Hidden Facts In Our History

"History is always written by the winner" - this is a fact!!

I was inspired to write my opinion after reading an article from The Star newspaper today (15 May 2008). The article was about a female Malay communist leader, Shamsiah Fakeh. I am neither a communist sympathiser nor a person trying to discredit the country. Some people often accuses me as a traitor for writing negative elements or digging the dark sides of the country and exposing them to the public. I can tell you why I am doing so - I love this country so much that I want the best for the country. If nobody criticises, how is the country going to improve? For instance, when you were kids, if you teacher did not criticise your poor handwriting, how were you going to find out your handwriting was poor?

I know a lot of Malaysians are over sensitive about criticism regardless they're politicians or general public. I hope Malaysians could learn to be more opened-minded. Learn to accept criticism with opened-heart, study the criticism and correct the mistake. The same goes for our country's history. It is unwise to censor the history from the general public. It is more important to identify the mistakes of our forefathers and prevent repetition of their mistakes than sweeping them under the carpet to hide them.

Back to the original topic. I believe our history books have been discrediting the communists for decades in the past. There is a good reason the government has been doing so. The communists killed or murdered a lot of people in the past including their own comrades. I don't believe that the British and the government were the "angels" either. All wars are dirty anyway.

The British "used" the communists to fight the Japanese during second world war. When the war ended, the communists did the greatest mistake by killing Japanese collaborators - I believe this act might have killed innocent people in the process and some leaders might have misused their power. Anyway, the communists deserved to be credited for fighting the Japanese occupation.

The initial motive of a lot of the communists joining the arm struggled was for the benefit of the country - they were merely trying to fight for independence of the country from the British or Japanese. Unfortunately, they were eventually called traitors, murderers and totally being discredited in their struggle. I understand the world is not a fair place but these forefathers of ours deserve a little bit of respect in their unselfish act. Many of them did not do it for fame, money or power - unlike many politicians of today. They deserved to be mentioned in our history despite of some mistakes they did. We can learn and avoid repeating their wrongdoing.

To those who fought and lost their lives for independence, regardless of ideology, I hope you rest in peace. To those who fought and still alive such as Shamsiah Fakeh, I salute you and thank you!!