Baru backs memorial on wartime Japanese surrender

 

Baru Bian, assemblyman for Ba Kelalan, said the memorial would have special meaning to the people of his constituency.

PETALING JAYA: 

Former federal minister Baru Bian has backed a proposal for a memorial to mark the World War II surrender of renegade Japanese soldiers at Long Langai, Sarawak.

He said it would help raise awareness of an overlooked chapter in Malaysian history, Dayak Daily reported.

The surrender at Long Langai on Oct 31, 1945, was noteworthy as it represented one of the last recorded surrenders of Japanese troops during World War II, he said.

Baru, who is assemblyman for Ba Kelalan, said the event had been left out of history books.

The memorial would hold deep meaning for the people of Ba’ Kelalan, he said, particularly as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the surrender.

He suggested that a reenactment be held during a planned commemoration of the surrender, which would provide visitors with a deeper understanding of its historical significance and cement its place as an important landmark in Malaysia’s history.

Baru is the second former federal minister to back the proposed memorial.

Leo Moggie.

Yesterday, former Sarawak Native People’s Party president Leo Moggie said the proposed memorial would also serve to commemorate the role of the local Border Scouts during the 1963-1966 Confrontation.

He said the Long Langai surrender, which came three months after Japan’s surrender to Allied forces, was of renegade Japanese soldiers who moved into the interior and continued to harass the local population, The Borneo Post reported.

“The renegade Japanese soldiers were paraded on the Long Langai field, and laid down their weapons to the locals on Oct 31, 1945,” Moggie said. - FMT