IT'S 31ST AUGUST AGAIN, FOLKS!

Malaya's First PM 

Watching the Malayan Emergency on the History Channel last Sunday made me reminisce over a couple of things, some of which people take for granted these days.

My youth was smacked during the emergency.I would watch in anticipation each time we came to a Police Checkpoint along the road. They were manned by the Police and SCs (Special Constables). They were created during the emergency to beef up and assist the regular police. They were usually put on base defence, rapid response and escort duties,  I used to wonder what would have happened if we had  essentials like rice and sugar in the boot of the car. To the uninitiated perhaps War Of The Running Dogs : Malaya 1948 - 1960 by Noel Barbar would make a interesting read. I was given a copy by a late uncle on my departure for the UK many, many years ago, back in the 70s. Running Dogs is the contemptuous term used by the communist guerrillas for those who remained loyal to the British. It was one of the successful  counter-insurgency activity of the time. To some it was a war of  " hearts and minds". 

The family made a trip back to our kampung from Kota Bahru for the Merdeka (Independence ) Day. Wherever we went, my brothers would cry out "Merdeka" to the cyclists, trishaw paddlers, pedestrians, motorists and what have you, from the car windows. Cars were not air-conditioned then, so the windows would always be winded down. All of them enthusiastically replied  "Merdeka" and waved back at my brothers. A cyclist even wobbled along the roadside but replied he did! Such was the spirit then. Anyway the non-Malays had already been given citizenship not many years earlier. So, I guess the euphoria of  independence must still be bubbling.

The Communists smirked at the so called independence when the British were still at the helm of the Civil Service. I often heard dad's conversation to the effect that this didn't matter. In time local people were able to replace them  and the rule of law  would still prevail even after the British had left completely. Not many countries were able to do that at that time. India and Pakistan wallowed in a blood bath, Indonesia fought a war for her independence, to name a few closer to home.  I have heard stories of how kampung folks and family members had come together to offer whatever monetary contributions to send kampung  kids to University Malaya (then in Singapore) or overseas Universities. I also know that in return, they have  done their part in improving the lot of other kampung folks.

It would appear that the age old colonial educational policy had come full circle. Sons of fishermen and peasants no longer find it desirable to just become better fishermen or peasants than their fathers. Nevertheless, many of them were indeed plodded  by new qualified local elites and Malay intelligentsia (?)  in their aspiration to bridge the social and ethnic inequality, a colonial legacy. It felt like only yesterday when "basket-making" was a virtual symbol of Malay Education Policy that denied desirability of intellectual pursuit.....a system that taught the "dignity of labour" and avoided the potential "trouble" of being "over-educated" .....a system that had become an agent of social control. For example, Malay kids had to attend vernacular schooling for four years before they could be admitted to English Schools while no such restriction was put on other kids. Hence socioeconomic mobility of the Malays was restricted. The colonials were all too happy to retain the Malays as agrarian. For all intents and purposes, Mr Winstedt would not find much love here, today.

I remembered an ex-teacher of my dad, a Scotsman, who had remained in Malaysia as a senior Education Officer till the time of  PM, Tun Abdul Razak before he retired and returned to Scotland. I had the pleasure of visiting him at his home in Newton Stewart. He thought well of the progress made in education ....a vast difference in policies then when girls, especially Malay girls, were just educated so that they might  make good wives of civil servants. No wonder, when we made a strong request for Pure Science to  be offered at our College back then, our Principal, an Eurasian lady,  was more bewildered and wondered why we girls wanted it!

There were flags draping out from every shop and decorated arches to herald in  the historical day and that seemed to be the main feature of Merdeka Day  anniversary for many years to come.

On the morning of 31st August, 1957, dad left very early for Kuala Lumpur to witness the merdeka celebration in Merdeka Stadium with a friend. The rest of us followed the proceeding over the radio - Radio Malaya- amidst it's crackling reception!

Malaysia has weathered many a day. There will always be issues to settle, diversities to bridge. We all have our own legacy to deal with but I remember the words of the late Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie during his appearance at Malaysia Hall, "The shortest distance between two hearts is not necessarily a straight line".