Avoiding a second defeat at Bukit Kepong

Remarks made about Bukit Kepong by PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu in the heat of a ceramah have turned into a debate about the nation's historical narrative.

All countries, in the tradition of the western nation state, have some mythical origins. More importantly, there are key events that reinforce national identity. This can take the form of a revolution, which in the US is called the 'War of Independence'. In France, the national credo of 'liberty, equality and fraternity' was forged during the French Revolution.

England, an example that is most relevant to Malaysians as some of us have become owners of prime real estate there, has several key moments making up its historical narrative. Shrouded in myth and magic are the Arthurian legends including such famous landmarks as Camelot (not to be confused with a bungalow in KL), and personalities like King Arthur, his wife Lady Guinevere, Sir Lancelot and the sorcerer Merlin.

In more modern history, the Norman conquests and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 were other pivotal moments. Of course, there was also the Magna Carta, signed in Runnymeade (not to be confused with the hotel in Penang that became an army base) and more recently, Britain's Guy Fawkes Day, celebrated with bonfires to commemorate a thwarted gunpowder plot to blow up the British cabinet.

Fawkes, a traitor who was tried and hanged for attempted regicide, has become, through the movie 'V for Vendetta', a counter-culture icon. Most recently, his 'followers' disabled Malaysian government websites in a spade of anti-government attacks worldwide.

A nation's historical narrative is important because it gives cohesiveness to a group of complete strangers sharing a geographic location called a country. Like the Ringgit, national narratives create a sense of belonging.

The intense feeling of loyalty to one's country is called patriotism whilst the ideology that gives ballast to patriotism is called nationalism. Both are vital to the ruling class, for it guarantees obedience and blind loyalty. The latter is most important as it can mobilise thousands of men (mostly) and women to extraordinary feats, mostly involving them defending the nation against 'enemies' through acts of self-sacrifice.

A nation is ironically strongest when it is under direct physical threats and citizens can be convinced to kill others or commit mass suicide. But during peaceful times, which usually last longer than wartime, the ruling elite may have to create internal threats to gain enough cohesiveness to rule effectively.

This is bolstered by pageants and parades: note the lack of one on Aug 31 this year, which will be replaced by one on Malaysia Day, Sept 16.

So how does the Mat Sabu (left)statement help bolster national cohesiveness? Well, the answer is that it does not and it is not helpful at all to the ruling elite. In fact, by alluding to the reality that there was Malay participation in the anti-British insurrection dubbed the Emergency (1948-60), Mat Sabu has already exploded the first myth about the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).

It was or at least can be read as an anti-colonial upraising, which contradicts the Hussien Onn-era film adaptation of the incident where the attackers were led by slit-eyed savages.

If it is true that the attack was led by Mat Indera then the 'enemy from within' theory which claims that one ethnic group is trying to dominate the country through communism and armed struggle becomes untenable. In fact, the Emergency can be read as a class war.

Finally, it helps throw light on the complex situation that motivated people to take up arms on the side of the colonial government as well as against it. There were those from privileged backgrounds who took up arms because they wanted to prevent the perpetuation of the colonial-immigrant economic policies after Independence.

Source of distraction

However, the real question is why Umno is so incensed and shaken by remarks by a non-historian and a well-known sensationalist?

Some have suggested that since Mat Sabu is now PAS Number Two, he must get use to having his statements taken seriously. Others suggest that what he said was an insult to the servicemen who died in Bukit Kepong defending King and Country (or Queen and Country, as the reigning monarch then was Queen Elizabeth II and Malaya was still part of the British Empire).

Others have said that only historians have a right to give interpret the past. Whatever the reason, the stage is set for a debate between Mat Sabu and Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin (right). It will be another political side-show that will serve to distract us from the real issues that threaten our very existence as a nation.

Coming back to the key question - why the ruling elite is incensed - the answer is that one of its key moments in history, in the national narrative, Bukit Kepong risks being lost to Mat Sabu's version of the incident.

The police officers were brave and did their duty by defending the police station. After all, they were loyal subjects of the Sultan of Johor and the Queen of England, the overlord of Malaya. But there were other Malayans who disagreed with them. Would we fault, say, Tok Janggut for rising up against the Malay officers who attempted to extract what we now consider unjust taxes from Malay peasants in Kelantan?

For those who have tried to demonise the CPM, remember the words of Tunku Abdul Rahman, who said very clearly that it was the CPM that pushed the British out faster than our colonial masters would have wished.

Being closer to the reality on the ground, the Tunku, with an eye to a much-needed national reconciliation and nation-building, decided to take a conciliatory path with all Malayans even if some of them had taken up arms and killed their brothers.

But our founding fathers knew of the real dangers that lurked in the form of corruption and Machiavellian methods to achieve power. Those who indulge in corruption with public money, for example, are committing economic sabotage.

If it is true that, foreigners are now being given citizenship in order to help alter election results, then those responsible have committed a treasonous act much worse than the CPM's armed struggle or Mat Indera's rebellion against the British.

But because these crimes are happening without as much drama as the Bukit Kepong attack, they are often not considered heinous crimes. Perhaps the time will soon come when we will be able to build a case and prosecute these real traitors.

NEIL KHOR completed his PhD at Cambridge University and now writes occasionally on matters that he thinks requires better historical treatment. He is quietly optimistic about Malaysia's future.