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Veteran
unionist, writer and citizen K. George recalls the old days and asks…
My
Dear Malaysia – What Has Become Of You? Colonial
Days
I CAME to this country as a soldier along with
the 14th Army in September 1945.
The 14th Army was a mighty force committed to expel the
Japanese occupation from the countries in this region including Malaya. However, before the Army disembarked, the
Japanese surrendered and the British colonialists returned to take control of
Malaya. The
population consisted of Malays (later known as Bumiputra - the sons of
the soil), Indians (mostly poor workers from south India) and Chinese (who
came from China mostly to work in tin mines). There was also a group of aborigines who lived in seclusion in
remote villages. The
colonisers having found vast areas of forest land, decided to resort to
plantation industry. The Malays,
although very poor and down-trodden were contented with their life in
villages. They chose farming and
fishing for a living. The
British sold tens of thousands of acres of land at one dollar (now known as
ringgit) an acre to their counterparts.
Their agents went to India and recruited thousands of workers mostly
from south India. They were appointed
by the white planters as indentured workers and treated as semi-slaves,
strictly under the control of their bosses.
Their wages, working and living conditions left much to be
desired. The workers in tin mines
were mostly Chinese. The community
being rajin [hardworking] and natural risk-takers, were better off
than the Indians and the Malays.
UMNO,
MCA, MIC, CPM & IMP
There were some very interesting
developments. With the end of the
Second World War in 1945, there were persistent demands by several countries
for independence. India (which
included Pakistan), Sri Lanka, Burma and several others became independent by
1947. In
Malaya Datuk Onn bin Jaafar, a great son of Malaysia, succeeded in forming a
political party called United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which in
fact, became the national party of the Malays. Sir Tan Cheng Lok took the initiative to register the Malayan
Chinese Association, originally as an organisation to take care of the
Chinese community which was subsequently registered as a political
party. At that time, there was
already a party for the Indian community known as the Malayan Indian Congress
(MIC), initiated by John Thivy, a representative from India, originally aimed
at joining the struggle for Indian independence. Another interesting development was
the arrival of two trade union leaders, sent by the Labour Party that took
over the administration of the British government, having won the general
election in England. Mention must be
made with a sense of satisfaction that the two British Trade Union leaders
were extremely helpful in organising our workers in trade unions without
encountering any obstacles or problems, unlike the situation in Post-Merdeka. At
that time, the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) headed by Chin Peng was
already in existence. The party was
actively involved in organising workers.
In the early 1940s, when the Japanese occupied Malaya, Chin Peng and
his supporters went underground along with the British, to expel the
occupiers. In
appreciation of his service, the Communist leader was awarded OBE (Order of
the British Empire) by the British government and was invited to the Victory
Parade in the United Kingdom. He turned the award and invitation down. There
was yet another unforgettable development in our country. Datuk Onn after discussing with the
leaders of UMNO, MCA and MIC came to the conclusion that for the progress and
prosperity of Malaya, it was desirable to have a multi-racial political
party. It was agreeable to all of them. He then called for an inaugural meeting
which was held in Kuala Lumpur in 1951.
I was personally present and registered my name in support of the
Independence of Malaya Party (IMP). All those present
gave their full support except one person, Tunku Abdul Rahman who was the
Vice President of UMNO. Tunku
however, agreed on the dual membership for UMNO members but again he changed
his mind and announced that any UMNO member who joined IMP would be expelled
from UMNO. It still puzzles me as to
why the Tunku deviated from his undertaking.
A few months later there was local council elections. Shockingly UMNO and MCA formed an alliance
to contest the local council election.
It was the death-knell to IMP.
It was indeed an unforgettable set-back to the nation. The British government
indicated that they were prepared to give independence to Malaya on condition
that all the three communities must join together to receive it. So, the MIC sneaked into the Alliance. Granting
of Merdeka
Having taken into consideration the political
changes that have been taking place in many countries, the communist parties
of various countries held a conference in February 1948 in Calcutta and
resolved that the parties in non-independent countries would demand
independence from the colonialists. The CPM submitted
its demand for independence for Malaya but the British government was not
prepared. For the Tunku was not
happy. Consequently, CPM went
underground and started guerilla warfare.
The Malaysian government declared a state of emergency. Finally independence was granted to the
Alliance and thus Malaya became independent on 31stAugust 1957. Post
Merdeka
There was a general election in 1959. The Alliance headed by the Tunku won the
election and formed the government, dominated by UMNO. There was a union
called the Factory and General Workers Union, headed by Dr. V. David, a
prominent and committed leader. The
UMNO led government disliked “General Unions”. The government enacted the Internal Security Act 1960 and then
arrested David under the ISA and subsequently abolished general unions. So when David was released after a couple
of months, his union had ceased to exist.
David was already a Member of Parliament along with a number of
opposition leaders. David
joined the Transport Workers Unions.
