On May 13, 1969 By Raja Petra Bin Raja Kamarudin, reform-minded activist in 1998 before he joined the Keadilan (opposition) party of jailed former deputy prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. May 13, 2003Some honourable members of the Internet fraternity have suggested that only eye-witness accounts can be accepted as true. Maybe I can offer myself as this eye-witness. I also obtained part of my information from many other members of my and my wife’s family. Now back to Malaysia. I was a 19-year-old teenager in 1969. I lived in Bangsar, a Malay stronghold then. My wife-to-be (we had been dating for about a year) lived in Brickfields, an Indian stronghold at one end and Chinese controlled at the another. Bangsar and Brickfields came under the Damansara Parliamentary constituency, now known as the Lembah Pantai Parliamentary constituency. In the May 1969 General Elections the opposition won most of the town and city seats. Damansara was won by V. David of the Democratic Action Party, an offshoot of the People’s Action Party of Singapore. To celebrate their “victory”, they organised victory parades all over their “area”. They passed Bangsar which, as I said, was a Malay area, and shouted insults. They told the Malays to “balek kampung”, an insult meaning go back to the villages. Some even shouted “Melayu bodoh” – stupid Malays – and Melayu Si (Chinese meaning “Malays die”). Some other Malay areas all over Kuala Lumpur also suffered this same fate. Malays were mocked and insulted. This I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears. The Malays were upset. They decided to organise a victory parade of their own in areas they had won. After all, they had won in more areas than the opposition had. They had even more reason to celebrate. It was decided that they would all assemble at the Selangor Chief Minister’s (Dato’ Harun) house on May 13th 1969. Malays from all over the city were summoned. To handle the logistics nightmare, buses were chartered for this purpose. The various bus companies found out what the purpose of all these buses were for and they did not turn up at the appointed time. The Malays in Puchong, Gombak, Bangsar, and many more places, waited and waited but no buses. By then the crowd had grown thick and restless. That’s when they decided, hang the buses. Let’s just march to Kampong Baru, the meeting place. And march they did. The first Malay group from Gombak reached Setapak. At Setapak a group of Chinese shouted insults. Insults turned to blows, and blows to bloodshed. The Malays, who were unarmed, suffered a few casualties at the hands of the well-prepared and well-armed Chinese. Some Malays managed to escape to Kampong Baru where the bulk of the crowd had now assembled. They raised the alarm and by then not even the army could stop them. They rushed out to the Chow Kit and Ipoh Road areas, which are Chinese-dominated and the “war” began. This war spread quickly and, by the end of the day, there were many casualties on both sides. The other areas like Bangsar, Puchong, and so on, got news of the clash and they too joined in. Many Chinese shops in Bangsar were burnt and many and unsuspecting motorists and motorcyclists passing Bangsar on the way home to Petaling Jaya were ambushed along Bangsar. Bangsar Road was littered with burnt-out cars and motorcycles. I lost many a friend on May 13 and the days following it. My wife’s cousin, who married a Chinese and lived in Pudu, a Chinese stronghold, told many horror stories a few days after curfew was lifted. Another of my wife’s cousin who married an air force chopper pilot related some of his stories how they saw people cut to pieces in front of there eyes while they were hovering above helpless. My brother’s, Raja Idris’, father-in-law was the Deputy Chief of the Special Branch then, so he too would probably have many horror stories of his own. But forget the horror stories. I would need 100 pages to relate them all. The point is, YES it did happen. And YES, it WAS bad. But, when it was happening, no one knew what was happening. Many did not know who was fighting whom. Soldiers were shooting soldiers. Soldiers and police were attacked and killed by mobs. Pregnant wives were cut open. Children were thrown off buildings. Old ladies were split open with swords. Armouries were ransacked and firearms were widespread. That is the truth. And if I have to go to jail for saying so then let it be so. Let whatever I say, if it be false, someone come forward and say so. I saw much, met many people who could not believe what they saw, lost many people I know – they just disappeared. But that was almost 30 years ago. Let’s not open up old wounds. Many people involved then have since died; either violently or from plain old age. Let’s just understand how it started and why it started and make sure it never happens again. The politicians started it. It was a ruling government-opposition party matter. How did it turn out into a Malay-Chinese issue? Simple. The politicians play communal politics. They still do. To get support they rant and rave about “Malay rights”, Chinese rights”, “fighting for justice for their race”, and all that which can bring feelings of racial antagonism. The politicians are the culprits. Unless they practice responsible and matured politics and lay off the “them and us” issues there will always be this divide between the various races in Malaysia. And as long as there is this divide there will always be that danger of another May 13. So Mahathir now “fights” with the West. He condemns the US. We squabble with Singapore. At least the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ruling Government, opposition parties, and all manner and form of “traditional enemies” are now united and of one voice. It may not auger well for our economy. But at least it makes the various races “brothers”. So it is not ALL bad. |
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May 13 Incident
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The May 13 Incident saw numerous cases of arson in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
The May 13 Incident is a term for the Sino-Malay race riots in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 13, 1969. The riots continued for a substantial period of time, and the government declared a state of national emergency, suspending Parliament until 1971. Officially, 196 people were killed as a result of the riots between May 13 and July 31, although journalists and other observers have given much higher figures.
The government cited the riot as the main cause of its more aggressive affirmative action policies, such as the New Economic Policy (NEP), after 1969.
Contents
[hide]
1 Causes of the riot
2 May 1969 riots
3 Conspiracy theories
4 Repercussions of the riot
5 Legacy
5.1 Political references
6 Aftermath
7 See also
8 Notes and references
8.1 Other references
9 External links
[edit] Causes of the riot
This article is part of
the History of Malaysia series.
Prehistoric Malaysia (60,000–2,000 BCE)
Gangga Negara (2nd–11th century CE)
Langkasuka (2nd–14th century)
Pan Pan (3rd–5th century)
Srivijaya (3rd century–1400)
Kedah Sultanate (1136–present)
Malacca Sultanate (1402–1511)
Sulu Sultanate (1450–1899)
Johor Sultanate (1528–current)
Jementah Civil War (1879)
White Rajahs (1841–1946)
British Malaya (1874–1946)
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
Burney Treaty (1826)
Straits Settlements (1826–1946)
Larut War (1861–1874)
Klang War (1867–1874)
Pangkor Treaty of 1874
Federated Malay States (1895–1946)
Unfederated Malay States (19th century–1946)
Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909
Battle of Penang (1914)
North Borneo (1882–1963)
Mat Salleh Rebellion (1896–1900)
World War II (1941–1945)
Battle of Malaya (1941–42)
Parit Sulong Massacre (1942)
Battle of Singapore (1942)
Syburi (1942–1945)
Battle of North Borneo (1945)
Sandakan Death Marches (1945)
Malayan Union (1946–1948)
Federation of Malaya (1948–1963)
Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)
Bukit Kepong Incident (1950)
Independence Day (1957)
Federation of Malaysia (1963–present)
Operation Coldstore (1963)
Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation (1962–1966)
Brunei Revolt (1962–1966)
Singapore in Malaysia (1963–1965)
1964 Race Riots (1964)
Communist Insurgency War (1967-1989)
May 13 Incident (1969)
New Economic Policy (1971–1990)
Operation Lalang (1987)
1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (1987–88)
Asian financial crisis (1997–98)
[edit this box]
On its formation in 1963, Malaysia suffered from a sharp division of wealth between the Chinese, who were perceived to control a large portion of the Malaysian economy, and the Malays, who were perceived to be more poor and rural. This was the common perception even though the British left all of their conglomerates (mostly plantation sectors) into the hands of the ruling Malays. These already successful companies started by the former colonial masters were the economy of this new born nation which are still going strong till this day.
1964 Race Riots in Singapore were a large contributing factor in the expulsion of that state from Malaysia, and racial tension continued to simmer, with many Malays dissatisfied by their newly independent government’s perceived willingness to placate the Chinese at their expense.
Politics in Malaysia at this time was mainly Malay-based, with an emphasis on special privileges for the Malays — other indigenous Malaysians, grouped together collectively with the Malays under the title of “bumiputra” would not be granted a similar standing until after the riots. There had been a recent outburst of Malay passion for ketuanan Melayu — Malay supremacy — after the National Language Act of 1967, which in the opinion of some Malays, had not gone far enough in the act of enshrining Malay as the national language. Heated arguments about the nature of Malay privileges, with the mostly Chinese opposition mounting a “Malaysian Malaysia” campaign had contributed to the separation of Singapore, and inflamed passions on both sides.
