1 Martyrs' Monument to salute the 18 resistance fighters who perished in the 1942 Battle of Batu Caves.

The 18 were Lee Cheen Choong @ Siow Choong, Chu Ler Kwong, See Ching Piaw, Chen Soo, Yee Hong, Cheong Kee Sang, Choong Chen Kang, Chen Fan Siong, Wen Yen, Ah Yen, Wang Kwong, Pao Loon, Siow Lin, Liew Yiew, Pang Yu, Liew San Nai, Liew Koon and Chang Kwan Foong.

'Glorifying communists'

According to an estimate cited in a memorial service by the Chinese community in Kuala Lumpur in 2003, during the Occupation, about 70,000 people of all ethnic communities were killed, while another 80,000 perished as a result of torture and imprisonment. Also, an additional 300,000 died because of malnutrition and physical exhaustion in performing forced hard labour.

In the total number of those who perished, it is estimated that 300,000 were Chinese and that figure represented 17 percent of the then entire Chinese population in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

When the anti-communist 'Emergency' was declared by the British colonial authorities in June 1948, hundreds of resistance fighters, including many who were born and raised in Malaya, were banished to China for being communists, whether real or merely suspected.

On Dec 16 last year, Zainuddin caused a massive furore, especially in the Chinese Malaysian community, by saying the monuments should be dismantled because they serve to "glorify" communists.

This was followed by Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan reportedly saying that he had instructed Nilai Memorial Park to demolish the monuments.

However, Mohamad Hassan later denied issuing such a directive.

On Dec 22, the Working Committee in Commemoration of the Malaysian Fellow men Sacrificed During The Japanese Occupation, a standing functional committee of the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall, publicly called for the sacking of Zainuddin.

It also wanted official recognition of the role and contribution of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) in the war of resistance against the Japanese invasion and occupation of Malaya.