TERRORISM RIFE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27433, 5 July 1950, Page 6

TERRORISM RIFE

Situation In Malaya VISITING SEAMEN’S VIEWS Drastic measures are being taken by the British Government _ to curb banditry and Communism in Malaya, according to Malay seamen m the freighter Rubystone now. at Port Chalmers. Schools are being purged of Communist literature and the penalty for carrying arms is usually death. —— The seamen said that the bandits were Communist-organised and that their aim was to overthrow the British Government. Most of the bandits, they said, were Chinese and Indians, who had infiltrated into the country in great numbers.,. “Malays, from a general point of view, are a harmless people, one of the seamen said. “They would like an independent State, but not with the situation as it is now, with bandits terrorising the country. . . . “ One of the troubles,’ he said, is that entry into the country is too easy. All that is required is a landing permit, which is granted at the cost of only five dollars. No security is needed.”- . .. ~ Evidently the bandits were highly organised for they seemed to hAve an endless supply of arms. Many, of course, had kept their arms since the last war, when the Japanese invaded the country. ' . . a Malays were quite happy to be under British rule as long as they were treated fairly, he said. The Chinese were fighting for the independence of Malaya, not for the benefit of the country as a whole, but for their own interests. How to combat the bandits was a problem, he said. Both the and army were in action, but the terrorism was as rife as ever. Malays, especially in outside villages, were constantly living in fear of bandit attacks.