Re: Is Chin Peng of Communist Party of Malaya a Hakka

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.collective.com.au>]

Re: Is Chin Peng of Communist Party of Malaya a Hakka


Chin Peng is not a Hakka, but a Hokkien.
Chin Peng is not his real name, but the paty name.
His surname is Ong (Wang2=King) Eng (Yong3=forever) can't remember his
third name.
He was born in Sitiawan in the district of Dinding near Pangkor Island
the famous island resort.
He was educated in my school Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) Ipoh, the capital
of the State of Perak, Malaysia.
His father owned a bicycle shop in Sitiawan.

Chin Peng was not the founder of the Malayan Communist Party which was
founded by Yuen3 Ai4 Guo2 (later he changed his name to Ho Chi Ming the
father of modern Vietname) a North Vietnamese in Singapore in 1935.
After the formation of MCP he went back to Vietnam and left his assistant
called Loi Tek to be in charge of the MCP. Loi Tek became the
Secretay-Genral of MCP.
 
Three months before the Japanese attacked Malaya the British Government in
England sent Lieutenant Colonel Spencer Chapman to Singapore with the
intention to train a special force called 136 to remain behind if Japan 
overran Malaya. Just ten days before the Japanese attacked Malaya in
December 1941 the colonial authority accepted to train 165 Communists at
the 101 Special Training School in Singapore.

Later when the Japanese occupied Malaya these 165 Communist became the
core of the Malayan People's Anti- Japanese-Army (MPAJA) which in 1943 
came under the command of the British officers from Force 136. The  
commander of Force 136 was Colonel Chapman who stayed behind with the
Communists through out the Japanese occupation of 3 years and eight
months. He was the military instructor of the MPAJA and Chin Peng was with
him most of the time.

During the war Loi Tek, the Secretary-General of MCP, was a double agent.
In order to consolidate his control of the MCP Loi Tek informed the
Japanese on the upcoming meeting of top senior Communists in Batu Cave
near Kuala Lumpur on 31 August-1 September 1942. During the meeting the
Japanese surrounded the cave. Chin Peng and Loi Tek were present in the
meeting. The Japanese killed almost all the senior executive officers
(most of them were Hakkas) of the MCP. Chin Peng, Loi Tek and a few
other communists escaped.     

After the war, many senior members of the MCP suspected that Loi Tek
betrayed the Batu Cave Conference to the Japanese. The Central Committee 
planned to meet on 6 March 1947. Loi Tek did not turn up in the meeting
because he had alreday disappeared with the MCP's fund. The disapperance
of Loi Tek gave the MCP a great blow. Later the MCP Central Committe   
elected Chin Peng as the new Secretary-General of MCP.

Many communists believed that Loi Tek went back to North Vietnam.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan.