Mistaking history for threat

 The government’s decision to ban the book on Shamsiah Fakeh is a denial of the place communism has in our story — for good or bad.

Many Malaysian Chinese have close family ties in China — uncles or aunts, cousins and, quite possibly, even siblings.

But that does not necessarily mean that they harbour communist ideals.

I know of a family whose eldest son returned to China to support the communist cause when Mao Zedong was leading the campaign to unseat the nationalist government of Chiang Khai Shek.

A younger son joined the Malayan Communist Party (CPM) and disappeared into the jungle, never to be seen again.

But the remaining five brothers were happy to build a life in then Malaya. While they never publicly voiced anti-communist sentiments, they were not anti-national either.

They supported the government of the day, and apart from the daily toil of providing for their families, they joined other Malayans in the quest to build a new nation.

Propaganda outlining the CPM cause for Malaya could not sway them, the same way family ties failed.

Similarly, allowing the continued circulation of the books on CPM members Shamsiah Fakeh and L Ramasamy is not about to turn hordes of Malaysians into communists. Not even those who have relatives in China.

The books had been freely sold and read for more than two decades since their publication.

Has it turned large numbers of young Malaysians into cadres of Red Guards out to dismantle a system that we have happily lived with for almost 70 years, never mind its many inadequacies? The answer is there for all to see.

Ascribing such a threat, if ever one exists in the first place, to some literature recounting events in an era when conditions were entirely different is downright absurd.

In contrast, Germany has chosen to accept an outrageous chapter in its history and to learn from it.

The Mein Kampf, Hitler’s book that laid the foundation for his Nazi ideology and outlined his antisemitism campaign, remains in circulation in Germany today. An annotated version is now being used for educational purposes at schools and universities.

Unlike the Germans, we have chosen to keep our people ignorant of a similarly “unacceptable” part of our history. Our excuse?

A threat to national security. Intention to promote and legitimise communist beliefs. How preposterous.

We are too sophisticated for that.

It looks more like a ploy to distract us from more serious problems, such as job losses, racist attitudes, or increases in the prices of food, essential items and diesel as a result of the Mideast conflict.

The fear of communist ideology spreading among the citizenry today is more a figment of the imagination of those in power than a clear and present danger.

Let’s face it. China now plays a big part in our development and economy. In 2024, the world’s second largest economy invested more than RM30 billion in Malaysia.

Chinese resources are driving our big projects. The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) is built by the Chinese, and its cost underwritten with loans from Chinese banks.

In 2024 as well, Malaysia welcomed 3.7 million visitors from China, making the country one of our largest markets for tourism.

Visa exemption for Chinese travellers has accounted for the increase.

But in our zeal to earn the Chinese yuan, did we forget that they are, after all, communists? Do we not fear that among those who visit or come here to work on our projects, some may be secretly spreading communist ideology and that some of our young ones may warm up to those values?

Like it or not, the communist movement is very much a part of our history, albeit on the wrong side. Banning books is not going to erase that.

In any case material on communism, including Mao’s Little Red Book, is now freely available online.

Shamsiah Fakeh, along with Chin Peng, Abdullah CD, Lai Teck, Rashid Maidin and many others aspired to the communist ideology, played a major role in the campaign to oust the Japanese from Malaya, only to be outlawed when the occupation ended.

Erasing them from our history books will not change the fact that they had a big role in our infancy if not post-Merdeka growth and development.

A deeper understanding of that part of our history will not turn Malaysia red. On the other hand, accepting it will serve to enrich us. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.