Siti Aishah ain’t a factor to the Left

PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan feels that the return of Siti Aishah to Malaysia will not assist the growth of the Leftist movement in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: A socialist leader in Malaysia today said that Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab’s return from London would not boost the Leftist movement such as Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

Speaking at the sidelines of Socialism 2013 conference which is held at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said that there was no need to rely on Siti Aishah.

“She is not a very active member now. We do have enough young members to sustain socialism here.

“Even her group could not sustain their momentum there,” he said.

He said this when asked if the return of Siti Aishah would help spur the growth of the Left movement, communism and socialism in Malaysia.

Siti Aishah, 69, hit the media spotlight a week ago when it was discovered that she was kept as a slave along with two others for 30 years in London.

She was kept as a slave by a Maoist couple identified as Indian-born Aravindan Balakrishnan and his Tanzanian wife Chanda, who were both arrested and released in bail on Nov 21.

The Jelebu-born Siti Aishah was a brilliant student who received her early education in Tunku Kurshiah Girls College in Negeri Sembilan.

She was a Colombo Plan scholar specialising in the field of quantity survey in London in the 60s. While studying, she got herself involved with the Left movement.

She moved to UK in 1968 with her fiancé Omar Munir after a fallout with her family.

The arrest of Balakrishnan and Chanda resulted in Siti Aishah meeting her family member in the presence of London police in the mid of last week.

She however refused to return to Malaysia even though her sister Kamar Mahtum would like her to do so. She also denied that she was enslaved by the couple.

IGP’s cold war mentality

On another related issue, Arutchelvan said that Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar must stay out of politics.

“He has no understanding of communism and socialism. He has no clue what he is talking about.

Arutchelvan said this in reaction to Khalid’s warning to FMT columnist Mariam Mokhtar who had penned article entitled “One ideology, two reactions” that was published on Friday.

The top cop had said that the article was seditious.

“He is still maintaining his Cold War mentality. It is up to FMT readers to judge her (Mariam),” said Arutchelvan.

“People can judge the columnist through the comments section. Khalid does not need to treat the people as if there are children,” he added.

In the article Mariam questioned the government’s discriminating treatment on the return of the deceased Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng’s ashes from Bangkok, Thailand and Siti Aishah.