Forgotten war fought by Sporeans
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Malayan Communist insurgents in south Thailand before signing their peace treaty.
The Malayan Emergency refers to a guerrilla war for independence fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960. The rubber plantations and tin mining industries had pushed for the use of the term "emergency" since their losses would not have been covered by Lloyds insurers if it had been termed a "war". Despite the communists' defeat in 1960, MCP leader Chin Peng renewed the insurgency in 1967, which lasted until 1989, and become known as the Communist Insurgency War.
Some Singaporeans fought in this war......on both sides. They are true war veterens. Their stories remained unknown.
Its sad schools dont really teach this about this war.
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Are you high on something? Is that crack I smell?
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Mr Fang Chuang Pi, 71, was a powerful communist underground leader in the '50s and '60s. In a recent interview, he called Singapore a "freak". ALETHEA LIM speaks to someone who knew him
HE seemed an innocent-looking court reporter on the rare occasions when he sat opposite police prosecutors in court during the 1950s.
Little did they know that the smiling Mr Fang Chuang Pi was really a Singapore leader of the now-defunct Communist Party of Malaya.
The Reds, as the Communists were known, could stir up trouble in trade unions and Chinese schools in those days.
Mr Fang himself became a legend for his ability to "disappear" and avoid arrest.
One person who remembers him well was fellow court reporter Philip Goh of the now defunct Malaya Tribune.
Said Mr Goh: "It's quite an irony that on the days Mr Fang attended court trials and sat across the police prosecutors in court, they never knew who he really was."
Mr Fang then worked for the Chinese newspaper, Nan Chiau Jit Pao...http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/independence/ref/plen8.html
Fong Chong Pik: The Memoirs Of A Malayan Communist Revolutionary
China-born Singaporean Fong Chong Pik or Fong Chong Pi @ "The Plen", (1926-2004) was an important force in the Communist Party from 1950 until his death.
These memoirs, originally published in Chinese, offer Communist Party points of view on various aspects of the anti-colonial struggle, the policies of the People's Action Party, and underground activities including jungle guerrilla activities in Northern Malaya.
The pieces are illuminating, savagely bitter, episodic and combative as well as at times ruminative and more humane than self-justifying. After the 1989 Peace Accords the author and his family lived along with other former comrades at the Peace & Friendship village in Southern Thailand. With black-and-white photographs and sketch maps.
http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/getTitle.aspx