513暴動圖推翻東姑
1969年的513種族暴動事件的導因，至今仍是一個迷。根據官方說法，這場大馬歷史上最嚴重的騷亂事件導致196人喪命，惟其餘的詳情仍是籠罩在重重黑幕之中。
官方指出，這場暴動主要是由於以華裔為主的反對黨支持者，為慶祝在1969年大選勝利而舉行遊行，挑釁失利的馬來人及巫統所引發。
不過社會學者兼社運活躍份子－－柯嘉遜博士，卻依據最近剛解密的英國駐馬最高專員署人員的觀察報告、外國通訊記者所撰寫的新聞報告，以及外交圈子內流傳的機密文件，得出有關513暴動實際上是一場有策劃性的政變，以達至推翻當時的首相東故阿都拉曼的結論。
他重申，513事件是一項由當時剛崛起的馬來資本家所策劃的政變行動，並獲得軍方及警方的支持，以便從舊貴族的手中奪取權力，以推行新的馬來人議程。
他已經將其研究結集成書－－《513-1969年暴動之解密文件》，並于今日在隆雪華堂正式推介。
全文見“柯嘉遜引用英國政府解密文件；印證513暴動乃推翻東姑政變“，2007年5月11日晚上9時41分〈http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/67133〉。
posted by ooiheng at
5/13/2007
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Unveiling the ‘May 13’ riots
Beh Lih Yi
May 11, 07 12:52pm Adjust font size:
“While people were still assembling for this parade, trouble broke out in the nearby Malay section of Kampung Baru, where two Chinese lorries were burnt...
By 7.15pm, I could see the mobs swarming like bees at the junction of Jalan Raja Muda and Batu Road. More vehicles were smashed and Chinese shophouses set on fire.
The Chinese and Indian shopkeepers of Batu Road formed themselves into a ‘district defence force’ armed with whatever they find - parangs, poles, iron bars and bottles...
When the Malay invading force withdrew as quickly as it had arrived, the residents took their revenge. Shop-fronts and cars suspected of being Malay-owned were smashed or burnt...
The police arrived at about 9pm but did not remain in the area. Later, truck-loads of Federal Reserve Units (riot squads) and the Royal Malay Regiment drove past...”
(Excerpts taken from a dispatch by Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent Bob Reece narrating his eyewitness account on May 13, 1969 after a group of young Malays gathered outside the Selangor Menteri Besar Harun Idris’ residence in late afternoon)
It has been almost four decades since the May 13 racial riots broke out.
What had prompted the worst riots in Malaysia’s 50-year history that cost the lives of 196 persons (according to official records) however remained shrouded under a veil of secrecy, although there are several versions on the matter so far.
The ‘official version’ of it has always been the violence was triggered off by the Chinese-dominated opposition supporters’ provocation in celebrating their electoral victory which saw the ruling Alliance Party suffered a major setback.
‘Full of nonsense’
This version, however was consistently rebutted by the opposition group who claimed otherwise. Other theories also suggested that the riots was rather a planned attack to oust then premier Tunku Abdul Rahman.
The lack of accessible information in the public domain has been a stumbling block for those who intend to uncover the episode but a set of newly-declassified documents in London gave sociologist Dr Kua Kia Soong a thorough glimpse of the event.
Late last year, the principal of New Era College took a three-month sabbatical leave to the Public Records Office in London to study records and declassified documents on the May 13 incident after a 30-year secrecy rule over these documents lapse.
His findings based on the declassified documents - which have been compiled into a new book to be launched on Sunday - found the entire May 13 riots were by no means a spontaneous outburst of racial violence, as it has been portrayed to the Malaysian public.
“The (official) history of May 13 is full of nonsense, it doesn’t reveal anything. It pins the blame on the opposition party which was not true, they were not the responsible party,” Kua told malaysiakini in a recent interview.
“My book shows the responsible party were those ascendent state capitalist class (in Umno), elements within that gave rise and implemented this plan. There was a plan based on the people who assembled at the (Selangor) menteri besar’s house.
“There are correspondences and intelligence reports which showed that. Official history has to reveal that truth and not to pin the blame on everybody around who are not to be blamed,” the educationist and social activist stressed.
Kua maintained the May 13 incident was a coup d’etat against the Tunku by the then emergent Malay state capitalists - backed by the police and army - to seize control of the reign of power from the old aristocrats to implement the new Malay agenda.
A plot to oust Tunku
He opined the riots were works of “Malay thugs” orchestrated by politicians behind the coup.
