Page 33 - Malayan Story
P. 33
MALAYAN STORY
At the end of 1953 the questioning of surrendered terrorists and the piecing together of small pieces
of information they had collected, made the Government believe that the hard core of the Selangor
committee of the terrorist organisation was centred in an area not far from Kuala Lumpur itself. It
appeared that 40 terrorists were living in the small area of jungle at Ulu Langat only 15 miles from
Kuala Lumpur. Food restrictions on the whole Ulu Langat and Ulu Klang area, and the dropping of
leaflets urging them to surrender having had little result, the day and night bombing began and
continued long enough to keep the guerrillas on the run. To those of us living in Kuala Lumpur it
sounded very close as the hills around took up the echo, and we found it hard to sleep through the
mortar barrage which continued all through the night for a week or more. Up in Pahang,
missionaries living in the villages were going through the same experience as jungle hideouts were
located and ceaselessly bombed.
From then on things began to change for the better. Sir Gerald began to train the Chinese in their
own defence by putting them on as home guards to take on the defence of their own villages. The
emphasis on surrender and rehabilitation of those who had surrendered began to have its effect. The
Chinese Communist Party began to realise that its policy of armed struggle could not achieve
victory. In the Communist Central Party there were divided opinions. One man who thought for
himself, challenged the dictated policy of the Central Party Committee by finally stating his beliefs
in the equality of distribution and the end of terrorism. He and his wife and another man who
agreed with him were all executed for heresy.
Before another year was out, the Central Committee itself began to call for the end of
indiscriminate terrorism and to reverse the process that had taken them from political strife and
industrial strife to open revolution. They began to talk of withdrawing into the deepest jungle where
harassing army patrols could not find them and it would be possible to regroup and retrain and
rethink their policy. In the deepest part of the jungle they began to make friends with some of the
primitive aboriginal tribes who lived there. These were too shy and ignorant to know what was
going on and that the terrorists were using them as a screen against the army. Many of these humble
people lost their lives as it became known that they were sheltering the terrorists. Indiscriminate
bombing began again. Sir Gerald was not happy about attacking these people and he eventually
constructed jungle forts in remote areas, provided salt and medicines and eventually education. In
this way the aboriginal tribes came into contact with the Government and learned to trust them.
As time went on, more and more villages all over Malaya became known as “white villages” and
the curfew became later or was discontinued altogether until 1957 when Malaya was given its
independence by the British Government, Sir Gerald and Lady Templar returned to the UK and it
was felt that the “Emergency” was over. The hard core of communist terrorists who still remained,
moved to the jungle on the border of Malaya and Thailand and made that their centre. There were
still “incidents”, but not so frequent, and there was much more cooperation between the village
people and the Government.
In 1955 the nation’s first free election had been held and a promise was made then of complete
independence from British rule within two years. This dealt a heavy blow to communist propaganda
against the “imperialists” and added impetus to the numbers who took seriously the promise of free
pardon offered on the leaflets dropped on the jungle.
33
At the end of 1953 the questioning of surrendered terrorists and the piecing together of small pieces
of information they had collected, made the Government believe that the hard core of the Selangor
committee of the terrorist organisation was centred in an area not far from Kuala Lumpur itself. It
appeared that 40 terrorists were living in the small area of jungle at Ulu Langat only 15 miles from
Kuala Lumpur. Food restrictions on the whole Ulu Langat and Ulu Klang area, and the dropping of
leaflets urging them to surrender having had little result, the day and night bombing began and
continued long enough to keep the guerrillas on the run. To those of us living in Kuala Lumpur it
sounded very close as the hills around took up the echo, and we found it hard to sleep through the
mortar barrage which continued all through the night for a week or more. Up in Pahang,
missionaries living in the villages were going through the same experience as jungle hideouts were
located and ceaselessly bombed.
From then on things began to change for the better. Sir Gerald began to train the Chinese in their
own defence by putting them on as home guards to take on the defence of their own villages. The
emphasis on surrender and rehabilitation of those who had surrendered began to have its effect. The
Chinese Communist Party began to realise that its policy of armed struggle could not achieve
victory. In the Communist Central Party there were divided opinions. One man who thought for
himself, challenged the dictated policy of the Central Party Committee by finally stating his beliefs
in the equality of distribution and the end of terrorism. He and his wife and another man who
agreed with him were all executed for heresy.
Before another year was out, the Central Committee itself began to call for the end of
indiscriminate terrorism and to reverse the process that had taken them from political strife and
industrial strife to open revolution. They began to talk of withdrawing into the deepest jungle where
harassing army patrols could not find them and it would be possible to regroup and retrain and
rethink their policy. In the deepest part of the jungle they began to make friends with some of the
primitive aboriginal tribes who lived there. These were too shy and ignorant to know what was
going on and that the terrorists were using them as a screen against the army. Many of these humble
people lost their lives as it became known that they were sheltering the terrorists. Indiscriminate
bombing began again. Sir Gerald was not happy about attacking these people and he eventually
constructed jungle forts in remote areas, provided salt and medicines and eventually education. In
this way the aboriginal tribes came into contact with the Government and learned to trust them.
As time went on, more and more villages all over Malaya became known as “white villages” and
the curfew became later or was discontinued altogether until 1957 when Malaya was given its
independence by the British Government, Sir Gerald and Lady Templar returned to the UK and it
was felt that the “Emergency” was over. The hard core of communist terrorists who still remained,
moved to the jungle on the border of Malaya and Thailand and made that their centre. There were
still “incidents”, but not so frequent, and there was much more cooperation between the village
people and the Government.
In 1955 the nation’s first free election had been held and a promise was made then of complete
independence from British rule within two years. This dealt a heavy blow to communist propaganda
against the “imperialists” and added impetus to the numbers who took seriously the promise of free
pardon offered on the leaflets dropped on the jungle.
33