The causes of the rioting can be analysed to have the same root as the 1964 Race Riots in Singapore. In addition, Malay leaders who were angry about the election results used the press to attack their opponents, contributing to raising public anger and tension among the Malay and Chinese communities.[citation needed]
[edit] May 1969 riots
In the May 10, 1969 general elections, the ruling Alliance coalition headed by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) suffered a large setback in the polls. The largely Chinese opposition Democratic Action Party and Gerakan gained in the elections, and secured a police permit for a victory parade through a fixed route in Kuala Lumpur. However, the rowdy procession deviated from its route and headed through the Malay district of Kampung Baru, jeering at the inhabitants. Some villagers shouted at the parade member and the parade members fought back. Thus, misunderstanding appeared between the races.). [1] Some demonstrators carried brooms, later alleged to symbolise the sweeping out of the Malays from Kuala Lumpur, while others chanted slogans about the “sinking” of the Alliance boat — the coalition’s logo. [2]
While the Gerakan party issued an apology the next day, UMNO announced a counter-procession, which would start from the Selangor Chief Minister Harun bin Idris’ home in Jalan Raja Muda. Tunku Abdul Rahman would later call the retaliatory parade “inevitable, as otherwise the party members would be demoralised after the show of strength by the Opposition and the insults that had been thrown at them.” [1]
Shortly before the procession began, the gathering crowd was reportedly informed that Malays on their way to the procession had been attacked by Chinese in Setapak, several miles to the north.[citation needed] The angry protestors swiftly wreaked revenge by killing two passing Chinese motorcyclists, and the riot began. During the course of the riots, the loudspeakers of mosques were used to urge the rioters to continue in their actions.
The riot ignited the capital Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding state of Selangor, but except for minor disturbances in Melaka the rest of the country stayed calm. A nationwide state of emergency and accompanying curfew were declared on May 16, but the curfew was relaxed in most parts of the country for two hours on May 18 and not enforced even in central Kuala Lumpur within a week.
According to police figures, 196 people died [3] , 149 were wounded. 753 cases of arson were logged and 211 vehicles were destroyed or severely damaged. An estimated 6,000 Kuala Lumpur residents — 90% of them Chinese — were made homeless. [3] Various other casualty figures have been given, with one thesis from a UC Berkeley academic putting the total dead at ten times the government figure. [4]
[edit] Conspiracy theories
Immediately following the riot, conspiracy theories about the origin of the riots began swirling. Many Chinese blamed the government, claiming it had intentionally planned the attacks beforehand. To bolster their claims, they cited the fact that the potentially dangerous UMNO rally was allowed to go on, even though the city was on edge after two days of opposition rallies. Although UMNO leaders said none of the armed men bused in to the rally belonged to UMNO, the Chinese countered this by arguing that the violence had not spread from Harun Idris’ home, but had risen simultaneously in several different areas. The armed Malays were later taken away in army lorries, but according to witnesses, appeared to be “happily jumping into the lorries as the names of various villages were called out by army personnel”. [5]
Despite the imposition of a curfew, the Malay soldiers who were allowed to remain on the streets reportedly burned several more Chinese homes. The government denied it was associated with these soldiers and said their actions were not condoned. [5]
[edit] Repercussions of the riot
Immediately after the riot, the government assumed emergency powers and suspended Parliament, which would only reconvene again in 1971. It also suspended the press and established a National Operations Council. The NOC’s report on the riots stated, “The Malays who already felt excluded in the country’s economic life, now began to feel a threat to their place in the public services,” and implied this was a cause of the violence. [1]
The riot led to the expulsion of Malay nationalist Mahathir Mohamad from UMNO and propelled him to write his seminal work The Malay Dilemma, in which he posited a solution to Malaysia’s racial tensions based on aiding the Malays economically through an affirmative action programme.
Tunku Abdul Rahman resigned as Prime Minister in the ensuing UMNO power struggle, the new perceived ‘Malay-ultra’ dominated government swiftly moved to placate Malays with the Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP), enshrining affirmative action policies for the bumiputra (Malays and other indigenous Malaysians). Many of Malaysia’s draconian press laws, originally targeting racial incitement, also date from this period. The Constitution (Amendment) Act 1971 named Articles 152, 153, and 181, and also Part III of the Constitution as specially protected, permitting Parliament to pass legislation that would limit dissent with regard to these provisions pertaining to the social contract. (The social contract is essentially a quid pro quo agreement between the Malay and non-Malay citizens of Malaysia; in return for granting the non-Malays citizenship at independence, symbols of Malay authority such as the Malay monarchy became national symbols, and the Malays were granted special economic privileges.) With this new power, Parliament then amended the Sedition Act accordingly. The new restrictions also applied to Members of Parliament, overruling Parliamentary immunity; at the same time, Article 159, which governs Constitutional amendments, was amended to entrench the “sensitive” Constitutional provisions; in addition to the consent of Parliament, any changes to the “sensitive” portions of the Constitution would now have to pass the Conference of Rulers, a body comprising the monarchs of the Malay states. At the same time, the Internal Security Act, which permits detention without trial, was also amended to stress “intercommunal harmony”.[6]
Despite the opposition of the DAP and PPP, the Alliance government passed the amendments, having maintained the necessary two-thirds Parliamentary majority.[6] In Britain, the laws were condemned, with The Times of London stating they would “preserve as immutable the feudal system dominating Malay society” by “giving this archaic body of petty constitutional monarchs incredible blocking power”; the move was cast as hypocritical, given that Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak had spoken of “the full realisation that important matters must no longer be swept under the carpet…”[7]
The Rukunegara, the de facto Malaysian pledge of allegiance, is another reaction to the riot. The pledge was introduced on August 31, 1970 as a way to foster unity among Malaysians.
[edit] Legacy
The state of emergency that was declared shortly after the incident has never been lifted, an action that has been cited by academic lawyers as a reason for diminished civil rights in the country due to the legislative powers granted to the executive during a state of emergency.[8]
[edit] Political references
Malaysian politicians have often cited the May 13 incident when warning of the potential consequences of racial rhetoric. In the 1990 general election and 1999 general election, May 13 was cited in Barisan Nasional campaign advertisements and in speeches by government politicians. Such usage of the incident in political discourse has been criticised; the Tunku stated: “For the PM (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) to repeat the story of the May 13 as a warning of what would have happened if the government had not taken appropriate action is like telling ghost stories to our children to prevent them from being naughty… The tale should not be repeated because it shows us to be politically immature…”[citation needed]
In 2004, during the UMNO general assembly Badruddin Amiruldin , the current deputy permanent chairman, waved a book on May 13 during his speech and stated “No other race has the right to question our privileges, our religion and our leader”. He also stated that doing so would be similar to “stirring up a hornet’s nest”.
The next day, Dr Pirdaus Ismail of the UMNO Youth was quoted as saying “Badruddin did not pose the question to all Chinese in the country … Those who are with us, who hold the same understanding as we do, were not our target. In defending Malay rights, we direct our voice at those who question them.”
Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar dismissed the remarks as a lesson in history and said that Badruddin was merely reminding the younger generation of the blot on the nation’s history.
[edit] Aftermath
Although no other similar riots have appeared after the incident, the racism sentiment is still among some Malaysians. Until now, racism is still among the most controversial issues in Malaysia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13_Incident
“The first credible account of the May 13, 1969 racial riots in Malaysia based on documents recently declassified at the Public Records Office in London”
This book will be launched, tied in with a public forum this Sunday, May 13th 2007.
PUBLIC FORUM
Revisiting May 13 Tragedy:
Race Relations and National Unity After Independence
Speakers: Dr. Syed Husin Ali, Dr. S Nagarajan, Dr. Kua Kia Soong
Moderator: Elizabeth Wong
Date: 13 May 2007, Sunday
Time: 10.00am – 1.00pm
Place: Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, 1, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur
Free admission to the book launch and the public forum.
The public forum will be conducted in Bahasa Malaysia and English.
For more information, please kindly contact Suaram, Ms. Enalini Dewi Ellumalai at telephone: +60 3 77843525 or email: suaram@suaram.net or visit our website at http://www.suaram.net
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Commemorating 13 Mei 1969
A lot of factors at play. Events like ‘Peristiwa 13 Mei’, ‘Rwandan Genocide’, Darfur Genocide’, ‘Balkan War’ and ‘Kosovo Ehtnic Cleansing’ doesnt just happen overnight.
It is important for the Govt of the day to recognise that everyone in the community, regardless of their ethnic origin and economic background be treated equally in freedom, justice and economic terms.
‘Peristiwa 13 Mei’ happened largely because there is general feeing among the Malay populace that they are being left behind economically. So the tension already simmering to some degree. Then, in General Election of 1969, the Malays lost their political power in Selangor, Pulau Pinang and Melaka? (Is that right?)
It is true that so called ‘Malay thugs’ went overboard and run amok. But thugs or terrorist are just definition. Someone may be viewed as a terrrorist by Bush, but he/she may be a freedom fighter to another. Doesnt Osama being idolised in Pakistan and Afghanistan?