For instance, he said the “group of hoodlums suddenly appeared from all over the place” on the day of May 13 to gather at Harun’s residence and the questionable conduct of the police and army to just stood by and watch.
He added that documents showed less than a week after the riots, then deputy premier Tun Abdul Razak who headed the National Operations Council was already in full control of the country - an indication that there had been a plot.
On top of that, discussions for future plans had already been carried out.
“For example the National Cultural Policy (announced in 1971) burst in the 80s, it was already been thought of one week after (the May 13 incident),” Kua noted, referring to the controversial policy which placed emphasis on the ‘indigenous culture’ and Islam.
A secret document from the British cabinet office featured in the book showed that barely a week after the riots broke out, the Central Intelligence Agency had figured out what Tun Razak was planning - “to formalise Malay dominance, sideline the Chinese and shelve the Tunku”.
The role of the security forces in the May 13 bloodshed was also questioned in Kua’s findings.
“Even at that time, people in the diplomatic core (were wondering) how come the day the riot broke out, Razak met with the chiefs of the police and army but they did not do anything,” he said.
Interestingly, Kua pointed out the Malaysian security forces had been tested and tried during the war against the communist insurgency between 1948 and 1960 and earned their reputation.
“They are one of the most effective in putting down the communist insurrection that is a far, far more difficult operation than putting down riot, but they could not put down (such riot) in 1969 for days, for weeks,” he questioned.
It thus brought to Kua’s conclusion: “The May 13 was a pretext for staging that coup... I am not the first person who said it was a coup d’etat but I am providing the documents to show how it was a coup d’etat.”
Exact fatality number unknown
The declassified documents have included reports fielded by foreign correspondents who were in Kuala Lumpur at the time, dispatches by the British High Commission personnel who closely followed the event and various other confidential reports from the diplomat circle.
It is considerably the first time a complete recount of the tragedy is made available to the Malaysian public, as many foreign correspondent reports were previously banned while local documents are inaccessible.
However, what could not be established in the book is another secrecy, the real number of deaths.
Official figures said the May 13 riots claimed 196 lives, 180 were wounded by firearms and 259 by other weapons, 9,143 persons were arrested out of whom 5,561 were charged in court, 6,000 persons rendered homeless, at least 211 vehicles and 753 buildings were destroyed or damaged.
The declassified documents and international correspondents at the time nevertheless have calculated a much higher number of fatalities but an exact number could not be ascertained, although it was common knowledge the victims are majority ethnic Chinese.
Kua said it is his hope to smash two myths with the publication of the book.
“One is racial riot will occur when the Malays are not happy, that’s why you need the New Economic Policy, affirmative action policy et cetera, otherwise the Malays will be unhappy and there will be riot.
“This is the first myth we should dismantle as documents showed some people were involved in making it (the May 13) happened with the connivance of the police and army,” he stressed.
The second myth, Kua said, is academicians and pluralist theorists who uphold the views that riots and conflicts will occur naturally in multi-racial country.
“I am questioning this. The role of the state is very important at a particular historical conjuncture. Malays, Chinese and Indians don’t suddenly decide to fight in conflict, it doesn’t happen like that,” he said.
Asked on whether there is any fear that the authorities might move to ban the publication of the book, as in the case of a recent ban slapped on a book about the Kampung Medan clashes, Kua responded:
“In the age of the internet, what does banning a book mean? We can put it on the Web, you can’t do anything.”
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/67096
What actually happened during the 1969 tragedy
May 11, 07 1:11pm Adjust font size:
The series of events surrounding the 'May 13' riot has been documented by Dr Kua Kia Soong in his latest book May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969 which will be launched on Sunday in conjunction with the 38th anniversary of the tragedy.
This compilation, based on various sets of foreign dispatches and confidential reports at the time - which were declassified recently and made available at the Public Records Office in London - has been dubbed as the first credible account on the incident.
“The real circumstances surrounding the worst racial riot in the history of Malaysia have so far not been made available to the Malaysian public. The official version is fraught with contradictions and inadequacies to which few pay credence,” Kua wrote in the book.
Below are excerpts and summary of the chronology of events based on the declassified documents taken from Kua’s book:
May 10:
The ruling Alliance Party suffered a major setback in the general election although it had managed to retain a simple parliamentary majority. They had lost Penang to the Gerakan Party; Kelantan to the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party while Perak and Selangor were at the brink of falling into the opposition’s hands.
May 11 and May 12:
On both nights, the opposition celebrated their victory. A large Gerakan procession was held to welcome the left-wing Gerakan leader V David back from winning the federal seat in Penang.
