| What
They Say About My Side of History |
| |
 |
| |
|
Though Chin Peng is today
little known in Britain, few men besides Gandhi,
Nehru amd Nasser did more to ensure the final dissolution
of the British Empire. In an age fascinated by what
motivates terrorists, Chin Peng's book is a must-read.
Those who might care to take time off from their
fruitless pursuit of bin Laden will find insights
into the mind of a man whom the West once called
the world's most dangerous terrorist leader, but
who today is still regarded by millions as a great,
unsung, liberation hero of the 20th century.
— The Church Times, London, United Kingdom
|
| |
| |
|
As the title and the "alias"
imply, the author is not one of history's best known
figures. Yet few, apart from Mahatma Ghandi and
Jawaharlal Nehru, have been more influential in
ensuring the dissolution of the British Empire,
or have stuck so resolutely to the beliefs and ideals
that inspired them in youth . . . After the loss
of India in 1947, Britain harboured some hope of
holding on to its smaller colonial possessions that
could be exploited as a means of restoring some
of the wealth destroyed in the two world wars. The
Emergency showed the fallacy of that reasoning ---
the "Wind of Change" may have blown mainly through
Africa but it began in the Malayan Peninsula. Chin
Peng has claim to be at least one of the makers
of modern Malaysia.
— The Canberra Times, Australia
|
| |
| |
|
Quite apart from its value
as a perspective on Malaysia's early years, My Side
of History provides a number of sobering parallels
with today's war on terror. Chin Peng offers a glimpse
inside the mind of a man once dubbed Asia's most
wanted man, but who sees himself as "the last of
the region's old revolutionary leaders". What helps
lend this memoir credibility is Chin Peng's apparent
candour when it comes to assessing the failures
of his struggle.
— Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong
|
| |
| |
This
is a must-read book for serious students of the decline
and fall of the British Empire.
— Direct Report, London, United Kingdom |
| |
| |
He
tells his story without defensiveness, romanticism
or regret. It is a riveting adventure tale, breathless
in its movement, implacable in its pursuit of a utopian
world through the jungle roads and the plantation
tracks of mid-20th century Malaysia. There is also
action in the towns as well: assassinations of anti-communists,
police raids and betrayals by trusted comrades. At
another level of frenetic activity, there are party-to-party
links which connect the revolutionary politics of
Malaya to shifts of mood in the international capitals
of communism, Beijing, Hanoi and Moscow.
— The Sunday Times, Singapore |
| |
| |
In
Alias Chin Peng, My Side of History, his engrossing,
candid and sensitive memoir, Chin Peng tells the story
of his life as a communist and guerrilla leader, admits
to making many strategic mistakes and reveals many
dark secrets about the communist movement and its
armed struggle. Chin Peng's extremely readable book
is probably based on earlier drafts he had written
in Canberra and in Bangkok and Haadyai where he had
retired after the communists' armed struggle ended
in 1989. The book's style, impeccably that of the
collaborators Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor, a husband
and wife writing team, captures well the views and
thought-patterns of Chin Peng, but it is always Chin
Peng's own conclusions and opinions that are startling.
He is admirably fair to friends and foes.
— Sunday Star, Malaysia |
| |
| |
Chin
Peng's memoirs, aptly titled My Side of History, can
certainly be ranked as one of three monumental books
in recent years that tell the history of Malaysia
and Singapore from its great movers and shakers. The
other two are the two-volume autobiography of Singapore's
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and veteran Malay journalist
Said Zahari's Dark Cloud at Dawn — A Political
Memoir.
— Malaysiakini.com |
| |
| |
His
527-page memoir, My Side of History is a gripping
and revealing account of the tumultuous 12 years he
spent in the jungles of Malaysia and Thailand. The
book gives a good feel of the jungle life of CPM members.
Chin Peng speaks of betrayals, defections, animosities,
rebellion and summary executions of traitors. But
there were also poignant moments of party loyalty
and resilience when the tide later turned against
the party. As I read the book, I found it hard to
reconcile the lasting childhood impression of the
CPM to the honourable picture Chin Peng paints of
his cause. But, for me, he comes through as a man
of honour, who fought hard and sacrificed so much
for an ideal.
— Streats, Singapore |
| |
| |
.
. . The will to survive has not generated into narcissism.
Tempered by long years of genuinely motivated idealism,
organisational discipline and experience-based intellect,
his willpower is therefore blended with a balanced,
sociable and normal personality that enables him to
conceptually distinguish between Western colonialism
and imperialism on one hand and fellow human beings
from the West on the other. . . .
— Malaysiakini.com |
| |
| |
An
extraordinary new autobiography by Chin Peng (real
name: Ong Boon Hua) reveals that military action was
not the only Australian involvement during this turbulent
period. As Ong reveals in Alias Chin Peng, an off-the
cuff remark in Singapore early in 1948 by a leading
Australian communist, Lance Sharkey, inadvertently
encouraged the war's onset - and perhaps helped his
comrades lose it.
— The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
|
| |
| |
The
Home Ministry must be commended for allowing the sale
of the book as Chin Peng has answered, in many ways,
the questions of historians, students of Malaysian
history and probably the Special Branch. This is a
remarkable and thoughtful book and has certainly shed
light on the country's history, most of it seen from
the eyes of the British.
— Sunday Star, Malaysia |
| |
| |
.
. . .A landmark contribution to the telling of this
region's history.
— Weekend Business Times, Singapore
|
| |