He started to spread his wings and was an able and popular union
leader nationally and internationally. Mahathir,
Labour & Gerakan
In the 1960s, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad became a
member of UMNO. He published a book –
“The Malay Dilemma” – criticising the Alliance government for not taking care
of the Malays. The book was banned
and Mahathir was expelled from UMNO. The
Labour Party which formed the Socialist Front, participated in the first post
Merdeka election and won a number of seats in the Parliament and state
assemblies. The government clamped
down and deregistered the Labour Party for reasons best known to
themselves. A number of leaders
including Dr. Tan Chee Khoon, V. David and many others decided to form
another party known as Party Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia. I was invited to participate. I, in return, accepted the
invitation. Gerakan was a
multi-racial party and was well-received by all the races. The Gerakan not only won a number of seats
but also captured the State of Penang
in the 1969 General Election which remains so even till today. In 1963, Sabah and Sarawak joined
Malaya. As a result Malaya became
Malaysia. At
the May 1969 General Elections, UMNO did not fare as well as in the past
elections. Suddenly on May 13 there
were racial riots. It is a tragedy
that remains vivid in my memory. The
government declared National Operation Council, headed by Abdul Razak. Tunku
Abdul Rahman was appointed Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic
Conference (OIC). Razak invited
Mahathir to rejoin UMNO. In 1974,
Mahathir became the Minister of Education.
Razak died in 1976 and Tun Hussein Onn became the third PM and
Mahathir became the DPM. In
1981, Hussein resigned and Mahathir took over as the fourth PM. New/National
Economic Policy
In 1970, the Alliance became a Coalition of 14
parties. Having found that the
economic equity of the Malays and the Bumiputras needed improvement, the
Razak government decide to introduce the New Economic Policy (NEP) aimed at
attaining 30% equity within 20 years beginning 1970. However, after 23 years, NEP was re-named
National Economic Policy. A survey made by the
government found that the equity has only reached 19%. Hardly anybody, especially economic
analysts could believe it. Asli,
an independent non-government organisation, disclosed that according to its
analysis the equity has reached 45%.
However, they underlined that the poor and downtrodden Malays still
remain poor. Prime Minister, Abdullah
vehemently rejected the Asli report. The Director of Asli
maintained that his analysis is absolutely correct because Asli has to ensure
that its integrity is upheld. Now
Abdullah says the NEP will continue (indefinitely). The
Indians
The Indians equity was estimated at 1% in 1970
and has now come down to 0.8%! A
survey of the suicide rates in our country made about 6 months ago revealed
that the rate amongst the Indians was the highest along with the number of
crimes committed by them. This has taken place
alongside repeated appeals for the economic policy of a country to be aimed
at a just and equitable distribution of wealth, irrespective of race and
religion. The
Mahathir Era
Datuk Seri [now Tun] Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
became the fourth Prime Minister in July 1981, following the resignation of Tun
Hussein Onn on medical grounds. He
called upon the people to be “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah” [Clean,
Efficient and Trustworthy]. “Look
East” was his economic policy to emulate the Japanese work ethic. Before embarking on privatisation, Dr.
Mahathir, fondly known as Dr. M, assured the nation open tender and
transparency. In the 1987 General
Assembly of UMNO, Mahathir almost lost the Presidentship of UMNO to Tengku
Razaleigh Hamzah. When Anwar Ibrahim,
who treated Mahathir as his ‘father’ came to know of it, he volunteered to
give up his UMNO Youth leadership, if anyone could reverse the
situation. Najib Razak, who had
promised the 43 votes in four of the UMNO divisions in Pahang to Razaleigh,
who had been his mentor, changed his decision. When the election result was
announced the next day, Mahathir won
the contest by 43 votes. Later on Najib
became the Youth leader without a contest and the Deputy Prime Minister - a
private agreement Abdullah unwillingly reached with Mahathir so as to enable
him to become the PM. Mahathir
decided once and for all that nobody was going to challenge him. He managed to get a court decision to
nullify UMNO, the dominant ruling party.
Then within days, UMNO Baru was registered. One of the clauses stated that to be a candidate of UMNO
Presidentship, one must be nominated by 30% of the divisions. UMNO Baru was closed to the Tunku, Tun
Hussein Onn, Razaleigh and several other Malay leaders. In
1988, Mahathir, managed to get the Lord President Tun Salleh Abbas and two
senior judges dismissed, which frightened judiciary. He
went on spending the nation’s wealth on prestigious mega-projects. Cronyism, nepotism, favouritism and bail
out were rampant in the 80s and 90s.
Corruption became endemic. In
1987, 106 citizens were detained under the ISA in one go. Later on many others followed. All this instilled fear in the people. Mahathir resigned on
30th October 2003. Enter
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the fifth PM. We, the people thought that a great man has taken over the
leadership of the nation as we gave him a massive mandate. We were “feeling
good”.
But not many are “feeling good” today. If you have comments Click Here |
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