May 13:
The MCA which had suffered badly at the polls, announced that it would withdraw from the cabinet while remaining within the Alliance.
A dispatch from a foreign correspondent showed it is evident that there was a plan for youths mobilised by Umno elements to assemble at then Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris’ residence in the late afternoon. A retaliatory march had been planned although police permission was withheld.
When people were still assembling for the parade, trouble broke out in the nearby Malay section of Kampung Baru, where two Chinese lorries were burnt. The ensuing carnage at Kampung Baru and Batu Road quickly spread elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur.
The foreign correspondent noted the curfew that was imposed was not fairly applied to all.
“In the side streets off Jalan Hale, I could see bands of Malay youths armed with parangs and sharpened bamboo spears assembled in full view of troops posted at road junctions. Meanwhile, at Batu Road, a number of foreign correspondents saw members of the Royal Malay Regiment firing into Chinese shophouses for no apparent reason.”
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman immediately attributed the violence as triggered off by the behaviour of opposition supporters after the election result announcement while his deputy Tun Abdul Razak pinned the blame on the communists.
May 14:
The riots continued but on a smaller scale. The curfew was only lifted in staggered hours in various districts to allow people to buy food. The police called out all possible reserves and handed over the northern part of the city to the army.
Police put casualties for the previous night incident at 44 killed and about 150 injured. Another dispatch showed the casualties were mainly Chinese as it stated that out of 77 corpses in the morgue of the General Hospital on May 14, at least 60 were Chinese.
The government’s attempts to blame the communists for the riots were however not taken seriously by the officials at the British High Commission (BHC) who could see that the Tunku was not prepared to blame his own people for the riots, nor was he going to blame it on the Chinese “as a whole”.
May 15:
The King proclaimed a state of emergency. The National Operations Council headed by Tun Razak was formed. Tun Razak was still responsible to the Tunku, but all the powers under Emergency Regulations were vested in him.
The curfew had been lifted temporarily in Kuala Lumpur that morning but the situation had rapidly worsened and more sporadic fighting had broken out. Curfews were re-imposed but food was very short.
The local press was suspended until censorship regulations could be drawn up but no attempt was made to supervise reports sent out by foreign correspondents.
May 16:
The situation was still tense in Selangor with cars and houses being burned and fatalities rising. Death tolls had risen to 89 with over 300 injured. 24 hour curfew remained in force in Selangor and had also been imposed in Malacca. In Penang and Perak, the situation had improved although the curfew remained in force.
Tunku made a broadcast in which he announced the setting up of a National Defence Force to be manned by volunteers. The new information minister Hamzah Abu Samah and Tun Razak gave a press conference pinning the blame for the riots on communist infiltration of the opposition parties.
There were reports of looting by the largely Malay military and their bias against the Chinese Malaysians. Number of refugees were increasing.
May 17:
From a BHC telegram, it showed there were skepticism among British officers toward the official figures for fatalities and the preponderance of Chinese casualties among the dead. The police estimated the deaths at about 100 now while British officers estimated the proportion of Chinese to Malay casualties is about 85:15.
The press censorship invited criticism not only from the local press but also in diplomatic circles especially when official statements lacked clarity and credibility.
In a confidential BHC memorandum to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the coup d’etat has been acknowledged and it has effected the transfer of power not only to “Malay hands” but also to the security forces. The latter’s professionalism is questioned.
The BHC also noted the Federal Reserve Unit, which at the time was multiracial in composition, was the more impartial of the security forces while the Malay troops were discriminatory in enforcing the curfew.
“Discriminatory takes the form, for example, of not, repeat not, enforcing the curfew in one of the most violently disposed of the Malay areas in Kuala Lumpur (Kampung Baru) where Malays armed with parangs, etc continue to circulate freely; with the inevitable result that gangs slip through the cordon round the area and attack Chinese outside it. In Chinese areas, the curfew is strictly enforced.”
May 18:
The Tunku qualified his earlier assertion that the disturbances were caused by communists, putting the blame instead on assorted “bad elements”. He also announced the deferment of the Sarawak elections and the continuance of the restrictions on the movement of foreign journalists.
The situation was still unsettled in some parts of the capital city.
May 19:
Less than a week after the riots, the reins of power had effectively passed to Tun Razak, indicating that there had been a plot to bring about the coup d’etat.
“The exact relationship between Tun Razak and the Tunku is not clear. In public Tun Razak says he is directly responsible to the Tunku but he has made it clear privately that he is completely in charge of the country. This could mean the beginning of a process of withdrawal by the Tunku as an effective PM”.
