The Wat That Thong temple where Chin Peng will be cremated in Bangkok.
PETALING JAYA: The late Chin Peng will be cremated according to Buddhist rites at Bangkok’s Wat That Thong temple next week.
Paul Chin, an aide of the former secretary-general of the outlawed Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), said the body would be brought to the temple for a wake on Friday and the final rites conducted on Monday morning. The cremation will follow in the evening.
The communist leader died at a hospital in Bangkok on Monday morning. He was 89.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Chin Peng’s remains would not be allowed back into the country.
Paul Chin said Chin Peng’s one-time right-hand man Abdullah CD is expected to be among former party members and leaders who will attend the funeral.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders continued to appeal to the Government to allow Chin Peng’s remains to be brought back to his hometown in Sitiawan, Perak.
PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said: “Let bygones be bygones.
“It is clear the rakyat generally rejects the communist ideology. However, the late Chin Peng chose the path of peace in the end after failing to reach an agreement at the Baling Talks in 1955.”
He added that the CPM chief entered a peace treaty with the Government in 1989.
DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said the Government should honour the 1989 Haadyai Accord, which was one of the treaties signed by Malaysia with the CPM and Thai authorities.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok called on the Government to reconsider its decision.
PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said Chin Peng’s ashes should be allowed to be brought back into the country in the name of justice.
“I recall they (CPM) agreed to lay down their weapons and, as far as I am concerned, that is a ceasefire.”
- The Star/Asia News Network
Sitiawan folk whisper about Chin Peng's death
SITIAWAN: Folk in Chin Peng’s (pic) hometown only whisper about the passing of this divisive figure, and dare not make their opinions known publicly.A number of people declined to talk when The Star approached them for their thoughts on the late Communist Party of Malaya secretary-general, though the general feeling is that the people in this town felt that the body of Chin Peng, or Ong Boon Hua, 89, should be interred here.
“This is where he was born, grew up and studied,” said a 52-year-old salesman, who wished to remain anonymous.
“For what he has done, it was done because he loved the country.”
The salesman said the bloodshed that occurred during the Emergency era was unavoidable, and it was unfortunate that murders were part and parcel of strife.
“The people are scared to talk about the return of Chin Peng’s body, but they felt that the Government should honour the agreement that was signed in Haadyai then,” said the salesman, who added that it was fact that Chin Peng was born here.
“His younger brother’s grave is here, along with that of his parents and grandfather. He also studied and grew up here.”
At the Kong Hock Kong Lumut Pundut burial ground where Chin Peng’s family members were buried, its caretaker, known as Tay, said Chin Peng’s brother and relatives would come and pay their respects every Qing Ming (All Souls Day).
“I’ve seen them a couple of times, but never talked to them,” said the 40-year-old Tay.
Opposite the shophouse along Jalan Raja Omar, where Chin Peng grew up, a coffeeshop owner, known as Foo, 69, said Chin Peng’s family often came to his shop for drinks whenever they came to pay their respects.
“Even back in the 40s, his late parents would also come here for coffee.
“But I don’t remember seeing Chin Peng,” he said, adding that he was a young child then.
He added that Chin Peng’s family sold bicycles at the shophouse.
According to Foo, Chin Peng was a former student of SMJK Nan Hwa here.
“His name is inscribed in a special school magazine dated 1948,” said Foo.
Meanwhile, Perak police chief Senior Deputy Comm Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said police were monitoring the situation closely to prevent any untoward incidents.
- Contributed by IVAN LOH The Star/Asia News Network
Related post:
Chin Peng, a hero or zero?
