Page 32 - Malayan Story
P. 32
MALAYAN STORY
CHAPTER 7 THE END OF THE EMERGENCY
Life in the villages was becoming increasingly difficult as Sir Gerald became more and more
determined to bring the Emergency to an end. The only way in or out of any village was past the
guards at the gates. Searching on the slightest suspicion that anybody might be carrying food
became more frequent as people, after threats from the jungle, devised more ingenious ways of
smuggling food out. Curfew was at 6pm and everybody must be inside their own homes after that
with the doors shut so that the only life to be seen on the streets were the guards pacing up and
down. Nocturnal house searches by Government soldiers occurred unexpectedly and unannounced,
and missionaries living in a village were not exempt either. Like everybody else they had to be
prepared to let soldiers search cupboards and examine food supplies lest they too might be hoarding
some of the food supplies which were going to feed the terrorists in the jungle.
A strict watch was kept in most villages, of the food people actually ate. It was often said, “You
can buy anything in Malaya”, and so you could if you lived in Kuala Lumpur, but it was not so
easy in the villages. Things that might be plentiful elsewhere were not so readily available inside
the barbed wire fence. Everybody was registered and had to report the number of people living and
eating in their home. Then they had to go twice a day to the community kitchen, set up in the centre
of the village, to collect their quota of rice for their next meal. It was already cooked so that in the
hot climate it could not be kept long. It also meant keeping no tinned food in the house, so when
they needed something in the village shop, the tin was always pierced and opened before being
handed over, to prevent it being kept to give away. In spite of all these precautions, terrorists often
cut the barbed wire and sneaked in to the home of a relative to have a good meal before sneaking
back through the wire.
Sir Gerald demanded that if anybody knew of these things or of anybody who was responsible for
the not infrequent break-ins of a group of terrorists to get stores and ammunition, they must inform
him, or the whole village would be put under curfew for 23 out of 24 hours. That meant only one
hour in which to do any legitimate business outside the village, and then they must be back inside
again. It took time, but gradually the tide began to turn. Probably the one event which made the
change, was the decision to grant a free pardon and the promise of work to any terrorist who would
give himself up. Some of them accepted the offer. They were used to living in the jungle, and it
was no hardship for them as they knew it like the back of their hands, but their efforts to find food
and ammunition were becoming more and more difficult, and without either of these, they could
not continue long in the jungle.
So some came out and gave themselves up, and Sir Gerald not only kept his promise of a free
pardon and work to support them and their families, but he had them write a testimony to say how
well they had been treated. These he had printed with the pictures of the men on coloured leaflets.
A message was added to those still in the jungle saying how much better it was outside, and urging
them to come out and give themselves up also. These were scattered all over the jungle. Thousands
of such leaflets were printed and the Government used Lincoln bombers to scatter them. In one
such spot, 18 million leaflets were scattered by 12 bombers in one day, and, as many more men
began to give themselves up, the Government began to find out where some of the jungle hideouts
were, and began to relentlessly bomb such places day and night.
32
CHAPTER 7 THE END OF THE EMERGENCY
Life in the villages was becoming increasingly difficult as Sir Gerald became more and more
determined to bring the Emergency to an end. The only way in or out of any village was past the
guards at the gates. Searching on the slightest suspicion that anybody might be carrying food
became more frequent as people, after threats from the jungle, devised more ingenious ways of
smuggling food out. Curfew was at 6pm and everybody must be inside their own homes after that
with the doors shut so that the only life to be seen on the streets were the guards pacing up and
down. Nocturnal house searches by Government soldiers occurred unexpectedly and unannounced,
and missionaries living in a village were not exempt either. Like everybody else they had to be
prepared to let soldiers search cupboards and examine food supplies lest they too might be hoarding
some of the food supplies which were going to feed the terrorists in the jungle.
A strict watch was kept in most villages, of the food people actually ate. It was often said, “You
can buy anything in Malaya”, and so you could if you lived in Kuala Lumpur, but it was not so
easy in the villages. Things that might be plentiful elsewhere were not so readily available inside
the barbed wire fence. Everybody was registered and had to report the number of people living and
eating in their home. Then they had to go twice a day to the community kitchen, set up in the centre
of the village, to collect their quota of rice for their next meal. It was already cooked so that in the
hot climate it could not be kept long. It also meant keeping no tinned food in the house, so when
they needed something in the village shop, the tin was always pierced and opened before being
handed over, to prevent it being kept to give away. In spite of all these precautions, terrorists often
cut the barbed wire and sneaked in to the home of a relative to have a good meal before sneaking
back through the wire.
Sir Gerald demanded that if anybody knew of these things or of anybody who was responsible for
the not infrequent break-ins of a group of terrorists to get stores and ammunition, they must inform
him, or the whole village would be put under curfew for 23 out of 24 hours. That meant only one
hour in which to do any legitimate business outside the village, and then they must be back inside
again. It took time, but gradually the tide began to turn. Probably the one event which made the
change, was the decision to grant a free pardon and the promise of work to any terrorist who would
give himself up. Some of them accepted the offer. They were used to living in the jungle, and it
was no hardship for them as they knew it like the back of their hands, but their efforts to find food
and ammunition were becoming more and more difficult, and without either of these, they could
not continue long in the jungle.
So some came out and gave themselves up, and Sir Gerald not only kept his promise of a free
pardon and work to support them and their families, but he had them write a testimony to say how
well they had been treated. These he had printed with the pictures of the men on coloured leaflets.
A message was added to those still in the jungle saying how much better it was outside, and urging
them to come out and give themselves up also. These were scattered all over the jungle. Thousands
of such leaflets were printed and the Government used Lincoln bombers to scatter them. In one
such spot, 18 million leaflets were scattered by 12 bombers in one day, and, as many more men
began to give themselves up, the Government began to find out where some of the jungle hideouts
were, and began to relentlessly bomb such places day and night.
32