Mau Mau guerillas in Kenya were terrorists, so does Robert Mugabe’s fighters, but today they run their respective countries and call themselves freedom fighters and nationalists.
Let us remind ourselves and the Government that we SHOULD NOT leave a group of people in our society as underclass and poor. Economic pie shall be fairly distributed in our society, and this does not mean, distribution by so called ‘racial measure’ alone. We all contribute in our nation, whether we work as ‘petani’, ‘tukang sapu sampah’ or CEO of a multinational.
It is sad that today, 50 years after Merdeka, we still retain colonial attitudes that petani and tukang sapu sampah as lowly. Status and prestige are measured by our ability to extract the most from society (gaji besar).
We as a nation should move together.
Higher wages for low income workers in a good start.
This article is from Malaysiakini.
What actually happened during the 1969 tragedy
May 11, 07 1:11pm
The series of events surrounding the ‘May 13′ riot has been documented by Dr Kua Kia Soong in his latest book May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969 which will be launched on Sunday in conjunction with the 38th anniversary of the tragedy.
This compilation, based on various sets of foreign dispatches and confidential reports at the time – which were declassified recently and made available at the Public Records Office in London – has been dubbed as the first credible account on the incident.
“The real circumstances surrounding the worst racial riot in the history of Malaysia have so far not been made available to the Malaysian public. The official version is fraught with contradictions and inadequacies to which few pay credence,” Kua wrote in the book.
Below are excerpts and summary of the chronology of events based on the declassified documents taken from Kua’s book:
May 10:
The ruling Alliance Party suffered a major setback in the general election although it had managed to retain a simple parliamentary majority. They had lost Penang to the Gerakan Party; Kelantan to the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party while Perak and Selangor were at the brink of falling into the opposition’s hands.
May 11 and May 12:
On both nights, the opposition celebrated their victory. A large Gerakan procession was held to welcome the left-wing Gerakan leader V David back from winning the federal seat in Penang.
May 13:
The MCA which had suffered badly at the polls, announced that it would withdraw from the cabinet while remaining within the Alliance.
A dispatch from a foreign correspondent showed it is evident that there was a plan for youths mobilised by Umno elements to assemble at then Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris’ residence in the late afternoon. A retaliatory march had been planned although police permission was withheld.
When people were still assembling for the parade, trouble broke out in the nearby Malay section of Kampung Baru, where two Chinese lorries were burnt. The ensuing carnage at Kampung Baru and Batu Road quickly spread elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur.
The foreign correspondent noted the curfew that was imposed was not fairly applied to all.
“In the side streets off Jalan Hale, I could see bands of Malay youths armed with parangs and sharpened bamboo spears assembled in full view of troops posted at road junctions. Meanwhile, at Batu Road, a number of foreign correspondents saw members of the Royal Malay Regiment firing into Chinese shophouses for no apparent reason.”
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman immediately attributed the violence as triggered off by the behaviour of opposition supporters after the election result announcement while his deputy Tun Abdul Razak pinned the blame on the communists.
May 14:
The riots continued but on a smaller scale. The curfew was only lifted in staggered hours in various districts to allow people to buy food. The police called out all possible reserves and handed over the northern part of the city to the army.
Police put casualties for the previous night incident at 44 killed and about 150 injured. Another dispatch showed the casualties were mainly Chinese as it stated that out of 77 corpses in the morgue of the General Hospital on May 14, at least 60 were Chinese.
The government’s attempts to blame the communists for the riots were however not taken seriously by the officials at the British High Commission (BHC) who could see that the Tunku was not prepared to blame his own people for the riots, nor was he going to blame it on the Chinese “as a whole”.
May 15:
The King proclaimed a state of emergency. The National Operations Council headed by Tun Razak was formed. Tun Razak was still responsible to the Tunku, but all the powers under Emergency Regulations were vested in him.
The curfew had been lifted temporarily in Kuala Lumpur that morning but the situation had rapidly worsened and more sporadic fighting had broken out. Curfews were re-imposed but food was very short.
The local press was suspended until censorship regulations could be drawn up but no attempt was made to supervise reports sent out by foreign correspondents.
May 16:
The situation was still tense in Selangor with cars and houses being burned and fatalities rising. Death tolls had risen to 89 with over 300 injured. 24 hour curfew remained in force in Selangor and had also been imposed in Malacca. In Penang and Perak, the situation had improved although the curfew remained in force.
Tunku made a broadcast in which he announced the setting up of a National Defence Force to be manned by volunteers. The new information minister Hamzah Abu Samah and Tun Razak gave a press conference pinning the blame for the riots on communist infiltration of the opposition parties.
There were reports of looting by the largely Malay military and their bias against the Chinese Malaysians. Number of refugees were increasing.
May 17:
From a BHC telegram, it showed there were skepticism among British officers toward the official figures for fatalities and the preponderance of Chinese casualties among the dead. The police estimated the deaths at about 100 now while British officers estimated the proportion of Chinese to Malay casualties is about 85:15.
The press censorship invited criticism not only from the local press but also in diplomatic circles especially when official statements lacked clarity and credibility.
In a confidential BHC memorandum to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the coup d’etat has been acknowledged and it has effected the transfer of power not only to “Malay hands” but also to the security forces. The latter’s professionalism is questioned.
The BHC also noted the Federal Reserve Unit, which at the time was multiracial in composition, was the more impartial of the security forces while the Malay troops were discriminatory in enforcing the curfew.
“Discriminatory takes the form, for example, of not, repeat not, enforcing the curfew in one of the most violently disposed of the Malay areas in Kuala Lumpur (Kampung Baru) where Malays armed with parangs, etc continue to circulate freely; with the inevitable result that gangs slip through the cordon round the area and attack Chinese outside it. In Chinese areas, the curfew is strictly enforced.”
May 18:
The Tunku qualified his earlier assertion that the disturbances were caused by communists, putting the blame instead on assorted “bad elements”. He also announced the deferment of the Sarawak elections and the continuance of the restrictions on the movement of foreign journalists.
The situation was still unsettled in some parts of the capital city.
May 19:
Less than a week after the riots, the reins of power had effectively passed to Tun Razak, indicating that there had been a plot to bring about the coup d’etat.
“The exact relationship between Tun Razak and the Tunku is not clear. In public Tun Razak says he is directly responsible to the Tunku but he has made it clear privately that he is completely in charge of the country. This could mean the beginning of a process of withdrawal by the Tunku as an effective PM”.
There are some 10,000 reported refugees. The local press was allowed to publish under censorship while foreign journalists had their curfew passes withdrawn. Some opposition politicians were arrested.
May 20:
In a meeting, an Australian High Commissioner had suggested the opposition leaders should be given a role as peace maker but Tun Razak and Ghazali Shafie were firmly against this. “They considered opposition leaders would simply use such an opportunity to promote their own political views.”
The Malaysian Red Cross Society is continuing its daily feeding programme for refugees in various places and over 5,000 had received food supplies.
May 21:
The official statistics of casualties at this juncture were 137 killed (18 Malays), 342 injured, 109 vehicles burned, 118 buildings destroyed and 2,912 persons arrested who were mostly curfew breakers.
May 23:
The declassified documents reveal that Malay troops were not only fraternising with the Malay thugs but were discharging their firearms indiscriminately at Chinese shophouses as they went through the city.
“When confronted by foreign correspondents with reports of racial discrimination, Tun Razak flatly denied them. Following this, curfew passes issued to foreign journalists were withdrawn and reporters were ordered to remain indoors ‘for their own safety’.”
A foreign correspondent’ s report showed the Malay hooligans were detested by the law-abiding Malays of Kampung Baru.
Internal security and home minister Tun Dr Ismail indicated that the Internal Security Act would be in future amended to “counter changing communist tactics”. It was disclosed that of the 3,699 arrested during the crisis, 952 were members of secret societies.
May 24:
Law and order has been re-established in Kuala Lumpur and the atmosphere in the town had improved. People were going back to work (in non-curfew hours) and the government offices were limbering into action. The curfew remained in force (from 3pm to 6.30am of the following day). The government was not ready to admit that it was armed Malay youth who had caused the disturbances.
May 27:
The Tunku was under pressure to resign as he was clearly incensed by foreign journalists’ speculations about his weakening position and got his private secretary to write a protest note to the BHC.
May 28:
A confidential report by the BHC to the FCO on this day observed the government’s attempts to blame the communists for the disturbances were an attempt to justify their new authoritarian powers.
June:
The riots had been under control but they were still sporadic outbreaks of civil disturbances. A BHC report noted violence erupted again in one part of Kuala Lumpur on the night of June 28 and 29, a number of houses were burnt and the casualties were officially given as five killed and 25 injured. Some disturbances toward the end of June also involved ethnic Indians.
