MY ACCUSATION - WRITTEN AGAINST THE BLIND STRUGGLE OF THE MALAYAN COMMUNIST PARTY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R008100630010-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 25
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 18, 2000
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: May 1, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CONFI ENT!
"P!IY ACCUSATION"
Author
LAY SWEE
Price per copy
Date of Publication - 1st May, 1951.
Publishing Rights Res6rved.
CONFIDER
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111 017- ACCUSATION -
written against the blind struggle of
The Malayan Communist Party"
by Liam Swee
Former Vice-President of the P.M.F.T.U.
Former Regional Committee Member South
Johore and Political Commissar of 4th
Regimental H.Q. South Johore, of the
M.R.L.J.
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C O N T E N T S
1. My accusation.
My work for the Party during the anti-
Japanese period Ind the. peace period.
3e Bevc.lopment of a peaceful9 dhcnocretic
Trade Union Movement.
4. Failure of the Malayan Communist Party's
tittcznpt in institutin~~ nrired struggle.
5. The inside story of the south Johore
Incident
F,. Hove I surrendered after having been
punished by the Central Political. Bur au.
7. >omr int :e~:~t-~rr~ in,4 i1c news.
8. The "Peoples ITevolutionary `,Tar" under the
leadership or the Ylalmyan Communist Party
has only one future - definite failures
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I have been a member of the Malayan Communist Party
for more than ten years and was a member of the South Johore
Regional Committee during the fight against Japan. After
the Japanese surrender I prepared the setting up of the
P.M.F.T.U. in Singapore and was the acting Secretary General.
Then from 1947 - 1948 I was the vice-president of the
P.M.F.T.U. After the Emergency was declared I held the
posts of Member of the South Johore Regional Committee and
Political Commissar of the 4th Regiment concurrently.
During the past ten years I have drawn a. factual
lesson from the false propaganda and the policy of dictatorial
control over the party,practised by the leaders of the M.C.P.
My motive in writing this book is to expose the M.C.P's mean
craft in deceiving its party members and underlings. I have
awakened as if from a dream and I have wri'ten this open
account of the truth of what goes on inside the M.C.P. I
hope the readers (both the general public and the comrades
In the jungle) will find time to scan these pages. I further
hope that they will be forewarned by my example and not be
deceived by Communist propaganda into mistakenly taking the
wrong path which would result in life long regret.
I am of the working class and no scholar,consequently
writing is not my strong point.However,I have strained to
the utmost any skill and knowledge I may have in-the desire
to write this sincere account of what I know. If the
language I use is awkward at times or incorrect, I trust
the reader will correct it for himself on my behalf.
LAN' SWEE
Written beneath the lamp on 1.5.1951
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,,;~ ~ ram,. Z.A +~ SV'TEE ( )
1. II ACUSA'ON
My heart was struck with a ca llous blow when I read through
a propaganda booklet issued by the Central Political Bureau (
of the Malayan Communist Party on July 20, 19505
entitled "LAP SI EE' S SURRENDER TO THE ENEMY AND BETRAYAL OF T'~7E
PARTY" ( ), which filled me with intense disgust,
for I found the contents nothing but lies and propaganda intended
to deceive. VIhat the Communist Party used to refer to in the past
as humanitarianism, righteousness, truth and facts have been shown,
both by the contents of this booklet and by my personal experience,
to have been lies and slander fabricated by the Communist Party
deliberately in order to destroy and :xpel those who do not fall
within the Party line, by which act the Party's intrigue in
attempting to gain oligarchic control is thus fully exposed.
This booklet accused me of being a traitor to the people
and the Party by surrendering. It pointed out that this action of
mine was the cumulative result of a long, logical development. I
had become, because of the South Johore incident, leader and
originator of all attacks directed against the Central, of anti-
revolutionary activities, and of extreme-democratic and liberal
thoughts., It heaped upon me the blame of all attacks and criticism
by Party and Army personnel against the Central or their superiors.
