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Ong Boon Hua Alia Chin Peng, Secretary General Of The Communist Party Of Malaya
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Subject :Ong Boon Hua Alia Chin Peng, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Malaya
Published By : None
Location : Perak
Estimated Year : 1940
Media Type : Photograph
Source : National Archives of Malaysia
Remark : Chin Peng was born as Ong Boon Hua in October, 1924, in the small Perak town of Sitiawan. His father ran a bicycle, tyre, and spare motor parts shop. He attended a Chinese-language school in Sitiawan and in 1937 he joined the Chinese Anti Enemy Backing Up Society (AEBUS), formed to send aid to China in response to Japan's aggression. By 1939 he had embraced communism. He continued his education in the Anglo-Chinese School Sitiawan for a few months, and continued to strengthen his ties with the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). In January 1940 he was nominated head of three anti-Japanese organisations the membership of which came from students, teachers, other cultural members, and shop assistants etc. At the end of January 1940, he was admitted to the MCP.
After a short spell in Taiping, he was posted to Ipoh, in September 1940, as Standing Committee Member for Perak. In December he attained full Party membership. In June 1941 he became a member of the Perak State Committee.
The Japanese invasion of Malaya began in December 1941 and many Chinese Malayans took to the jungle to fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese, naming themselves the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Due to a number of losses at senior level in the MCP, Chin Peng became the liaison officer between the MPAJA and the British military (Force 136) in South-East Asia.
During the war, Chin Peng was awarded an OBE (subsequently withdrawn by the British government), a mention in despatches, and two campaign medals by Britain. He was also elected the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Malaya after the betrayal of previous leader Lai Tek who was found to be an agent for both the British and the Japanese and had denounced the leadership of the Party to the Japanese secret police.
Chin Peng remained Secretary General of the CPM throughout the years after the war and the Malayan Emergency where he led the Communist Terrorists in their fight against the Government from 1948 to 1960, but being under great pressure from government forces had to withdraw to Southern Thailand in the latter years and then Beijing in 1960. Prior to that in 1955 he had met Tunku Abdul Rahman, Chief Minister of Malaya, for peace talks in Baling, but agreement could not be reached and the struggle continued.
The CPM laid down its arms in 1989. On December 2nd of that year, at the town of Haadyai in Southern Thailand, Senior members of the CPM, Chin Peng, Rashid Maidin, and Abdullah CD met with representatives of the Malaysian and Thailand governments. Separate peace agreements were signed between the MCP and both governments.
Today (2010) Chin Peng remains in Thailand, an old man in exile.
To read more about the Anglo-Chinese School, Sitiawan, click here.
To learn more about the MPAJA, click here.
To learn more about Force 136, click here.
To learn more about Lai Tek, Master Spy, click here.
To see photographs of Chin Peng's arrival at the Baling talks, click here.
To read more about the 1989 Haadyai Peace Agreements and see a short video, click here.
To see a genuine Communist cap, click here.
To learn more about the Malayan Emergency, click here.
To find out about Chin Peng's book, “My Side of History” (English Version), click here.
After a short spell in Taiping, he was posted to Ipoh, in September 1940, as Standing Committee Member for Perak. In December he attained full Party membership. In June 1941 he became a member of the Perak State Committee.
The Japanese invasion of Malaya began in December 1941 and many Chinese Malayans took to the jungle to fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese, naming themselves the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Due to a number of losses at senior level in the MCP, Chin Peng became the liaison officer between the MPAJA and the British military (Force 136) in South-East Asia.
During the war, Chin Peng was awarded an OBE (subsequently withdrawn by the British government), a mention in despatches, and two campaign medals by Britain. He was also elected the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Malaya after the betrayal of previous leader Lai Tek who was found to be an agent for both the British and the Japanese and had denounced the leadership of the Party to the Japanese secret police.
Chin Peng remained Secretary General of the CPM throughout the years after the war and the Malayan Emergency where he led the Communist Terrorists in their fight against the Government from 1948 to 1960, but being under great pressure from government forces had to withdraw to Southern Thailand in the latter years and then Beijing in 1960. Prior to that in 1955 he had met Tunku Abdul Rahman, Chief Minister of Malaya, for peace talks in Baling, but agreement could not be reached and the struggle continued.
The CPM laid down its arms in 1989. On December 2nd of that year, at the town of Haadyai in Southern Thailand, Senior members of the CPM, Chin Peng, Rashid Maidin, and Abdullah CD met with representatives of the Malaysian and Thailand governments. Separate peace agreements were signed between the MCP and both governments.
Today (2010) Chin Peng remains in Thailand, an old man in exile.
To read more about the Anglo-Chinese School, Sitiawan, click here.
To learn more about the MPAJA, click here.
To learn more about Force 136, click here.
To learn more about Lai Tek, Master Spy, click here.
To see photographs of Chin Peng's arrival at the Baling talks, click here.
To read more about the 1989 Haadyai Peace Agreements and see a short video, click here.
To see a genuine Communist cap, click here.
To learn more about the Malayan Emergency, click here.
To find out about Chin Peng's book, “My Side of History” (English Version), click here.
Filename : 20100704-008