Communist Party of Malaya's secretary-general Chin Peng, the nom de guerre of Ong Boon Hwa, died on Sept 16, the exact date of 50th Malaysian Day.
Some people thought the date was irony, some people
thought the date was a bit fishy.
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Ong Boon Hwa a.k.a Chin Peng
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Chin Peng dies in Bangkok
BANGKOK, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Chin Peng, a former leader of the outlawed Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), died in a hospital here early this morning, according to a Thai army official.
He died of old age just over a month short of his 89th birthday. He was born on Oct 21, 1924.
The Thai army official said he had been informed that Chin Peng had been having treatment over the last few years and was unable to walk by himself.
He said funeral arrangements had yet to be decided, but according to some reports, Chin Peng's relatives would perform religious rites for him on Friday.
The former communist guerilla had been living in exile for several decades after the attempt to establish a communist state in Malaya, and later Malaysia, failed.
The CPM signed a peace accord with the Malaysian government in 1989, thus ending the communist threat in the country.
Chin Peng made several attempts to return to Malaysia, but was refused entry, as the memory of the bloody insurgency that he led was still strong among many Malaysians.
Source: Bernama
80s kids like me only knew the history of this
man from history textbook. It was one of the most known personalities in
Malaysian history.
At that time, we knew he was a communist leader,
we knew he was notorious, and he had caused the death of former
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Hashim as well as
approximately 10,000 policemen, security personnel and civilians.
There was an article by NST journalist stating
that Chin Peng was seen as less vicious compared with other local communist
leaders.
After his death, there were several attempts to
bury him in Malaysia despite the fact that he was not even a Malaysian.
