A bit of info about Chin Peng...

whose real name is Ong Boon Hua.

He is second in a family of 10 (6 boys and 4 girls) if my memory serves me right. The first four sons were given auspicious names: Eng Hua Hoo Kui in Hokien (or Weng Wah Fu Kuai in Cantonese) and it followed that the eldest son was named Boon Eng, followed by Boon Hua, then Boon Hoo and Boon Kui.

Some of Chin Peng’s brothers and sisters are still in Malaysia, though some pre-deceased him and he was known to have remarked, ‘I was the one living a dangerous life and a fugitive, yet some of my siblings living in relative comfort and safety died earlier than me’ or words to that effect.

Nobody, with any sense of fairness would deny that he is a Malaysian with birth certificate, but the document was obviously destroyed by the authorities. In any case, the NRD should have a record of it. So it is ludicrous for the authorities to expect him to come up with one without which he cannot set foot in the country. Why are the authorities still afraid of Chin Peng, an octogenarian? Are they afraid that young Malaysians will treat him like a hero and give him a tumultuous welcome? Or are they afraid that those whose families were affected by the communist insurgency would protest and demonstrate and cause public disorder?

The man in the street seems to feel our government has the habit of suppressing certain information when a more open discussion would better leave the public to form their opinions. With this in mind, I am highlighting this debate between Raja Petra and Negeri Sembilan History Association treasurer Mohd Misan Mastor on the role of Chin Peng.

History seems to be an account of what happened, by this man and that man (his-story) and the truth (third side to a story) that a more open discussion would better lead to a truer version than suppression of information.
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/15392/84/ (excerpts):

Challenge accepted
Negeri Sembilan History Association treasurer, Mohd Misan Mastor, said Raja Petra Kamarudin is ignorant of history for saying that Chin Peng was a freedom fighter and has challenged Raja Petra to provide proof. The proof that Misan seeks is in chapter 34, PUTERA-AMCJA Conference (1947), in the book, MALAY NATIONALISM BEFORE UMNO: THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Raja Petra ignorant of history, says historianSEREMBAN: Blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has been described as being ignorant of history for assuming that the former secretary-general of the Communist Party of Malaya, Chin Peng, was a freedom fighter.

Negeri Sembilan History Association treasurer Mohd Misan Mastor said today the Malays had fought colonialism since the fall of Melaka Sultanate and throughout the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese occupation.

"Chin Peng was not the first man who put up the fight," he told Bernama here.

He was commenting on a recent talk by Raja Petra who said that the country's independence was initiated by a non-Malay, and that Chin Peng was a freedom fighter.

Mohd Misan said the peak of the Malays struggle for freedom was when they thwarted the British effort to introduce the Malayan Union which, among others, would have usurped the powers of the Malay rulers.

He challenged Raja Petra to prove that the independence of the country was due to the efforts of others.

"This is what happens when the Malays lose their spirit of nationalism and become ignorant of history," he added. (Bernama)

The fight for Merdeka started before the Second World War and continued all through the Japanese Occupation of Malaya. After the War, all the races, members of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) included, joined hands to fight for Merdeka. Only when the British refused to accept the Malayans’ terms for Merdeka did the CPM take to the jungles to continue their opposition to the British. But it was not only the members of the CPM who took to the jungles. Many non-Communists did as well and they filled the ranks of the CPM guerrillas.

The struggle for Merdeka was not an exclusive Malay affair but an effort by all the races, as the following piece shall show. It cannot be denied that, before that, many Malays did oppose the British and some died because of it. But it was not until the Second World War, during the Japanese Occupation, when the idea of Merdeka was finally taken to a higher level of a united Malaya or Federation of Malaya -- a Federation comprising of the Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States. Before that, all the states were independent of one another and no nation, as we know today, existed.

Lord Mountabtten shaking hands after giving Chin Peng the Burma Star Award.