I was even blamed for the rank and file forwarding suggestions to
their superiors. Finally, I was suspected of having contacted
government authorities in peace time and hence of possibly acting
as a traitor from within the Party after the promulgation of the
Emergency. The fact that dissatisfaction actually existed among
comrades of various ranks against their superiors was completely
ignored, especially in view of the fact that many members of the
Central Committee and executives of middle rank had committed
serious mistakes during the history of the Party's struggle. These
people actually became members of the Central Committee through
the faked election managed by the Central itself.
According to the inlay by which the so-called "Decisions on
Party Reorganisation" ( ) promulgated by the oligarchic
Central was carried out, advancement of Party executives was based
entirely upon personal feelings, and the working record of all
members, including members of the Central Committee, was not
consulted at all as basis when the question of their promotion
arose I know that the Central of the Malayan Communist Party
proclaimed me a traitor, and expelled me from membership in the
Party as well as the Army. I also learned that the Party was
engaged in collecting' all incidents in my long record of struggle
in the Party, from which to devise means to malign me and attack me.
In order to attain its aims in discrediting me the Malayan Communist
Party did not discriminate; what tactics it employed, and libel,
slander and deception constituted its propaganda.
However, I am very happy now because freedom has been
restored to me. I joined the Party more than a decade, during
which I might be likened to a convict under a pillory, who was now
suddenly released and free to see the sun and the sky again. As
for the libel and slander now heaped upon me by the Communist Party,
my attitude is that I always regard the defamation of character in
this world of little account, for where does justice exist in this
world of ours? Naturally my actions against the Party arose out of
my dissatisfaction of the Party. If the Party had really been e
righteous and capable one, appreciative of truth and discriminative
of right and wrong, a truly democratic bona fide political party,
succourer of the people for whose welfare it fought, is it likely
then that I would voluntarily leave it and thus sacrifice the fruits
of a struggle lasting more then a decade? Many comrades in the
other States did not reach the stage of joining our line, how could
the knovi o inside story? It is because of this reason that I
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write this booklet to prove, by actual facts that occurred, the
false propaganda of the Central Political Bureau, so that those
who read it may study it, in order to avoid being deceived by
such unilateral propaganda to the detriment of good reasoning
and a proper sense of right and wrong,
2. MY WORK FOR THE PARTY DURING T 3E ANTI-JAPANESE PERIOD
AND THE PEACE PERIOD:
I joined the Party before the anti-Japanese war. Let me
therefore first explain my motives for joining the Party. Before
joining it I did not know what good points the Communist Party
possessed, neither did I discover what its bad points were. However,
oftentimes friends used to say to me: "The Communist Party is a
very bad thing. It is harmful to the people."
In 1937, I was influenced by the surging waves of anti-
Japanese patriotism. Young men all over Malaya joined in anti-
Japanese work to save the country, and their enthusiasm was great.
Like them I joined in the work with great earnestness. Dbany of
these patriotic young men used to extol the brave and courageous
spirit of members of the Communist Party in their fight against
the Japanese for the salvation of the country, and under the
circumstances an impression was created in me regarding the
Communist Party. I admired it as a gallant and heroic warrior,,
ready to succour the weak, However, I did not make a deep study
of Marx-Leninism. I read some documents on Communism, and under-
stood that the realisation of a communistic society must necessarily
pass through the stage of socialism, before arriving at the
communistic society which was the most desirable social order
among men. Therefore I entsrrLdined grave dissatisfaction regarding
the existing social order, and at the same time longed for the
reclisation of a new, logical, free and equitable social order,
in which each would be given full opportunity for the manifestation
of the best he possessed,.and in which each would be enabled to
obtain what he needed. Everybody would have rice to eat and
everybody would find employment. There would not be man preying
upon man or man killing man. That was the type of new social order
desired by my imagination at that time. I had seen many comrades,
executives and Party members now dead and sacrificed. They really
and truly possessed the spirit to struggle indomitably and even
ready to die for righteous freedom and welfare of the people a They
lived simple lives and we~Ve ready and outright in helping others.