July:
Renewed trouble in which one policeman was killed was quickly stopped from spreading in Kuala Lumpur by positive police action.
Tun Ismail’s firm stand in ordering the security forces to act firmly ‘without favour or discrimination’ to any communal group and the Tunku’s announcement of a National Goodwill Committee made up of politicians of all parties went some way toward allaying the fears of the people.
Tun Ismail also revealed the total arrests since May now stood at 8,114, comprising people “from all the major racial groups”. Of these, 4,192 had been charged in court, 675 released on bail, 1,552 unconditionally released and 1,695 preventively detained.
Situation in the Peninsula had improved substantially but tension remains high in sensitive areas of Malacca, Perak and Selangor.
Tension had begun to ease until Malay agitation connected with Tunku’s return to a position of influence and the removal of Dr Mahathir Mohamad from Umno’s general committee on July 12 had heightened it again. Malay university students petitioned for Tunku’s resignation and demonstrated on the campus.
Unveiling the ‘May 13′ riots
at Sunday, May 13, 2007 Posted by nooryahaya
Labels: 13 mei malaysia Website – http://nooryahaya.blogspot.com/2007/05/commemorating-13-mei-1969.html
Anonymous said…
Many seem to miss the point that the mat rempit culture is very much a product of the Ketuanan Melayu-NEP propaganda. It is no surprise that mat rempits are practically all Malays and they overwhelmingly come from the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. I pity these Malay kids who are told from the day they come into being how they are a privileged lot because they are Malays. Imagine their horror after they leave school in search of a job when it dawns upon them that the Ketuanan Melayu propaganda they fully believe in does not translate into a comfortable life for them. Many of these mat rempits are doing dead end jobs such as motorcycle mechanics or dispatch boys. They know their chances of becoming part of the glitter they see around them in the big towns and cities are at best remote. The mental anguish of this realisation must be devastating for these Malay kids. Neither their ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ pride nor the NEP have brought them any benefits after they leave the cocoon of their schools. This is especially so in KL where they can see firsthand how the NEP is exploited by the well connected UMNO cronies. The battle in their hearts and minds to reconcile the reality around them with the propaganda they have been taught to believe all their lives must be gut-wrenching indeed.
In order to assuage this anguish the mat rempits and their minahs resort to what some call ‘mental masturbation’. The mat rempits blatant disregard of the law is a way of making themselves believe that they as Malays are somehow still special. At laest for one day every week they can feel like ‘tuans’.
With regard to the new revelations on the May 13 riots let’s just say inteligence services are sometimes not very accurate in their revelations. Time will tell.
12:26 AM, May 13, 2007 Website – http://ktemoc.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-13-facists-dream-come-true.html
Surviving 38 years of the May 13 bloodshed
Yesterday, May 13, activist Dr Kua Kia Soong launched a significant book to give a different perspective to the May 13 incident.
The book, titled May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969, is based on newly declassified documents including foreign dispatches and confidential reports at the time, which are now made available in the Public Records Office in London after the 30-year secrecy rule over these documents had lapsed.
Kua, an ex-ISA detainee and now principal of New Era College, concluded his findings by arguing that the May 13 incident was a plot to oust then premier Tunku Abdul Rahman and not spontaneous clashes between Malay and Chinese as official history trying to paint it. Quote:
“The (official) history of May 13 is full of nonsense, it doesn’t reveal anything. It pins the blame on the opposition party which was not true, they were not the responsible party,” Kua told malaysiakini in a recent interview.
“My book shows the responsible party were those ascendent state capitalist class (in Umno), elements within that gave rise and implemented this plan. There was a plan based on the people who assembled at the (Selangor) menteri besar(Harun Idris)’s house. [...]
Kua maintained the May 13 incident was a coup d’etat against the Tunku by the then emergent Malay state capitalists – backed by the police and army – to seize control of the reign of power from the old aristocrats to implement the new Malay agenda. [...]
A secret document from the British cabinet office featured in the book showed that barely a week after the riots broke out, the Central Intelligence Agency had figured out what Tun Razak was planning – “to formalise Malay dominance, sideline the Chinese and shelve the Tunku”.
Interestingly, former head of the Special Branch Yuen Yuet Ling showed up at the book launching ceremony and address the audience during Q&A time and declared that the May 13 bloodshed has no connection to the Malaysan Communist Party.
Kua, however, strongly advocated the formation of a commission of inquiry to let the nation attain the truth over the tragedy.
“The inquiry is crucial for national reconciliation — the elusive national unity we talk about, the elusive ethnic relation we want in this country but unless we have that inquiry, we will not get that reconciliation,” Kua said.
Malaysiakini has detailed citations and excerpts of the book:
- Exorcising the ghosts of May 13
- What actually happened during the 1969 tragedy
- Unveiling the ‘May 13’ riots
The book is priced RM20 per copy. Get it at Suaram, or from the bookshops next week. Website – http://www.jeffooi.com/2007/05/surviving_the_may_13_bloodshed.php
The story behind the publishing of “May 13″ May 11, 2007
Posted by elizabethwong in Race Relations, Malaysia, History, Politics. trackback
“The May 13 was a pretext for staging that coup… I am not the first person who said it was a coup d’etat but I am providing the documents to show how it was a coup d’etat.” (11 May 2007, “Unveiling the ‘May 13′ riots”, Malaysiakini.com)
There is a tiny story behind the ‘making-of’ Dr. Kua Kia Soong’s latest book “May 13″.
It almost didn’t go to print.
The manuscript was ready early in the year.
Everyone was lined up, from publisher to printer, lawyers to proof-readers.
Then Kua was informed that the publisher decided to pull out. So did the printer.
“What if something happens to us? We are only a small publisher…”
No one should even think of blaming them as their fears are real.
As real as seeing a keris brandished in the air during the ruling party’s annual assembly, the very weapon which the then Youth chief of Umno threatened to “bathe it in Chinese blood” twenty years ago.
As real as helping your parents stock up tinned food, water and rice during a number of political flashpoints.
So there we were scratching our heads, wondering who else in this city would want to touch such a ‘hot-potato’, then Dr. Kua asked us over the email, “Would Suaram consider publishing it?”
The ‘ayes‘ from the Secretariat were unanimous. And so here it is.
*************
“May 13″ isn’t another fashionable pomo attempt at rewriting history. I can’t speak for Dr. Kua or the rest of the Secretariat, but there is such a thing as objective truth.
The Barisan Nasional have kept the public in check for close to 4 decades, by reminding us that anything can happen to *you*.
Even as recent as during the Ijok by-election, certain party workers employed “May 13″ as their clincher during the last days of campaigning, targetting elderly Chinese folks of Pekan Ijok and Batang Berjuntai.
How much longer can we sit by the sidelines? How much longer do we allow ourselves to be held hostage?
Over the past years, there’s been an increasing bambification of race relations and a false sense of nostalgia – that ‘in the past’ (insert: – 1950s/ 1960s/1970s/ 1980s), we were a bunch of happy-shiny-people-holding-hands; and that by sampling each other’s food, going to national schools or national service, and remolding oneself to become trendy liberal cosmopolitans, we will be able to face the brave new world.
Perhaps that’s possible, in an alternate universe of unicorns and giant dragonflies, but not here.
There is a need to reconcile with the past and to change the present trajectory politics governs our national psyche, our economy and our identities.
“May 13″ is only a starting point. No person in Suaram is deluded to believe that the book itself will change the course of history.
But the idea of a truly non-racial society in Malaysia has never been buried. Ideas can change the way people think. Ideas create hope. Ideas and hope are eternal. The question isn’t ‘how’, but ‘when’.
And real power lies ultimately in the hands of the rakyat to chart a new course for the nation and to make history.
(So please do come for the launch and the forum; buy copies of this book to pass around; make a donation so that we can translate and print more copies!)
Comments»
1. hasilox – May 11, 2007
How many bookshop willing to carry this title?
Can buy online?
2. Gua Bay Song – May 11, 2007
Aye!
*now if only I know how to link this to my blog*
3. lawren – May 11, 2007
racial issues is very much alive. the recent maybank policy regarding law firms is a fiasco. sad and disappointed we still have corporate leaders who have such mentality.
4. LOne – May 11, 2007
The truth cannot be forever hidden. The untruth is always scary. Only the truth can set one free.
All truth loving ones should contribute to the truth. That the least one can do.
Our first among equals is so truth loving, surely he can contribute.
5. monsterball – May 11, 2007
Will buy the book and I have very high regards for the author..Dr. Kua Kia Soong. Have been following his many letters published at papers for years.