There are some 10,000 reported refugees. The local press was allowed to publish under censorship while foreign journalists had their curfew passes withdrawn. Some opposition politicians were arrested.
May 20:
In a meeting, an Australian High Commissioner had suggested the opposition leaders should be given a role as peace maker but Tun Razak and Ghazali Shafie were firmly against this. “They considered opposition leaders would simply use such an opportunity to promote their own political views.”
The Malaysian Red Cross Society is continuing its daily feeding programme for refugees in various places and over 5,000 had received food supplies.
May 21:
The official statistics of casualties at this juncture were 137 killed (18 Malays), 342 injured, 109 vehicles burned, 118 buildings destroyed and 2,912 persons arrested who were mostly curfew breakers.
May 23:
The declassified documents reveal that Malay troops were not only fraternising with the Malay thugs but were discharging their firearms indiscriminately at Chinese shophouses as they went through the city.
“When confronted by foreign correspondents with reports of racial discrimination, Tun Razak flatly denied them. Following this, curfew passes issued to foreign journalists were withdrawn and reporters were ordered to remain indoors ‘for their own safety’.”
A foreign correspondent’s report showed the Malay hooligans were detested by the law-abiding Malays of Kampung Baru.
Internal security and home minister Tun Dr Ismail indicated that the Internal Security Act would be in future amended to “counter changing communist tactics”. It was disclosed that of the 3,699 arrested during the crisis, 952 were members of secret societies.
May 24:
Law and order has been re-established in Kuala Lumpur and the atmosphere in the town had improved. People were going back to work (in non-curfew hours) and the government offices were limbering into action. The curfew remained in force (from 3pm to 6.30am of the following day). The government was not ready to admit that it was armed Malay youth who had caused the disturbances.
May 27:
The Tunku was under pressure to resign as he was clearly incensed by foreign journalists’ speculations about his weakening position and got his private secretary to write a protest note to the BHC.
May 28:
A confidential report by the BHC to the FCO on this day observed the government’s attempts to blame the communists for the disturbances were an attempt to justify their new authoritarian powers.
June:
The riots had been under control but they were still sporadic outbreaks of civil disturbances. A BHC report noted violence erupted again in one part of Kuala Lumpur on the night of June 28 and 29, a number of houses were burnt and the casualties were officially given as five killed and 25 injured. Some disturbances toward the end of June also involved ethnic Indians.
July:
Renewed trouble in which one policeman was killed was quickly stopped from spreading in Kuala Lumpur by positive police action.
Tun Ismail’s firm stand in ordering the security forces to act firmly ‘without favour or discrimination’ to any communal group and the Tunku’s announcement of a National Goodwill Committee made up of politicians of all parties went some way toward allaying the fears of the people.
Tun Ismail also revealed the total arrests since May now stood at 8,114, comprising people “from all the major racial groups”. Of these, 4,192 had been charged in court, 675 released on bail, 1,552 unconditionally released and 1,695 preventively detained.
Situation in the Peninsula had improved substantially but tension remains high in sensitive areas of Malacca, Perak and Selangor.
Tension had begun to ease until Malay agitation connected with Tunku’s return to a position of influence and the removal of Dr Mahathir Mohamad from Umno’s general committee on July 12 had heightened it again. Malay university students petitioned for Tunku’s resignation and demonstrated on the campus.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/67098
Exorcising the ghosts of May 13
Beh Lih Yi
May 12, 07 12:30pm Adjust font size:
The scene was still fresh - how Umno MP Badruddin Amiruldin waved a book on the May 13 riots and warned that questioning Malay rights was akin to stirring a hornet’s nest at the Umno general assembly three years ago.
“Don’t poke at this nest, for if it were disturbed, these hornets will strike and destroy the country,” Badruddin, who was then newly elected as the Umno permanent deputy chairperson had said to a thunderous applause from delegates attending the annual meet.
More recently, similar remarks were also heard.
“Malay rights cannot be challenged, otherwise the Malays will run amok and May 13 will happen all over again in Kuala Lumpur,” a Umno Youth Terengganu delegate told the Umno annual meet held less than six months ago.
In fact, these ‘ghosts’ of the May 13 have never left us since the riots broke out in 1969.
This is why Dr Kua Kia Soong, the author of a new book with an in-depth analysis on the May 13 riots, strongly advocated the formation of a commission of inquiry to let the nation attain the truth over the tragedy.
“Without that, some of these ghosts will linger on forever,” he said in a recent interview.
