latest info suggest that the riot was not a racial riot but a
coup to oust tunku abdul rahman, malaysia first premier.
Malaysiakini
Beh Lih Yi
May 11, 07 12:52pm
"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."