Their words and actions corresponded completely, and they were
fearless in face of oppression or coercion, and were eager to come
to the assistance of a righteous cause whenever they met one. All
these attributes constituted the glorious manifestations of Party
members in bygone days. Consequently my admiration was
evinced on such Party talks as truth, freedom, equality of action,
responsibility in work, and eradication of personal conceit and
deception of others. It could be said that in those days such
appreciation of the Communist Party strengthened my confidence and
resolution. From 1938 onward I therefore participated actively in
the work of Communist-led secret patriotic societies and trade unions.
A certain person introduced me to join the Communist Party
itself in 1939 while I was in Singapore, but I was still not decided
to join. However, the head of the Singapore Federation of Trade
Unions recommended me for the post of Secretary to the Stone Masons'
Trade Union at Pulau Min Island ( ), in which I came
under the influence of the Communist Party. As the result of their
multilateral propaganda on the promising advantages to be accrued
from joining the Party, within a short period sympathy with the
Party was engendered in my mind favouring a decision to join. I
paid monthly "sympathy contributions", In the middle of 1939, I
left this post of a Trade Union Secretary and went to Rengam ( )
in Johore to stay ~,,ith my mother. Soon I forgot about the matter
of joining the Party, and for all intents and purposes my connection
with the Party was severed during the following six months. However,
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whenever I could find time to spare I rendered voluntary assistance
to the Union of my trade and participated in patriotic activities
to the best of my ability. After thus staying with my mother for
about six months, I left my home and went to Layeng Layang (
) and adopted the trade of a barber. The Party Headquarters
at Singapore sent a representative to inform me that I had been
admitted as a probationary member, and introduced me to the local
leader of the Party with whom connection was thus effected. He
frequently sett me Party documents to read. Even then I did not
actually participate in communist activities, but merely maintained
connection with the Party.
In the middle of 19409 the Local Committee ( ) of the
Party in North Johore called a conference to discuss the expansion
of Party executives, and my preceptor decided that I should attend
this conference, where-for he declared me a full Party member.
Several months went by, and the intentions of the Japanese Fascists
to embark upon a campaign of southward aggression became increasingly
evident. Under the leadership of the Party, I engaged in active
anti-Fascist war propaganda, until the end of 1941, just before the
Japanese began their southward advance, when the Local Committee
of the Party in North Johore decided that I should take charge of
the preparatory work for the formation of an Anti-Japanese Mobilisa-
tion Committee ( ) in Layang Layang. When this
organisation was set up, I was sent to Kluang ( ) to
maintain liaison between the two Local Committees of North and
South Johore. Upon Malaya falling into enemy hands, the Central
Committee sent me to take charge of, the Local Committee of North
--Tohore. I was then determined in my resolution of fighting the
Japanese to the last for the preservation of world peace and
democracy. Therefore during the anti-Japanese war and the initial
period of the subsequent peace, I believed that the Party was a
fortress for the preservation of peace and democracy, I was
faithful and obedient to the Party. During this period the leaders
as well as the rank and file in the Party were united in their
struggle for the affairs of the Party as well as the welfare of
the people. I was touched by this spirit which commanded my full
admiration.
When the Allied Forces returned to Malaya upon the surrender
of the Japanese and peace was once more restored, a peaceable Trade
Union Movement began to spread all over Malaya. The working class
of all races in Malaya were labouring under the burden of a very
difficult livelihood, and the personnel of the Anti-Japanese Army
(M.P.A.J.A.) were wandering about unemployed after laying down
their weapons. Under such circumstances when it was well nigh
impossible to obtain two meals per day and a bed at night,corruption
set in within a political party alleged to represent the proletariat
----- the Malayan Communist Party. This was especially true among
the higher Party executives. For instance, the responsible members
of the Central and a portion of responsible members of the State
Committees became negligent in work, corrupted in private life,
and free with the funds. These privileged executives made use of
their controlling position to coerce and swindle their subordinates
and concentrated solely upon their personal enjoyment of the
luxuries of materialistic life9 to the exclusion of any concern
as to whether their subordinates and the Party members were dead
or alive. Full financial powers of the whole Party were concentrated
under the authority of the Central, which spent secretly according to
its own wish, thereby completely robbing the fruits accrued from
the sweat and blood of countless comrades throughout the anti-
Japanese war. Manipulation was also made through the supreme
powers of the Central to effect control over all Trade Unions in
various localities, and the fruits of the Trade Union Movement were
therefore sacrificed upon the altar of the Central. These are real
facts, and many comrades know about them even more clearly and
fully than I do.
