Friday, June 05, 2009

Understand Chin Peng, Study Maoism, Marxism

Chin Peng and the struggle of the Malaysian Communist Party need to be understood to the fullest extent. It should be a good opportunity for the younger generation to learn what Marxism, Maoism, or even Anarchism means. Societies have lived in transitional hegemonies foundationed upon capitalism. The recent collapse of the global financial system beginning with the US credit crisis attest to the idea of that society's over-subscription to laisserz faire and its overdose of casino capitalism.

After 50 years of Independence, we still cannot tell the difference between communism, Marxism, socialism, or anarchism. We are well versed in the foundations of crypto-corporate-cybernetic-crony capitalism, of the inner workings of the capital market, and on how to get cheap labour and squeeze profits out of modern-day indentured slaves from countries impoverished by the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

We are good at talking about ‘global economics’ and the ‘glocalisation’ of Wall Street and Silicon Valley industries. What we think profitable at the global market we import into our local economies, and what we see profitable in our country, we force our farmers and labourers to produce for the global economies.

We then complain about the evils of globalisation without realising that the big capitalists amongst us are the new globalisers of our own labour. At a time when we are exploring the possibilities of becoming a ‘bio-technologised nation’ (whatever that means to the padi planter/farmer in Changlung, Kedah or Tambun Tulang in Perlis), we still have not explored the meaning of ideas we ‘fear’. We still equate communism with armed struggle - just like some Western media conglomerate's tendency of equating Islam with terrorism, and many other concept/word associations that are not accurate and dangerously misleading.

We need to explore the story behind the armed struggle to understand the ideology behind the movement. We might denounce the atrocities of the communist insurgents/Malayan co-freedom fighters, but we must also recognise the intellectual value and power of the Marxist critiques of society as a legitimate, systematic, liberating, humanising and praxical (the translation of theory to practice) body of knowledge that has evolved into an organic discipline itself.

One must engage in a systematic study of Marxism in order to be well-equipped with the understanding of what ‘national development’ means. Without this knowledge, we will forever colonise ourselves by importing more and more members of international advisory panel of any national project we blindly embark upon.








7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Most Malaysians read history books only written by the Brits, typical of all colonial masters they are always right, others all wrong.

ALL they want is to say things good about themselves.

The real reasons never been explained...the communists word was coined to facilitate their agendas in the very first place. Because, they themselves were opportunists and slave traders, they concquer a country and ripped off all the natural resources and dominate others, they make money off peoples hardship, always disguizing it perfectly!

So who is a bigger communists?

Unknown said...

I believe Anonymous above is among those who need to update their definition of communism (as opposed to anarchy). Malaysians do not generally have access to the publications required to expand thinking beyond the propaganda of the BN regime.

Anonymous said...

The practical application of Marxism was best studied during the heyday of the Soviet Empire but fortunately for today's students of Karl Marx's drivel we have the ANC government in South Africa. Like America's affirmative action President, the South African Blacks ( who have turned a First World country,economically speaking, into a Third World one in the relatively short period since 1994) believe that raising taxes on the White wealth creators is the way to socialist Utopia.

Marxism works its wonders in such a stunningly simple fashion that even an "intellectual" may perpend, here :

http://www.zasucks.com/?p=3412

Wintermute

Anonymous said...

Choon Kye knows that Malaysians are such avid readers, book buyers, library patrons and general paragons of intellectual curiosity that the small matter of "access" remains the chief obstacle to a cerebral society. Well done, CK

Wintermute

francis ngu said...

Malaysia was born in the context of the Cold War, to stave off the perceived advance of International communism in SEA, especially the Maoist school, and no wonder communism is taboo word.
Even the brand of democratic socialism practised by much of Europe, Canada, Australia and NZ (some of these countries our bulwark against external threats under ANZUK arrangements), is frowned upon. Thus the Socialist Party of Malaysia took years to get registered, then perhaps in a desparate attempt by the powers that be to detract from opposition forces after 308.

Our countrymen may like to know that in western countries, communist parties take part as any other parties in elections, though they have all become largely unpopular in recent history. A couple of countries had elected in communist parties as government, namely the government of
the late Salvadore Allende in Chile, and a couple of state governments in India.

Thus communism and socialism come in many forms. Clearly, wholesome democracy or social democracy are all antithesis to our brand of crony-capitalism expertly hybridised with Asian feudalism.

Tamerlane said...

He should only be allowed to return to face trial for treason and war atrocities.

For those rooting for his pardon..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X37Z1uS62PY

Anonymous said...

Forgiveness is a worthy human virtue which features rarely in the annals of 'kaffir' offences against Muslims. In the year (1980s) that the Malaysian government decided to allow its Chinese citizens to visit China there should have been a concomitant 'raprochement' between Chin Peng and the powers that be.After all,even my late Communist drinking partner, Sidney Woodhull, was allowed to enter the island state from which he had been sensibly banned by LKY for reasons of Marxoid trouble-making.

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