6. liong – May 11, 2007
Dr. Kua has confirmed what I knew all along but no one except those involved in the historic May 10th election (Custers Last Stand?) as I was,would believe- the notion of a coup-de-tat as the writer so eloquently puts it was too far fetched in the hurly-burly of curfews(I,ve been caught in a few and broke a few too) and rumour mongering in the last two weeks in May 1969.After 4 decades,th
idea of a Malaysian Malaysia is still a deeply cherished idea in my household now spread throughout the world all-be-it in those countries develpoed enough to truly understand the meaning of equality,fraternity and liberty.
I came back to witness the Ijok by-election near a constituency I used to know.The struggle is the same.Only the players are different.I could almost imagine Hishamuddin playing the part of Harun Idris and Khairy Jammaluddin playing Suhaimi Kammaruddin.The only difference-now there is Anwar Ibrahim and Khalid Ibrahim instead of Lim Kit Siang and Goh Hock Guan.But are they really struggling for a Malaysian Malaysia!?
Looking forward to the book
7. GoofyChinese – May 11, 2007
Congratulation Dr. Kua for publishing the declassified details of the MAY 13. I will definitely get a copy to read and also to pass it around. I am sure I will learn a thing or two here from the truth of what really happened. I was only 10 years old when May 13 happened. I still remember that we are give empty kerosene tin to beat if there is an attack to our village. Just beside is a Malay Kampong. I am glad that nothing happens between the Chinese village and Malay kampong. I hope from your book, it will take away fears of the Chinese or Malay that a recurrance of May 13 will happen. Now, our Malay brethens should know who actually started the riot back then.
8. bique – May 11, 2007
for a long time, we know the official version of the “may-13″ was factually wrong as it blamed the communists becos my late dad was a witness too. looking forward to getting a copy. but please be warned of the seizure of the books on the eve of the launch by some authorities.
9. elizabethwong – May 12, 2007
To all who have inquired about where to get this book:-
The book will be available on the internet via http://kinibooks.com and http://gerakbudaya.com
It should available in all *fine* bookstores in the country. You can ask them to order if you can’t find it, presumably it’s sold out
. Otherwise that bookshop of yours ain’t ‘fine’!
You may also purchase it from Suaram. Tel: 03-7784 3525 or email: suaram@suaram.net
Bique:- Why would the authorities seize it? It’s not banned. But If they do turn up to take copies, they’ll have to pay for them, like anyone else. No special favours.
10. mob1900 – May 12, 2007
“Malays, Chinese and Indians don’t suddenly decide to fight in conflict, it doesn’t happen like that,” he said.
At the top of the atrocity, you could always find it’s the Politikus which orchestrate these black events in history. May13 is not our ‘Common Ground’, it’s just some mofor trying to wrestle power no matter the consequences.
11. monsterball – May 12, 2007
I lived in Setapak Garden, Gombak Road and we Chinese fought the malays burning chinese houses for a month! They were equipped with parangs and assisted by the military with sten guns. We were armed with bamboo sticks only…yet when they came out..even during curfew hours..we were not afraid to come out too. they ran whenever seeing us.
It was when announced by loudspeakers…that the pengkulu will throw a durian party at the Lee Rubber Estate compound..that our chinese eldest advised us all to go. Harun ….the hypocrite who stared it all….spoked and the the crying pengkulu spoke with much love and affections for all races.
I had to rushed back from Batu Pahat with few friends in several cars. although fightings were concentrated at KL only…faces of hatreds with foul mouths young malays armed with stones at their hands were seen everywhere. we made few stopovers…as they were curfews. Few miles before reaching Melaka…I was stoned by more than a dozen malays. Luckily it was a a straight road…I ducked and my side glass door was all smashed up!! Then a group of Chinese rushed out to escort me to two hundred yards away and told me to drive safely home.
Reaching my house…I was all ready to die to protect chinese houses being burn up. we never burn back malay houses. We were after those culprits…but they were cowards…assisted by military people. And until the Sarawak Rangers came and was fair …to all…peace was seem coming back slowly.
12. Top Posts « WordPress.com – May 12, 2007
[…] The story behind the publishing of “May 13″ [image] “The May 13 was a pretext for staging that coup… I am not the first person who said it was a coup […] […]
13. May 13th – Book Launch & Public Forum « { w a s t e d t a l e n t } – May 12, 2007
[…] For more information: Ms. Enalini Dewi Ellumalai : +60 3 77843525 Suaram : Web | Email The story behind the book. […]
14. Salleh RAHMAN – May 12, 2007
Razak, Harun Idris and Mahathir have much to answer for the pain and suffering during May the 13th
They will pay for their sins for the truth must prevail
15. mob1900 – May 12, 2007
Monty,
you should start blogging, it is the new way to ‘Bomb Da System’, i sensed there’s still ‘Rebel’ fire in you! I’m sure there are haters out there that hates every fiber in your being but you will have many readers out there who thinks otherwise. C’mon!
16. marcus – May 13, 2007
Wow. I look forward to getting my mitts on this!
17. monsterball – May 13, 2007
Thanks but no. I feel at home as a commenter.
YOU KNOW ME TOO WELL TO ASK ME SAME QUESTION MOB1900.
Who am I to Sheih’s kickdefella site?
I am not a rebel. I speak my mind out without fear nor favour and I do not belong to any party…and my vote is not for sale.
I am free as a bird…hahahaha
Me blog owner…are you nuts?
You just wished me happy birthday at Sheih’s site. How many commenters get a special photo put out by Sheih…not once…but few times….and wattahack got caught with the fun and made one of me an big dog…you saw that too. I am enjoying the love I have from all of you blog owners…why change?
Take care mob1900.
18. monsterball – May 13, 2007
mob1900…went to your site and read your details on ‘Bomb Da System” concept…very nice idea..but not practical.
I just want you to remember..you are the first calling me a patriot long long ago..remember? I still am..not a rebel.
Have a nice day!
19. Antares – May 13, 2007
May 13… September 11… July 7… Friday 13… what, are we to be dictated to by superstitions conjured by crafty old sorcerers? Bravo, Kua… Bravo, Suaram! Sorry, couldn’t make it physically to the launch but I’d sure like a copy for my archives.
20. Micky – May 13, 2007
The last few days, reading about the launch of Dr Kua’s book, has been troubling….. brings back memories better not to be remembered, yet not to be forgotten either. Having to recall escaping the parang wielding mobs on both sides of Hale Road , and having to avoid burning vehicles about 7:00pm coming out from the Sultan Sulaiman Club padang is still painful. Never mind my personal recollections, but it is near impossible not to still feel anger. In an odd sort of way I am lucky for being just only a 15-yr old in ‘69 – had I been a year or two older, I would have been earlier drafted into the neighbourhood gang, and would have had to do duty to defend the village. If caught, such gangs would’ve been included in the numbers for “members of secret societies”. Pity, they were not described as heroes that they in fact were, in defence of many Chinese settlements. And living for months on the terraces at Chinwoo was not much fun either, but in the circumstances, can’t complain at all.
Yet now even after 39 years, the government, specifically some UMNO hotheads including its Deputy Chairman, Youth Chief and Deputy, still finds it “cool” to continually remind us non-Malay Malaysians.
Can we ever exorcise the ghost of May 13? I say, with the likes of the leaders we have, Never Ever will it be banished. Why would UMNO ever do away with such a “useful” weapon to be unsheathed whenever its hold on power is threatened, internally or externally? If it is to happen again (God forbid!) the damage will be greater, and the prospects for a recovery will be near zero.
21. Sivin Kit’s Garden » May 13 – Not forgotten … – May 14, 2007
[…] ?The story behind the publishing of ?May?13″ […] Website – http://elizabethwong.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/the-story-behind-the-publishing-of-may-13/
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TIME MAGAZINE’s Report on Malaysia in 1969 : May 23, 1969 and July, 18, 1969
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Read here earlier posting: “MAY 13 : Dr. Kua’s Latest Book Based on Declassified Documents – Deconstructing the Myths and the Official Version ”
FOR THE RECORDS:
This was how Time Magazine reported on the May 13, 1969 Race Riots in Malaysia in its May 23, 1969 Issue and the aftermath in the July 18, 1969 Issue
MAY 23, 1969
-The cover of Time Magazine, May 23, 1969 Issue
The World (Malaysia) : RACE WAR IN MALAYSIA: Click HERE to original article
MALAYSIA’S proud experiment in constructing a multiracial society exploded in the streets of Kuala Lumpur last week. Malay mobs, wearing white headbands signifying an alliance with death, and brandishing swords and daggers, surged into Chinese areas in the capital, burning, looting and killing. In retaliation, Chinese, sometimes aided by Indians, armed themselves with pistols and shotguns and struck at Malay kampongs (villages). Huge pillars of smoke rose skyward as houses, shops and autos burned.
