And the facts are...

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak says that we must not change historical facts. And one ‘historical fact’ is that UMNO fought for Merdeka. Well, let us go through this very brief history lesson about the fight for Merdeka and see what happened in the early years and how Merdeka for Malaya was eventually granted.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

PM: Don't change historical facts

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has reminded the people not to change historical facts or to glorify the communist terrorists.

He said the communist terrorists in the past era were certainly cruel and the people were in their grips as their ideology did not favour the people. They were anti-religion and despotic, he said.

"That was why we opposed the communists at that time because they were behaving cruelly in this country," he said at the Malaysia Aidilfitri-Merdeka 2011 open house on Sunday.

Najib said the communists at that time were different from the present communism because in the past, the communists did not give the people the right to be wealthy.

"The present communism is different from the past. Previously, they wanted to control the country and spread the ideology which did not give the people their rights.

"We are friendly with communist countries now because they have discarded their old ideology," he said.

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In 1915, Tan Cheng Lock launched the Straits Chinese British Association (SCBA) with him as the President. In 1923, Cheng Lock was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements. In 1926, Cheng Lock made history by delivering a speech to the Council about the ideals of a territorially and politically united Malaya.

After WWII, Cheng Lock, who spent the war years in India, returned to Malaya and in 1949 launched the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) together with Tun Leong Yew Koh and Colonel H. S. Lee.

Under Cheng Lock, MCA engaged with senior Malay leaders from Umno (which was formed earlier in 1946) such as Datuk Onn Jaafar and Tunku Abdul Rahman. Cheng Lock also joined the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) and became its Chairman.

Many informal meetings were held between Onn Jaafar, Cheng Lock, and E.E.C. Thuraisingham (who represented the Indians), which resulted in the formation of the Communities Liaison Committee (CLC).

The CLC became the platform for hammering out proposals and compromises on a number of issues that included citizenship, education, democracy, and in resolving the deadlock on Ketuanan Melayu.

It was eventually decided that an ‘agreement’ would be forged between the Malays and non-Malays. In return for giving up Ketuanan Melayu (the Malays' special position), the Malays would receive assistance from the non-Malays in closing the economic gap between the impoverished and overwhelmingly rural Malays with the substantially better off and urban non-Malays.

Thuraisingham later said, "It is true. I and others believed that the backward Malays should be given a better deal. Malays should be assisted to attain parity with non-Malays to forge a united Malayan Nation of equals."

In 1946, the British tried to implement the Malayan Union. That was when and the reason why UMNO was formed, to oppose the Malayan Union.

That same year, the Malayan Democratic Union (MDU) sponsored a meeting in Singapore to “provide the machinery for the various communities, through their organisations and associations, to reach agreement on all points connected with the future constitution of Malaya, thus avoiding the dangers of separated and self-interested representation."

Ahmad Boestamam and Musa Ahmad of the Malay Nationalist Party led the formation of Pusat Tenaga Ra'ayat (PUTERA), which later included the non-Malays to become the PUTERA-AMCJA.

PUTERA-AMCJA was the first platform for the fight for Merdeka. In 1947, the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce (ACCC) together with PUTERA-AMCJA supported a nation-wide strike called the All Malaya Hartal with an aim to pressure the British into discussing Merdeka.

The Hartal, modelled after the one organised by Gandhi in India, was very successful. UMNO, however, opposed the Hartal and organised counter demonstrations in many parts of Malaya. UMNO was basically pro-British.

In 1948, the plan for the Malayan Union was replaced with the Federation of Malaya. The Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), who opposed the Federation and wanted self-rule or Merdeka, decided to launch an armed rebellion. With that ended the PUTERA-AMCJA and the Emergency was declared.

The British realised that Merdeka was inevitable. But they refused to talk to the CPM, Malay Nationalist Party, Malayan Democratic Union or PUTERA-AMCJA. The British felt that British interests in Malaya (which contributed to about a third of Britain’s economy) would be better protected with an UMNO-led government heading an independent Malaya.

One important point to note is that the CPM insurrection was very costly for the British who were almost bankrupted by the war. This made it necessary for them to quickly resolve the issue of Merdeka. In that sense, the CPM helped accelerate Merdeka and it assisted UMNO in its negotiations with the British.

Those who opposed UMNO were rounded up and detained by the British. Those, like Mustapha Hussein, who joined UMNO, were spared arrest. Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak Hussein, however, were not only not arrested but were allowed to tour the length and breadth of Malaya to speak at ceramahs in their fight for Merdeka.

It was clear that the British were assisting UMNO in its fight for Merdeka.

Datuk Andika, who died in Kuala Terengganu at the age of 100 a few years ago, was the Assistant District Officer of Dungun around that era. He formed UMNO in Terengganu soon after meeting Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak in Kuantan.

Datuk Andika told me he was encouraged by the British to join UMNO and his boss, the District Officer, not only gave him leave to campaign for UMNO but he was also given financial support by the British.