New Phase In Malaya SUBVERSION INSTEAD OF ARMED REBELLION?

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28795, 16 January 1959, Page 8

New Phase In Malaya SUBVERSION INSTEAD OF ARMED REBELLION?

[By JOHN RIDLEY, in the “Dailt/ Telegraph’’] (Reprinted by Arrangement)

KOTA TINGGI, Malaya. The declaration here on New Year's Eve that the entire State of Johore was now cleared of Communist terrorists means in effect that the 10-year-old war in Malaya is virtually over. South of a line drawn from Ipoh to Kuala Trengganu on the east coast there are now no more terrorists. That is, more than half of Malaya has been pronounced "white." Security and intelligence sources in the Federation say that only about 800 terrorists are now left and of these 500 are over the border in Siam, including Chin Peng, leader of the revolutionary movement. The other 300 are scattered about North Kedah, Upper Perak, and in the dense primal jungles of Kelantan. For the most part they are leaderless and incapable of damaging action; sullen, harried men whose only preoccupation is . daily survival in a hostile terrain. Uncertain Years

To see these facts in perspective it should be recalled that at the height of the emergency in 1950-51 some 10,000 well-armed, determined men were facing the forces of law and order, fighting with murderous ferocity and with leaders well versed in jungle warfare. At times the issue was far from certain. Only by patiently determined and everincreasing military operations against the terrorists, stringent food denial measures, and the uprooting of whole populations believed to be supporting the rebels was the Malayan Communist Party’s purpose of. establishing in the Federation a “'Malayan People’s Democratic Republic” eventually thwarted. The first year of Malaya’s independence has been probably the most memorable in the 10-year campaign, with the surrender of more than 500 terrorists, including some top hard-core Communist leaders. And since the anniversary of the first year of independence last August there has been a steady stream of surrenders. indicating . that those who remained-in the jungle had been cut off from their food dumps and supply channels in the towns and villages and driven into deeper jungle. They Were kept constantly on the move and compelled to live on roots and berries-. They lost contact with other groups and as a result their morale went.

It is significant, however, that nearly all the surrenders came as a result of military operations. Terrorists did not come out and give themselves up because they had a change of heart about communism; they emerged from the jungle because they were tired of being . harried, because they were leaderless, and because they were hungry. There were few instances of rebels surrendering in any area free of military activities. End of “Emergeney” Near

With the break-up of the terrorist organisation in South Malaya all available forces will now be freed to concentrate on the north, which hitherto has not been the scene of much military action. This is the most difficult terrain —and unless there is more cooperation from the Siamese authorities, the rebels can easily get food from across the border. All the same, there is a feeling of optimism in Malaya that the emergency first declared in June. 1948, will be ended some time in the middle of this year. The British Commonwealth maintains in Malaya a large military force consisting of the 28th Independent Commonwealth Brigade (the Loyals, 3rd Royal Australian Regiment and New Zealand Battalion) and the 17th Gurkha Division, overseas land forces of two brigades, mainly Gurkhas but including the Sherwood Foresters and Cheshires. There is a widespread belief in many quarters that with the end of the emergency these forces will be withdrawn or at any rate substantially reduced. This idea is summarily dismissed by defence and military authorities here.

Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Hull, C.-in-C., Far East Land Forces, said that the fact that the emergency existed in Malaya was entirely Irrelevant to the presence of Commonwealth troops in the area, and the military situation in South-East Asia vis-a-vis Britain was unaffected by it. He pointed out that Britain has a long-term defence agreement with the Federation and major defence interests in Singapore as a naval, army and air force base, and there were major Commonwealth interests in the region. Moreover, we had international treaty obligations under S.E.A.T.O. There coiild, he said, be no question of reducing Commonwealth forces here: in fact they should be increased.

Plans for Training There is. nevertheless, a! plan to withdraw Commonwealth forces from jungle fighting in the fairly near future as it is felt that the Federation Army is capable of dealing with the few Communist terrorists left in the country. For the Commonwealth troops the emphasis will then be on training programmes.

A cantonment near Malacca for the 28th Commonwealth Brigade Group will be completed in about 18 months. Surrounding it is an area large enough for battalionsize exercises, but plans are being made to establish a very large training area in British North Borneo where full-scale exercises could .be carried out and training given in all types of warfare, including atomic. , Dato Abdul Razak, the Malayan Minister of Defence, also made it clear that British troops would remain in the country after the Commpnist war had ended. This, he said, was in accordance with the mutual defence treaty which Malaya had signed with Britain. Officers I have spoken to at General Headquarters in Singapore are hopeful that after the decision has been taken to withdraw British troops as a whole from the fighting in Malaya, there will still be an opportunity fbr. say. one battalion at a time to go up to North Malaya and cooperate with the Federation Army so that valuable experience of real jungle warfare can be obtained. They point out that an exercise can never really take the place of the real thing. There la no doubt that the ap-

preaching end of the emergency, ' which now seems to have gone on for so very long, is being welcomed with heartfelt rejoicing by the people of Malaya. In Johore there are two villages, Senai and Kulai, which ever since 1948 have been considered two of the worst centres of communal collaboration with the terrorists in the Federation. Not unnaturally they received a great amount of attention from the security forces and the lives of the inhabitants must have been extremely unpleasant, with innumerable restrictions, curfews, searches and so on. It was a distressing sensation to go into them. Men, women and even children watched you with glowering dislike, conversations stopped as you approached any group, cafes immediately emptied when you entered.

Gradual Change But during the last 15 months I have seen these villages gradually change. Slowly, very slowly they began passively to aid the security forces and then actively to support them. Last week I visited Senai and Kulai again, when both had been declared to be in the “white” area and most of the tedious restrictions lifted. I met with friendly grins and cheerfulness. It was a moving, rather emotional experience.' All the same there is no room for complacency or lack of vigilance in Malaya. The danger of communism in the country, though perhaps not now from armed insurrection, still exists. Dato Razak recently described the finding of a directive of the Malayan Communist Party. This document was dated June 1, 1958, and was discovered on June 30. It was clear from directions in it that the M.C.P., knowing it could not now win its war, was taking early steps to enter the political field covertly, using “progressive parties” to try to establish a

United Front Government as a preliminary to a Communist regime. It indicated methods to be used in the forthcoming elections, which significantly included the instigation of disturbances and the use of schoolchildren to carry them out. The Government in Kuala Lumpur is well aware that subversion will now take the place of armed rebellion and in spite of financial difficulties, it has done nothing to reduce the effectiveness of its Special Branch, which is generally considered the finest in Asia.