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Before the desertion of WRIGHT ( ), most of the
important executive members of the Central Committee of the Malayan
Communist Party and its affiliates stayed in Kuala Lumpur. Their
quarters were set up in fine first-class bungalows along Ampang
Road and Pahang Road at the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur Town. They
moved about in private motor-cars. They employed servants and even
made use of some ignorant female Party members as servile menials.,
No concrete opinion or directive had ever been observed to have
been issued by the Central of the Malavan Communist Party on pan-
Malayan affairs, but there had been a lot of reprimand on the
subordinate members of the Party on trif lin matters of no concern,,
For instance, the "RED FLAG NE'S" ( ) of Selangor criticised
Trade Union executives for wearing white shirts and leather shoes,
alleging that such satorial choice savoured of the corruptive
influences of officialdom. Under the corruptive influence of the
corrupted lives of the members of the Central the executives of
the various State organisations lost no time In emulation,
Irresponsible attacks against the Central, and even voluntary
desertion from the Party eventuated. These facts have become
? open secrets.
After the desertion of WRIGHT, the Central Committee of the
Malayan Communist Party made wanton use of its power to call a
secret meeting on the expansion of pan-Malayan Central executives.
WRIGHT was accused of polygamy, of leading a corrupted life and of
mishandling of funds. From WRIGHT's private life was discovered
the incorrectness of WRIGHT's lines Mistakes and faults of the
Central itself were heaped upon 1TRIGHHT's shoulders, Crimes
attributable to the present Central Committee members were forgotten.
Under such wanton manipulation in the hands of the Central, all the
basic democratic rights of the Party members were completely
eradicated. When comrades of various ranks demanded that a plenary
conference of Party representatives from all over Malaya be held
to re-elect a new Central, and when demands were made that members
of the Central be punished, such actions were regarded as acts of
betrayal of the Party itself. Things came to such a stage that even
the mistakes and responsibilities of the Central alone were
attributed to the whole Party in general, (Reference: the "Decisions
on Party Reorganisation" of the oligarchic Central.) Such apocryphal
logic does not even merit a laugh from the reader. It is like
having a lot of people muddling in all affairs without anyone taking
the necessary responsibility. In other words, we have here a
political party having no responsible head. Fundamentally this is
in exact opposition to an old Chinese saying quoted by Nr.LIU
SHAG-CHI ( )(one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist
Party) in encouragement of Party members, which says: "Before
blaming others first blame one's own self." The present oligarchic
Central, however, seems to dote upon another saying: "Shift our
own faults upon others!" It can therefore be seen that these self-
important and conceited members of the Central Committee were actually
deceiving themselves in their effort to deceive others, while all
the time deceiving the whole Party and the people in the process.
Such. criminal actions deserve more than mere capital punishment,
3. DEVELOPMENT OF APEACEABLE~ DEMOCRATIC TRADE 'UNION NIOVEMENT,
The development of Trade Union Movement in Malaya began at
the conclusion of the war, when the livelihood of the working class
of all races in the country was faced with great difficulties, and
unemployment was on the increase. Pay was low, while the cost of
living was high. Especially significant was the fact that,during
their fight against Fascism and their struggle and urge for active
progress towards the realisation of a democratic political order,
the working class of all races found it opportune to effect active
unification with all peace and democracy loving elements in a
common struggle for the following objectives:
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(a) Preservation of permanent democratic peace in the world.