Firemen drew sniper fire as they attempted to douse the flames, and outnumbered police watched helplessly at times as the street gangs rampaged. One man, trying to escape from his burning car, was thrown back into it by a howling mob, and died. By the time the four days of race war and civil strife had run their course, the General Hospital’s morgue was so crowded that bodies were put into plastic bags and hung on ceiling hooks. Government officials, attempting to play down the extent of the disaster, insisted that the death toll was only 104. Western diplomatic sources put the toll closer to 600, with most of the victims Chinese.
No Longer Satisfied. From its inception, Malaysia has been haunted by racial divisions. By tacit agreement, the Federation’s 4,300,000 Malays under Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman wielded political power. Economic power was largely in the hands of Malaysia’s 3,400,000 Chinese. There are also the 1,000,000 Indians and Pakistanis who make up the third major ethnic group. What made it all work was the Tunku’s Alliance coalition, in which Malay, Chinese and Indian parties participated. But for some time the Chinese and Indians had feared that eventually they would be pushed out as laws favoring Malays for schools and jobs bore fruit.
The trouble began two weeks ago, when newly formed Chinese opposition parties cut heavily into the Alliance’s majority in parliamentary elections. It became suddenly apparent that many Chinese were no longer satisfied with just economic hegemony, but wanted a protective share of the political power as well. Nothing was more surely calculated to frighten the Malays, in particular the Malay “ultras” (right-wingers), who have long preached the doctrine of Malaysia for the Malays. Alarmed, the ultras began to discuss ways of retaining control. At a Malay post-election meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Chinese onlookers began to taunt those in attendance. Infuriated, the Malays attacked. At least eight Chinese were killed and within 45 minutes fast-spreading riots forced the Tunku to clamp a 24-hour curfew on the capital.
Returning to Singapore. Struggling to restore order as the fighting mushroomed, the Tunku and Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak took power into their own hands. Parliament was suspended, as were constitutional guarantees. Total administrative power was taken by the newly formed, all-powerful National Operations Council headed by Razak, which proceeded to suspend publication of all Malaysian newspapers for several days. Arrests began. Ninety-three alleged terrorists were bagged in a swoop on a Chinese apartment building in Kuala Lumpur, and Razak reported that all Communists and known sympathizers were being rounded up. Razak and the Tunku blamed all the troubles on Communist China, which, they charged, had funneled large sums of money to Communist agitators in Malaysia. Later, however, the Tunku backed off slightly, and praised “loyal Chinese elements,” adding that he had been mistaken when he blamed Chinese Communists for all the troubles.
As tensions eased late in the week, curfews were lifted long enough to allow householders to go out and buy food. The fires burned on, however, and there were still occasional racial clashes. For some time to come, Malaysia would be a bitterly divided society. Already many Chinese have given up hope: one senior government official spoke of abandoning everything in Kuala Lumpur and returning to his native Singapore. There was no doubt that if many others followed his example, severe damage to Malaysia’s once-prospering economy would result. Beyond that was the question of whether the wounds opened last week would ever sufficiently heal to permit Malaysia’s diverse peoples to resume their quest for a working multiracial nation.
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JULY 18, 1969
-Cover of Time Magazine, July 18, 1969 Issue
The World (Malaysia) : PREPARING FOR A POGROM : Click HERE to original article
Residents of Kuala Lumpur, both rich and poor, used to congregate by the thou sands each night around long rows of food stalls throughout the city. Many were there for their evening meal of satay (meat roasted on a short skewer of cane and dipped in curry sauce). Others stopped off on their way home for a bowl of soup. In the polyglot capital of Malaysia, this nightly relaxation attracted not only Malays but also citizens of the large Chinese minority and the smaller Indian and Pakistani groups.
For the past two months, however, Kuala Lumpur’s food stalls have closed early and the street crowds that usually mingled pleasantly now scatter for cover at any unusual sound. In the wake of bloody race riots that may have claimed 2,000 lives, Malaysia’s peoples have bro ken little bread together; they have probably broken any hope for multiracial harmony for many years to come.
Last week, though no further rioting occurred, Kuala Lumpur was a city of mounting tensions and widening divisions. In the weeks since the first riots—which terrified primarily the Chinese, since they were the main victims—new incidents have centered on Indian communities as well. With both minorities now targets for mob attack, the struggle has become more clearly than ever the Malay extremists’ fight for total hegemony. Whether or not the Malay-controlled police force and emergency government have actually stirred up some of the house-burning, spear-carrying mobs, they seem unwilling to clamp down on them. Strict government censorship has created a news void that forces panicked citizens to keep their transistor radios tuned to the police band and gives credence to constant ru mors of terror. Chinese secret societies, the backbone of self-defense whenever officials are distrusted, are flourishing and, justifiably or not, Malaysia’s minorities are preparing for a pogrom.
Benefits at the Top. Malaysia’s working arrangement for the past 20 years has always kept political power in the hands of Malays but allowed the more commercially aggressive Chinese and Indians to accumulate much of the economic power. Outwardly, this combi nation brought twin blessings. Malaysia developed a thriving modern economy that produced one of the highest per cap ita incomes in Asia, and at the same time enjoyed the personal freedoms of a liberal democracy. Presiding over the hopeful experiment was the avuncular figure of 66-year-old Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. His Alliance coalition, dominated by Malays but including both Chinese and Indian parties, won control of Parliament during the election of 1955, two years before in dependence, and has kept it ever since.
For all its practical success, Malaysia never really managed to overcome racial enmities. The Chinese and Indians resented Malay-backed plans favoring the majority, including one to make Malay the official school and government language. The poorer, more rural Malays became jealous of Chinese and Indian prosperity. Perhaps the Alliance’s greatest failing was that it served to benefit primarily those at the top. It was not unheard of for a government official to discover a new car in his garage, its donor a mystery until a Chinese towkay (rich merchant) mentioned it offhandedly—and then perhaps asked for a favor. For a Chinese or Indian who was not well-off, or for a Malay who was not well-connected, there was little largesse in the system. Even for those who were favored, hard feelings persisted. One towkay recently told a Malay official: “If it weren’t for the Chinese, you Malays would be sitting on the floor without tables and chairs.” Replied the official: “If I knew I could get every damned Chinaman out of the country, I would willingly go back to sitting on the floor.”
Lip Service. Malaysia’s democracy has been suspended as a result of the riots. Three days after they began, both the Tunku and the constitutional monarch handed over all their powers to the ambitious Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. He now presides over a state-of-emergency ruling group called the National Operations Council. Heavily dependent on the military and Malay extremists for support, the N.O.C. government today is run by men who believe that Malaysia’s only hope is to find a solution to the minority “problem”—and are willing to accept a lower standard of living, or even shed the federation’s non-Malay Borneo states to find it. This month Razak, who as a former Minister of National and Rural Development became committed to programs for Malay supremacy, announced a new economic program. Though he has not yet given militants free reign and still manages to pay lip service to the notion that “prosperity must be spread throughout the nation,” his proposals for new government-run industry, rural development and industrial training courses all seem designed solely to benefit the Malay community.
Malays could not take over the economy within the foreseeable future. They simply do not have the capital or the know-how to manage it, especially in the field of rubber production, in which Malaysia is the world leader. However, they do have the power to wreck the economy—and seemingly the hatred that could make them use it. The majority of Chinese and Indians have come to believe, as a result of the riots, that they cannot expect government protection from Malay mobs.
In retaliation, Chinese merchants have already raised prices on many goods to Malay buyers and cut off paja (credit), by which many a Malay farmer buys seed for his next crop. More ominous still, the conflict, at first only an urban affair, is spreading to the countryside. Chinese-owned pickup trucks have ceased collecting the fishing catch from the Strait of Malacca. The eagerly awaited season for durian, a large and delectable strong-scented fruit grown only in Asia, is now at its peak. In any other year, Malay farmers would make small fortunes on this rare fruit. Last week durians were rotting by the roadside because Chinese trucks were not sent for them—as they are not being sent anywhere in Malaysia’s rice bowl. Economies will not long endure that kind of standoff, and the result is likely to be fresh explosions of racial strife.
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Website – http://malaysianunplug.blogspot.com/2007/05/time-magazines-report-on-malaysia-in.html
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“MAY 13″ : Dr. Kua’s Latest Book Based on Declassified Documents – Deconstructing the Myths and the Official Version
Friday, May 11, 2007
FROM MALAYSIKINI : READ HERE and HERE
” …the May 13 incident was a coup d’etat against the Tunku by the then emergent Malay state capitalists – backed by the police and army – to seize control of the reign of power from the old aristocrats to implement the new Malay agenda.
… and the riots were works of “Malay thugs” orchestrated by politicians behind the coup. ”
-Dr. Kua Kia Soong
Dr Kua Kia Soong’s book “May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969″ will be launched at 10am on Sunday (May 13, 2007) at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur. A forum will also be held to discuss the May 13 tragedy. (Free Admission).
