Anti-Chin Peng noise: Umno polls a cause?

Political analysts say the impending Umno polls is one of the reasons why Chin Peng's ashes is barred from being brought to Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA: While debates surrounding the government’s barring of Chin Peng’s remains from being brought home continued, political analysts attributed the looming Umno polls as one reason behind the government’s harsh response.

Center for Policy Initiatives chief executive officer Lim Teck Ghee and Merdeka Centre executive director Ibrahim Suffian concurred that Umno polls on Oct 19 had influenced the government’s decision to prevent the return of former Communist Party of Malaya leader’s remains to his homeland.

They also pointed out that the anti-communist sentiment had traditionally been inculcated in Umno, and that Umno wanted the public to subscribe to that value.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was quick to announce a blanket ban on the return of Chin Peng’s remains to Malaysian soil when he died on Sept 16, with Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin joining the pack in demonising the deceased communist leader later in the day.

Lim said the ban was as a result of Umno leaders and supporters imposing their will on the government, and that Zahid’s statement that the government would not allow any group to glorify Chin Peng as an independence fighter was simply political bluster, ahead of the Umno general assembly.

“Both Zahid and Najib have to be extra vocal and play the Malay card as much as possible to ensure that they do not lose out in the coming Umno general assembly.

“Had Chin Peng died in the run up to the last election, they may have considered the impact on Chinese voters and could have softened the tone,” he told FMT.

Lim, however, said Umno would have refused “at all times” the request of allowing Chin Peng’s remains to return because it was part of Umno’s political ideology to view CPM and its members “in the worst possible light.”

Lim said this was despite many historians – local and foreign – having acknowledged Chin Peng as a true independence fighter who went against the British and Japanese.

‘Don’t want public to remember Chin Peng’

When asked about Najib’s remarks that Chin Peng’s contributions have been undone by his subsequent violent acts, Lim said there was no evidence to support the allegation.

“There is no evidence that he was personally responsible for any killings. The CPM has justified that its recourse to an armed struggle was one forced upon it by the British colonial government’s refusal to negotiate for an independent Malaya,” he said.

Touching on the matter,  Ibrahim agreed that Umno polls played a part in the government’s harsh response but also said that  it was not the sole reason why the government barred the return of Chin Peng’s remains indefinitely.

“I don’t think folks in the current government, which is the same government that fought the communist, would want anything, either in the form of memorial or shrine, to remind the people about Chin Peng and what they (the government) believed he stood for,” he said.

Although Chin Peng was a figure in Malaysian history, Ibrahim said that the communist leader had led an insurrection that cost lives and led to the imposition of restrictions on civil liberties, some of which lasted until today.

“It’s an undeniable fact that the thousands of people including the security forces lost their lives. It’s not easy to overcome such emotions,” he said.

Chin Peng died in exile in a hospital in Bangkok on Monday. A funeral wake for him began yesterday at a temple in the city.

Meanwhile, Gerakan acting president Chang Ko Youn said while some may find Chin Peng’s violent acts committed in the past “unforgettable”, they should allow Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought back home

“What he did is unforgettable but forgivable on humanitarian ground.

“Just let his to body to be buried here. This is his ancestor’s home,” he told a media conference today.

MCA national organising deputy Secretary, Heng Seai Kie urged the government to review its decision on Chin Peng based on humanitarian grounds.

“It will be a sign of forgiveness and goodwill to his family, as well as a sign of compassion in fulfilling the last wishes of an old man,” said the former deputy minister in a press statement.