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Statement is based on history, says Ong PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 10 September 2008 08:54am

Statement is based on history, says Ong©New Straits Times (Used by permission)

IPOH: MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said his statement that some 300,000 Chinese had sacrificed their lives fighting for the country during the Japanese Occupation was based on facts and figures.

"There are many documents and books written on the subject and anyone disputing the incidents which occurred during the Occupation and World War 2 should refer to them," he said referring to a book entitled Red Star Over Malaya, written by Professor Cheah Boon Keng of Universiti Sains Malaysia.

"Apart from taking information from the book, I also went through historical documents in the archives.

"I do not want to prolong this issue.

"The contents of the books are reliable and even received commendation from Japanese scholars and those in other countries who have high regard for the book," Ong said yesterday.

His statement on Sunday was disputed the following day by two professors who said the Chinese community had defended the British, who had colonised the country, and that a majority of those who had died were communists.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia history professor Datuk Nik Anwar Nik Mahmud had said that the 300,000 Chinese who died had defended the colonial British government.

Professor Dr Ahmad Atory Hussain, a lecturer on social development at Universiti Utara Malaysia, also said that historical facts could not be changed.

He said this is because the Chinese who died during the Japanese Occupation had fought for their own interests.

Comments (2)Add Comment
Let's ask Prof. Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim
written by Dara Waheda Mohd Rufin, Wednesday, September 10 2008 12:03 pm

Let's ask Prof. Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim about this. I find in Malaysia, different people writes different version on history especially if it involves race issues. Malay historian writes history praising his/her race and same goes to other races. However, I also find Prof Khoo a reliable source of history each time he speaks about the historical facts of Malaysia.

Dara Waheda Mohd Rufin

PATTERN OF CONSCIOUS SPLITTISM DETECTED
written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng, Wednesday, September 10 2008 06:17 pm

Having read many books on World War II and even the various genres on the Malayan campaign, including "The Jungle is Neutral" and "The Grand Delusion," I find that the basic pattern of Asian nationalists during World War II was to consciously split themselves up between the contending Allied and Axis powers.

Thus, for instance, we have in Thailand Pibul on one side and Pridi on the other, in India Gandhi on one side and Subhas Chandra Bose on the other. Even in the Philippines, Quezon (or the president at that time) told his aide to work with the invading Japanese and ensure minimum damage to Manila as he was retreating with American forces. I am sure the same split occurred in Indonesia as well.

That is the recurring pattern of engagement with the invading and retreating forces in an Asia in turmoil.

There was even a recorded attewmpt after World War II to get Pibul and Pridi to meet, but this never occurred as, strangely, Pridi was found dead in Japan just before the meeting! That meeting, had it occurred, would have lent credence to the theory that Asian nationalists knowingly split their support for the two contenders so that whichever side won, their nation won.

Alas, most of my books are in my library in my New Zealand house. My library also have books on journalism painfully collected over more than a hundred years. I am thinking of bequeathing them to my the School of Journalism of my alma mater in Christchurch when I pass on to celebrate the life of a senior journalist. I am still thinking ... because at the moment I find no newspaper in Malaysia worth giving to.

Stephen Tan Ban Cheng


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