READ HERE RELATED ARTICLE: “TIME MAGAZINE’s Report on Malaysia in 1969 : May 23, 1969 and July, 18, 1969″
Read here related article on Elizabeth Wong’s Blog:
“…It almost didn’t go to print.
The manuscript was ready early in the year. Everyone was lined up, from publisher to printer, lawyers to proof-readers.Then Kua was informed that the publisher decided to pull out. So did the printer.So there we were scratching our heads, wondering who else in this city would want to touch such a ‘hot-potato.
Then Dr. Kua asked us over the email, “Would Suaram consider publishing it?”
The ‘ayes‘ from the Secretariat were unanimous. And so here it is….”
Excerpts: Read here and here for more
“… It has been almost four decades since the May 13 racial riots broke out.
What had prompted the worst riots in Malaysia’s 50-year history remained shrouded under a veil of secrecy, although there are several versions on the matter so far.
The ‘official version’ of it has always been the violence was triggered off by the Chinese-dominated opposition supporters’ provocation in celebrating their electoral victory which saw the ruling Alliance Party suffered a major setback.
This version, however was consistently rebutted by the opposition group who claimed otherwise. Other theories also suggested that the riots was rather a planned attack to oust then premier Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Late last year, Dr Kua took a three-month sabbatical leave to the Public Records Office in London to study records and declassified documents on the May 13 incident after a 30-year secrecy rule over these documents lapse.
His findings based on the declassified documents – which have been compiled into a new book to be launched on Sunday – found the entire May 13 riots were by NO means a spontaneous outburst of racial violence, as it has been portrayed to the Malaysian public.
Dr. Kua Kia Soong said it is his hope to smash TWO MYTHS with the publication of the book.
(The first myth) is racial riot will occur when the Malays are not happy, that’s why you need the New Economic Policy, affirmative action policy et cetera, otherwise the Malays will be unhappy and there will be riot. This is the first myth we should dismantle as documents showed some people were involved in MAKING it (the May 13) happened with the connivance of the police and army.
The second myth is academicians and pluralist theorists who uphold the views that riots and conflicts will occur naturally in multi-racial country. “I am questioning this. The role of the state is very important at a particular historical conjuncture. Malays, Chinese and Indians DON’T suddenly decide to fight in conflict, it doesn’t happen like that,” he said.
Dr Kua stressed:
“The (official) history of May 13 is full of nonsense, it doesn’t reveal anything. It pins the blame on the opposition party which was not true, they were not the responsible part.
My book shows the responsible party were those ascendent state capitalist class (in Umno), elements within that gave rise and implemented this plan. There was a plan based on the people who assembled at the (Selangor) menteri besar’s house.
There are correspondences and intelligence reports which showed that. Official history has to reveal that truth and not to pin the blame on everybody around who are not to be blamed.”
He added that documents showed LESS than a week after the riots, then deputy premier Tun Abdul Razak who headed the National Operations Council was already in full control of the country – an indication that there had been a plot.
A secret document from the British cabinet office featured in the book showed that barely a week after the riots broke out, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had figured out what Tun Razak was planning – “to formalise Malay dominance, sideline the Chinese and shelve the Tunku”.
The role of the security forces in the May 13 bloodshed was also questioned in Kua’s findings.
“Even at that time, people in the diplomatic core (were wondering) how come the day the riot broke out, Razak met with the chiefs of the police and army but they did NOT do anything,” he said.
Interestingly, Kua pointed out the Malaysian security forces had been tested and tried during the war against the communist insurgency between 1948 and 1960 and earned their reputation. “They are one of the most effective in putting down the communist insurrection that is a far, far more difficult operation than putting down riot, but they could not put down (such riot) in 1969 for days, for weeks,” he questioned.
It thus brought to Kua’s conclusion: “The May 13 was a pretext for staging that coup… I am not the first person who said it was a coup d’etat but I am providing the documents to show how it was a coup d’etat.”
Asked on whether there is any fear that the authorities might move to ban the publication of the book, as in the case of a recent ban slapped on a book about the Kampung Medan clashes, Kua responded:
“In the age of the internet, what does banning a book mean? We can put it on the Web, you can’t do anything.”
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN MAY 1969
Below are excerpts and summary of the chronology of events based on the declassified documents taken from Kua’s book:
May 10:
The ruling Alliance Party suffered a major setback in the general election although it had managed to retain a simple parliamentary majority. They had lost Penang to the Gerakan Party; Kelantan to the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party while Perak and Selangor were at the brink of falling into the opposition’s hands.
May 11 and May 12:
On both nights, the opposition celebrated their victory. A large Gerakan procession was held to welcome the left-wing Gerakan leader V David back from winning the federal seat in Penang.
May 13:
The MCA which had suffered badly at the polls, announced that it would withdraw from the cabinet while remaining within the Alliance.
A dispatch from a foreign correspondent showed it is evident that there was a plan for youths mobilised by Umno elements to assemble at then Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris’ residence in the late afternoon. A retaliatory march had been planned although police permission was withheld.
When people were still assembling for the parade, trouble broke out in the nearby Malay section of Kampung Baru, where two Chinese lorries were burnt. The ensuing carnage at Kampung Baru and Batu Road quickly spread elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur.
The foreign correspondent noted the curfew that was imposed was not fairly applied to all.
“In the side streets off Jalan Hale, I could see bands of Malay youths armed with parangs and sharpened bamboo spears assembled in full view of troops posted at road junctions. Meanwhile, at Batu Road, a number of foreign correspondents saw members of the Royal Malay Regiment firing into Chinese shophouses for no apparent reason.”
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman immediately attributed the violence as triggered off by the behaviour of opposition supporters after the election result announcement while his deputy Tun Abdul Razak pinned the blame on the communists.
May 14:
The riots continued but on a smaller scale. The curfew was only lifted in staggered hours in various districts to allow people to buy food. The police called out all possible reserves and handed over the northern part of the city to the army.
Police put casualties for the previous night incident at 44 killed and about 150 injured. Another dispatch showed the casualties were mainly Chinese as it stated that out of 77 corpses in the morgue of the General Hospital on May 14, at least 60 were Chinese.
The government’s attempts to blame the communists for the riots were however not taken seriously by the officials at the British High Commission (BHC) who could see that the Tunku was not prepared to blame his own people for the riots, nor was he going to blame it on the Chinese “as a whole”.
May 15:
The King proclaimed a state of emergency. The National Operations Council headed by Tun Razak was formed. Tun Razak was still responsible to the Tunku, but all the powers under Emergency Regulations were vested in him.
The curfew had been lifted temporarily in Kuala Lumpur that morning but the situation had rapidly worsened and more sporadic fighting had broken out. Curfews were re-imposed but food was very short.
The local press was suspended until censorship regulations could be drawn up but no attempt was made to supervise reports sent out by foreign correspondents.
May 16:
The situation was still tense in Selangor with cars and houses being burned and fatalities rising. Death tolls had risen to 89 with over 300 injured. 24 hour curfew remained in force in Selangor and had also been imposed in Malacca. In Penang and Perak, the situation had improved although the curfew remained in force.
Tunku made a broadcast in which he announced the setting up of a National Defence Force to be manned by volunteers. The new information minister Hamzah Abu Samah and Tun Razak gave a press conference pinning the blame for the riots on communist infiltration of the opposition parties.
There were reports of looting by the largely Malay military and their bias against the Chinese Malaysians. Number of refugees were increasing.
May 17:
From a BHC telegram, it showed there were skepticism among British officers toward the official figures for fatalities and the preponderance of Chinese casualties among the dead. The police estimated the deaths at about 100 now while British officers estimated the proportion of Chinese to Malay casualties is about 85:15.
The press censorship invited criticism not only from the local press but also in diplomatic circles especially when official statements lacked clarity and credibility.
In a confidential BHC memorandum to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the coup d’etat has been acknowledged and it has effected the transfer of power not only to “Malay hands” but also to the security forces. The latter’s professionalism is questioned.
The BHC also noted the Federal Reserve Unit, which at the time was multiracial in composition, was the more impartial of the security forces while the Malay troops were discriminatory in enforcing the curfew.
“Discriminatory takes the form, for example, of not, repeat not, enforcing the curfew in one of the most violently disposed of the Malay areas in Kuala Lumpur (Kampung Baru) where Malays armed with parangs, etc continue to circulate freely; with the inevitable result that gangs slip through the cordon round the area and attack Chinese outside it. In Chinese areas, the curfew is strictly enforced.”
May 18:
The Tunku qualified his earlier assertion that the disturbances were caused by communists, putting the blame instead on assorted “bad elements”. He also announced the deferment of the Sarawak elections and the continuance of the restrictions on the movement of foreign journalists.
The situation was still unsettled in some parts of the capital city.
May 19:
Less than a week after the riots, the reins of power had effectively passed to Tun Razak, indicating that there had been a plot to bring about the coup d’etat.
