16 December 2007, New Era College, Kajang
It was a day rumored that racial riots is going to hit the country especially Kuala Lumpur. People were told to stay at home while in other parts of the country, there were massive flooding. With this in the background, it was surprising that Socialism 2007 has lived up to the occasion with a huge turnout with all three sessions held in packed lecture rooms.
More than 120 people attended the 3rd. Socialist Forum organized by Party Socialist Malaysia (PSM). The theme this year was 50 years of Independence : The Left – Then & Now. The forum explored the role and contributions of the left in three critical phases – the era before independence, the Socialist Front period (1960s-1970s) and the period after the cold war (post 1989). As one participant said, “this seems to be the Annual Congress of the left in Malaysia and is very heartening to see so many young people among the veterans”. Indeed this year Socialism, had people from various age groups, ethnicity and background. It portrayed socialism as vibrant and kicking.
The program started at 9.30am in New Era College, Kajang with the Internationale song. Comrade Saraswathy, the deputy chairperson of PSM gave the opening remarks. She pointed out that history has been distorted and manipulated by the ruling government, which completely denied the role of the left in fighting for the Independence for Malaya. The fact that the left parties were branded as bandits especially Malayan Communist Party (MCP) by ruling party historians is very appalling.
With that note, the first panel discussion on The MCP, Armed Tactics and Role In Independence began. Comrade Letchimi moderated the session with 2 speakers from Singapore – Comrade Chen Jian (independent researcher of the Malaysian left) and Comrade Tan Jin Qui (member of UM Socialist Club & Singapore Socialist Front in 60’s). Contribution from both comrades raised two pertinent question – is the arm struggle justified? Did the people support the armed tactics?
The general view is YES. Massive suppression and exploitation of the British government against the people of Malaya to recover back their lost during World War II has led the MCP to decide during a meeting in Johor (April 1948), that they should dig up their arms. In fact, in December 1947, MCP already drew a policy of it’s role in Malayan revolution against British. In May 1948, they decided to lead the workers movement as well as to go all out to mobilize the struggle of the peasants. Tension was building up and in Jun 1948, British declared emergency. It came 3 months earlier than anticipated by MCP. MCP was ill prepared for the offensive. At one point MCP decided to use aggressive tactics to damage British economy but it affected the people badly. Immediately, an order was issued to stop all aggressive tactics. Nevertheless, the British spent billions on arms, soldiers and segregation plan to suppress only 7,000 MCP members. It was only after the mass workers movement was defeated and the open political parties were suppressed, that the MCP had no choice but to take an armed approach. The support from people for the People’s Constitution and the October 1947 Hartal (nation wide strike) are established proof of left influence and open front tactics.
After ½ hour tea break, we had another round of interesting speakers who spoke on Socialist Front era- Ideology, Electoral Politics, National Question And Repression with so much clarity. The speakers were C.C. Yong of People’s Party (Parti Rakyat), Comrade S.N. Rajah of Labour Party (Parti Buruh) and Comrade Chong Tong Sin who is currently a Progressive Book Publisher. They are the living proof of the current government’s repression during the Socialist Front Era. All of them spent between 8 to 12 years under the ISA(Internal Security Act) -detention without trial. Comrade Rani moderated the session.
According to Comrade SN. Rajah, after the MCP cadres and other leftist were forced to take arms, there was a vacuum in the political arena. Labor Party (LP) and People’s Party (PP) filled the vacuum to fight for the interest of the working class and they gained massive support from the people. The rightist on the other hand was harping on religious and racial sentiment.
On Independence day 31 August 1957, PP and LP united under Socialist Front (SF). One Socialist Youth League was deregistered even before it could join SF. In 1959 election, both parties captured many seats in urban constituencies and new villages especially in the municipal elections. Ruling party was losing ground and they applied what their master, the colonist British taught them – repression & massive clamp down against the opposition. Thousands of leftist cadres (including Members of parliament) were arrested as well as other opposition party members. There was almost no qualified candidate left to stand for election, said CC Yong when there was a question from the floor as to why SF boycotted the 1969 election. He added, “to show our protest against the ill treatment of the government, the election was boycotted- it was a temporary decision and before we could review it, the party was suspended and SF was dissolved way back in 1966”.
The party was forced to boycott the 1969 elections as all its active branches were closed. This was the condition then and those who don’t understand the circumstances; keep questioning why the party did not stand in elections. If….If we are allowed to dream…..if the clamp down did not take place…we are the government today, said Comrade C.C. Yong. Laughter and applause filled the room!
The discussion continued to National Question when a participant queried about the split between LP and PP over the issue. What comrade CC Yong shared really enlightened most of us. He said there was no major split over the issue especially on language because everyone felt there is need for one common language to communicate with each other. The party leadership was all out to ensure all cadres attend Bahasa Malaysia class organized by the party. During winding up, comrade SN Rajah said, “Many think the collapse of Soviet Union is the end of leftist, they are wrong, as long as classes exist, socialism will grow”. Comrade C.C.Yong reminded us, “Socialism is new, it has to face many challenges and the fruit of the socialist struggle will be seen by our future generation”.
After the lively discussion, we had another round of panel discussion on “What Is Left In Malaysia Since The Collapse Of The Berlin Wall-1989”. Comrade Kohila moderated the session and the speakers were Comrade Hassan Karim, President of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, Premesh Chandran, CEO of MalaysiaKini and Dr. Nasir Hashim, chairperson of PSM.
The issues, which seem to dominate is the definition of the word “left” itself. Who is the left?. One person from the floor said, “ The capitalist always know, who are the left but it is the left who is always confused on who is the left among them”. There was also criticism against Socialism because it is seen as only relevant as long as there are poor people and it does not have the substance to move forward. It was said that in Malaysia, socialism has failed to infiltrate into trade unions, schools/colleges, and media because of restrictive condition and thus it is difficult to grow!
Darshan Singh was angry because he said, it is so simple. Those who support capitalism is right and those who support socialism is left. Let’s have clarity and move on. After heated argument and comments, it was established that things are not as rosy as people make it look like. Malaysia has the 2nd. highest income disparity in Asia and most working class families live in poverty. Dr. Nasir also said that professionals are also workers and socialist is not just a project for the marginalized but for the majority of the workers.
For the final session, it was What is to be done ? and the session was moderated by Comrade Arutchelvan, the Secretary General of PSM. Arul gave 10 scenarios in the global world from developments since the collapse of Eastern Europe, the growth of neo-liberal capitalism and its impact on the 3rd. World countries, the uprising and revolt in neighboring countries like Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar and in Malaysia itself, the defeat of Welfare States in Europe, the failure of trade unions and the emergence of progressive movements in Latin American countries led by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez call for Socailism in the 21st. century.
At the final plenary, many ideas were shared and among the ideas were that the party comes with materials on the alternative Malaysian history, have more full timers, training school, more channels to disseminate information and strategize on how to handle the racial tensions. PRM leader Hassan Karim also acknowledged PSM’s strength and said that his party PRM and PSM should forge a United Front to built the left in Malaysia.
Socialism 2007 ended with the Internationale. Many people agreed to subscribe to the party’s newspaper and a number of them became members. We will carry the touch, the flag and the banner. We will march on until capitalism and Imperialism is defeated in Malaysia and the world. Long Live Socialism ! Long Live the Struggle !
By,
Letchimi Devi