(b) Strengthening of the power of unity among workers of all
races, to fight for the political rights of the workers
and to promote the social status of the working class.
(c) Increase in wages and improvement in the livelihood of
the workers.
Hence the objectives of the Malavan Trade Union Movement corresponded
exactly with the inherent interests of the workers in Malaya, and
for this reason it evinced the support and corroboration of the
working class of all races in the country. At the same time ,support
from the righteous spirit of the democratic elements of all races
for the future progress and development of the Movement was assured.
The brilliant success of the Malayan Trade Union Movement,
which rapidly expanded from a local undertaking to reach the stage
of unification throughout Malaya, deserves our proud recollection.
This is significant in view of the _fact that executive elements
which formed the backbone of this Movement soon became decisive
factors in the struggle for a democratic peace. Nevertheless, we
must not overlook the fact that the results were partly due to the
earnest efforts on the part of numerous members of the Communist
Party who, true to the interests of the working class, joined in
this common struggle in the Movement. Consequently we must realise
that the free and democratic Trade Union Movement of Malaya was an
organisation possessing its own independence. Its progressive
development was in concert with that of Trade Union Movements all
over the world, and its objectives coincided with interests of the
workers, Therefore it is of paramount importance that this Movement
should not come under the exclusive control of the Communist Party
to be made to serve its political purpose. Had the members of the
Communist Party been truly fighting for the interests of the workers,
they should obey and resolutely follow the proper and correct
objectives of the Trade Union. Movement, and implement with
determination the decision to fight for the interests of the workers.
It was only by a strict adherence to the objectives and regulations
of the Pan MJlalaven Federation of Trade Unions ( )
that real representation of the interests of the workers could be
carried out. Any attempt to control the Trade Union organisations
on the part of the Communist Party for the furtherance of Party
work and activities, or any attempt to make-the Trade Union carry
out Party resolutions is, therefore, tantamount to the Communist
Party conspiring to subvert the Trade Union Movement to deprive the
workers of their interests for the realisation of the Party's
political aims, thus makingla sacrifice of the fruits of the Trade
Union Movement and fully exposing the Party's political intrigue.
My participation in the Trade Union Movement began as a
secret venture and ended in public service. After the return of
the Allied Forces to Malaya, upon the Japanese surrender in 1945,
I placed myself completely at the disposal of the Trade Union
Movement, and this action upon my part arose entirely out of a
righteous and generous desire to serve the working masses. My
family circumstances at this juncture was exceedingly difficult,
Owing to the indisputable fact that I owed my family the duty of
support, the ideal of abandoning one's own family for the Party, so
well enunciated by the Communist Party, failed to lull my pricking
conscience. Labouring under this dilemma, however, I could not
actually bring myself to forsake the more important duty of fighting
for the interests of the masses, so I was perforce to continue
resolutely in my post in the Trade Union Movement. Although I had
become an executive of the Communist Party, the Party did not assist
me in the solution of my difficulties in the spirit of assistance
of the Trade Union Movement, but all the time adopted an attitude
of prevarication to stall me along.
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My mother wps nearly sixty ye.^.rs old, and my sister and my
nephew were still :in their. childhood. rafter the death of my elder
brother during the anti--Jr;pancse period it devolved upon me to
support the fnrni ly alone, The rcf ore 9 upon the Japane sc surrender
I appc,_ilcd to the Central Committee for allowance for family
maintenance, ivEy visit to my family; on 1rav 19 19469 w,~s my second
during peace time, ;vvhcn my mother told me that the allownncc
allocated per month by the Party to my family consisted of three
ganta.ng?,s of .:ice and five dollars cash. I was then stn ying in
Singapore, tak.i.ng charge of the affairs of the central organisations
of the Party, the Youth Lcaguc as well es the Pan Malayan Federation
of Trade Unions . I received a monthly a i:l_owe nc e of ~6O/- from thG
P.T'.F.T.U., so that T etas hardly in a position to support my family.
I therefore