“The exact relationship between Tun Razak and the Tunku is not clear. In public Tun Razak says he is directly responsible to the Tunku but he has made it clear privately that he is completely in charge of the country. This could mean the beginning of a process of withdrawal by the Tunku as an effective PM”.
There are some 10,000 reported refugees. The local press was allowed to publish under censorship while foreign journalists had their curfew passes withdrawn. Some opposition politicians were arrested.
May 20:
In a meeting, an Australian High Commissioner had suggested the opposition leaders should be given a role as peace maker but Tun Razak and Ghazali Shafie were firmly against this. “They considered opposition leaders would simply use such an opportunity to promote their own political views.”
The Malaysian Red Cross Society is continuing its daily feeding programme for refugees in various places and over 5,000 had received food supplies.
May 21:
The official statistics of casualties at this juncture were 137 killed (18 Malays), 342 injured, 109 vehicles burned, 118 buildings destroyed and 2,912 persons arrested who were mostly curfew breakers.
May 23:
The declassified documents reveal that Malay troops were not only fraternising with the Malay thugs but were discharging their firearms indiscriminately at Chinese shophouses as they went through the city.
“When confronted by foreign correspondents with reports of racial discrimination, Tun Razak flatly denied them. Following this, curfew passes issued to foreign journalists were withdrawn and reporters were ordered to remain indoors ‘for their own safety’.”
A foreign correspondent’s report showed the Malay hooligans were detested by the law-abiding Malays of Kampung Baru.
Internal security and home minister Tun Dr Ismail indicated that the Internal Security Act would be in future amended to “counter changing communist tactics”. It was disclosed that of the 3,699 arrested during the crisis, 952 were members of secret societies.
May 24:
Law and order has been re-established in Kuala Lumpur and the atmosphere in the town had improved. People were going back to work (in non-curfew hours) and the government offices were limbering into action. The curfew remained in force (from 3pm to 6.30am of the following day). The government was not ready to admit that it was armed Malay youth who had caused the disturbances.
May 27:
The Tunku was under pressure to resign as he was clearly incensed by foreign journalists’ speculations about his weakening position and got his private secretary to write a protest note to the BHC.
May 28:
A confidential report by the BHC to the FCO on this day observed the government’s attempts to blame the communists for the disturbances were an attempt to justify their new authoritarian powers.
June:
The riots had been under control but they were still sporadic outbreaks of civil disturbances. A BHC report noted violence erupted again in one part of Kuala Lumpur on the night of June 28 and 29, a number of houses were burnt and the casualties were officially given as five killed and 25 injured. Some disturbances toward the end of June also involved ethnic Indians.
July:
Renewed trouble in which one policeman was killed was quickly stopped from spreading in Kuala Lumpur by positive police action.
Tun Ismail’s firm stand in ordering the security forces to act firmly ‘without favour or discrimination’ to any communal group and the Tunku’s announcement of a National Goodwill Committee made up of politicians of all parties went some way toward allaying the fears of the people.
Tun Ismail also revealed the total arrests since May now stood at 8,114, comprising people “from all the major racial groups”. Of these, 4,192 had been charged in court, 675 released on bail, 1,552 unconditionally released and 1,695 preventively detained.
Situation in the Peninsula had improved substantially but tension remains high in sensitive areas of Malacca, Perak and Selangor.
Tension had begun to ease until Malay agitation connected with Tunku’s return to a position of influence and the removal of Dr Mahathir Mohamad from Umno’s general committee on July 12 had heightened it again. Malay university students petitioned for Tunku’s resignation and demonstrated on the campus.
Website – http://malaysianunplug.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-13-dr-kua-kia-soongs-latest-book.html#c5561697133285374482
May 13: Four decades of secrecy exposed
N Surendran
May 16, 07 4:35pm Adjust font size:
I refer to the malaysiakini report Ministry seizes controversial May 13 book. Dr Kua Kia Soong’s new book, ‘May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969′ may look like a dry academic thesis, but it moves at a cracking pace. It is also undoubtedly one of the most important books ever published on Malaysian society and politics.
May 13 made this country. Or more accurately, it un-made it. Kua, making use of newly de-classified documents tells us why the May 13 incident happened, and who were the people responsible for it.
The gist of what he has to say is what most people who are not abysmally ignorant have long suspected. That:
the May 13 incident was not a ‘spontaneous’ clash between the Malay and Chinese communities;
the key figures in the Alliance government then – such as Tun Abdul Razak – had carefully pre-planned and orchestrated the whole grisly business. Other fellows involved in the ghastly plot or its aftermath in varying degrees were Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Harun Idris and Ghazali Shafie.
the idea was to oust the Tunku who was none too keen on Razak and his cohorts’ new Malay agenda;
the agenda was that of the ‘ascendant Malay state capitalist class’ for political and economic dominance;
the Razak-ites got support from the police and army as evidenced by the partiality of the security forces in favour of the Malays in ‘putting down’ the riots. Curfews were strictly enforced in Chinese areas, whereas soldiers were laughing it up with armed hoodlums in Malay areas.
The difference this book makes is that Kua has marshalled clear documentary evidence as proof of the above. He has drawn from ‘stories fielded by foreign correspondents who were in Kuala Lumpur at the time; dispatches by the British High Commission personnel who kept a close watch on events and who had their ears to the ground; dispatches from the foreign and Commonwealth offices covering the South-west Pacific countries, eg Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore as well as press releases by the Malaysian Red Cross Society’.
Malaysians have never before seen these documents, hitherto mouldering at the Public Records Office in London and now resurrected. These documents establish, beyond any doubt, the manipulative ruthlessness of men like Tun Razak, Tun Dr Ismail, and Datuk Harun Idris.
And in their wake came half-baked national culture peddlers like Ghazali Shafie. Their actions not only caused dreadful loss of life and untold human suffering; May 13 also wrenched this nation away from the path to true parliamentary democracy and left us with the misshapen perverse system of government we now suffer under.
It gave rise to the panoply of repressive legislation which today makes us ‘cribbed, cabined and confined’ in our own country. It has caused us to enter the 21st century encumbered with a political system that is race-based and parochial. It has led to the propagation of racist concepts such as ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ which has entered into mainstream political discourse.
It has resulted in the creation of a special class of citizens called ‘bumiputeras’ who are given preferential treatment by the state; and made second-class citizens of Malaysians of other races. It has become the great bogey, conjured up by the BN government at every general election in order to terrorise Malaysians into voting for them.
It has shamed our nation – a nation that categorises and marks its citizens by their race from birth.
This is the legacy of May 13, and this will remain the legacy of May 13 until the truth of what caused the bloodbath is revealed to all Malaysians, regardless of race. Its repercussions are all around us. Last year, a cabinet minister waved a keris about as a warning to non-Malays, and now Maybank and Ambank have tried to impose bumiputra quotas on legal firms wanting to do business with them.
This is why the importance of Kua’s new book cannot be overstated. In six sharp, short chapters, he has un-done four decades of concealment, evasion and outright lies. In this fine book, he relentlessly pursues the truth, but always in a matter of fact and un-emotional tone. He has no need to resort to histrionics. The bare facts he has presented for our scrutiny speak for themselves.
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Don’t demonise May 13 book
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
May 16, 07 4:32pm Adjust font size:
I refer to the malaysiakini report Ministry seizes controversial May 13 book.
The action by some officials of the Internal Security Ministry in confiscating the book ‘May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969′ on suspicion that it is an undesirable publication should be condemned by all Malaysians.
This act of censorship bears the hallmark of an authoritarian, insecure and hypocritical system which paints the picture of a free and democratic Malaysian society for the outside world whilst actively engaging in suppression of basic rights, including the freedom to information.
This ill-advised measure is revealing of the desperation by certain groups within the government to suppress any other analysis of the May 13 racial riots except that which is in conformity with the distorted official version. Perhaps, various Umno politicians are not to be blamed for responsibility for the riots. Perhaps, it is other parties or other individuals.
Judgment on May 13 needs to be made with the fullest possible information on what happened and incorporating the views of those affected by this tragic event as well as independent observers.
Dr Kua Kia Soong’s book is a praiseworthy attempt to provide a scholarly and independent analysis of this important watershed in our country’s history. Instead of banning the book, the government should welcome it in its effort to provide Malaysians with a more accurate picture of what happened during May 13 and the aftermath.
Supporters of the government, especially those from the academic community, have the right to be critical of the book and to point out its flaws. Engage with it in public with facts and arguments but don’t demonise or ban it. Let us get at the truth not through concealment or falsification but through transparency and accountability, two principles which the prime minister has publicly endorsed.
I am sure there are individuals and parties with integrity within the government that are aware of the importance and positive value of the book. I call on them to take a public stand and speak out against this illegal act of confiscation and possible banning of the book.
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