“The inquiry is crucial for national reconciliation - the elusive national unity we talk about, the elusive ethnic relation we want in this country but unless we have that inquiry, we will not get that reconciliation,” the academician and social activist added.
Wide-reaching impact
Kua, also ex-ISA detainee and now principal of New Era College in Selangor, has argued in his new book that the May 13 incident was a plot to oust then premier Tunku Abdul Rahman and not spontaneous clashes between Malay and Chinese as official history trying to paint it.
The book was written based on newly declassified documents including foreign dispatches and confidential reports at the time which are now made available in the Public Records Office in London.
Among other findings from these documents that backed his argument was the ‘sudden appearance’ of a group of ‘hoodlums’ on the day of the riots, the swift transfer of power from the Tunku to his deputy Tun Abdul Razak and the role of the security forces.
His book is said to contain the first credible account of the incident as no open inquiry has been held by the authority into the May 13 riots so far, making the real causes behind the bloodshed and the exact number of fatalities shrouded under secrecy.
Official figures claiming the loss of 196 lives with over 400 wounded is widely seen as an underestimation.
What is more damaging as a result from the tragedy, said Kua, is that it had set a “dangerous trend of fascism” which continues to prevail up to this day.
“It was fascism in a way how these hoodlums behaved like the fascist movement with the help of the police. It is the worst thing that could happen to Malaysian politics and society.
“We saw it not only in 1969, but in 1987, 1996 etc. It is the biggest destruction of our society,” the author said in reference to Umno Youth’s role in the ‘Operasi Lalang’ clampdown in 1987 and the mob which stormed into an international conference on East Timor in 1996.
He argued the May 13 riots also brought wide-reaching impact on the position of Malay special privileges which has changed to the present “disgusting usage of ketuanan melayu (Malay dominance)”.
High time for inquiry
It is not a new call for an open inquiry on the May 13 incident to be conducted but with Kua’s latest findings and account on the riots, it is expected to spark a new round of debate over the worst riots in Malaysian history.
Kua stressed efforts to unearth the truth will enable the nation to move on with the episode.
“The commission is a way of exorcising those ghosts, (the incident) is just full of ghosts. The government uses these ghosts every time there is a challenge to the ruling party or the bumiputera policy, these ghosts will be pulled out from the past, the May 13.
“But it is not these ghosts who are responsible, the responsible people were those responsible for the coup d’etat. We can even point one finger at (ex-Selangor menteri besar) Harun Idris, he has to answer for a lot of things. He had passed on but others who were with him, are still alive,” Kua said.
For the author, it is still possible for the inquiry to be carried out even after about four decades because it is considered 'recent history'.
“They could use hospital records to give an idea who were the victims, those injured, (press releases) from the Malaysian Red Cross, pull up these people and ask them. There are many ways of doing it but the further we go in time, it will be more and more difficult,” Kua said.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/67138
柯嘉遜：出書只為還原513真相 - Tuesday, May 15, 2007
http://www.orientaldaily.com.my/
（吉隆坡14日訊）撰寫《513-1969年暴動之解密文件》的柯嘉遜博士表示，他只是一個小人物，若政府因這本書而逮捕他，他也無可奈何。
國會上議員拿督賽阿里賽阿峇斯今日在上議院要求，政府禁止售賣「人民之聲」主任柯嘉遜的新著《513-1969年暴動之解密文件》，並要求政府採取行動對付柯嘉遜。
柯嘉遜今日接受《東方日報》詢時表示：「要對付我與否，這是政府的權力，我也只是一個小人物。我只是要還原真相，以便向513事件的受害者做出一個交待。」
他表示，513事件是自然發生的，還是背後有一個陰謀存在，都是他欲探討的目的。
柯嘉遜依據最近剛解密的英國駐馬最高專員署人員的觀察報告、外國通訊記者所撰寫的新聞報告，以及外交圈子內流傳的機密文件，得出有關513暴動實際上是一場有策劃性的政變，以達至推翻當時的首相東故阿都拉曼的結論。
他續說，之前他在撰寫一本有關東姑阿都拉曼的回憶錄時，東姑本身也曾提到513事件，是經過策劃的。
針對賽阿里賽阿峇斯要求禁止售賣該書，他說，他只是一個根據英國政府甫解密的文件進行學術性研究的學者。而且，他是由本身的醒覺和欲對國民交待的態度去進行這項研究。
「不可能在資訊發達的社會禁止一本書的流通，且若政府真的如此做，也只是顯示野蠻和中世紀思想的行為。」
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