James Wong malaysiakini Apr 4, 2005
and Wikipedia (last access 19/10/2021), with additional materials from pi and sigma of the STORM Collective October 2021.
Unlike Suriani Abdullah and Rashid Maidin, Abdullah CD, 81, did not have ‘exciting’ personal experiences to tell, yet his story is critical to an alternative understanding of the history of Malaysia and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) since the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941.
The chairman of CPM since August 1988 has written two Malay-language books on the history of the anti-colonial struggles of the Malay Left and communist party. Perang Anti-British dan Perdamaian ( Anti-British War and peace ) and Darurat dan Kemerdekaan, 1948-1998 ( The Emergency and Independence ) were published in Hong Kong in 1998. Both books had been translated into Chinese.
It is learned that Abdullah CD – whose full name is Cik Dat Anjang Abdullah – has also complete the draft of his personal memoirs in Bahasa Malaysia.
Abdullah was born in 2 October 1923, in Lambor Kiri, Parit, Perak to Minangkabau parents.
Abdullah’s family was poor. However, he was not only hardworking but also intelligent enough to complete his Standard 7 in Kuala Kangsar’s Clifford English School. Before that, he attended the Malay primary school in Parit and English intermediate school in Tapah.
His involvement in politics was sparked by interests in the Maharajalela Wars against the British. As a young man, he joined the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM), and became the secretary of the KMM in the Lambor district in Perak during the early stages of the Japanese Occupation. Abdullah CD eventually joined the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) to combat the Japanese.
After World War II, Abdullah CD was involved in the setting up of the Malay Nationalist Party (or in Malay, the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Muda / PKMM) in October 1945 with other early leftist Malay leaders such as Mokhtaruddin Lasso, Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Ishak Haji Muhammad, amongst others. He was also responsible for organising the Malay labour movement, and was elected as the Vice-President of the Pan-Malayan Federation of Trade Unions (PMFTU).
Not long before the declaration of emergency in Malaya in June 1948 by the British colonial government, Abdullah CD, Dr. Burhanuddin Helmi and Ahmad Boestamam conducted a meeting to discuss the conditions and steps to be taken in the struggle for Malayan independence. When the British declared an emergency, Abdullah led many members from the CPM, PKMM, API (Angkatan Pemuda Insaf), AWAS and PETA into an anti-British guerrilla revolution in the jungles of Malaya. In July 1948, he was captured in north Pahang, but he managed to escape.
On 12 May 1949, Abdullah started the 10th Regiment of the CPM in Temerloh, Pahang and continued to be its leader until peace was achieved on 2 December 1989, when he was one of the signatories of the peace agreement between the CPM and the government of Malaysia, finally ending the period of armed struggle.
Abdullah was involved in many armed battles against the British, and suffered serious injuries from a hand grenade explosion. He was married to Suriani Abdullah (née Eng Ming Ching), also a leader of the CPM and have been married since February 1955. They remained married in Sukhirin, Thailand until Suriani’s death in 2013. So, even before the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, Abdullah was already bilingual.
References
- Ishak Saat, Radikalisme Melayu Perak 1945–1970, USM, 2014
- Suriani Abdullah(1999), Rejimen Ke-10 dan Kemerdekaan, Nan Dao Publisher
- Abdullah CD(2005), Memoir Abdullah CD: Zaman Pergerakan Sehingga 1948, SIR
- view the documentary Apa Khabar Orang Kampung which is about the present-day lives of the 10th Regiment figures who are still living in a village in South Thailand.
- Other sources:
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Abdullah CD in Thailand
N Faizal Ghazali, Low Chia Ming & Syazwana Amir
reposted from malaysiakini Dec 29th. 2019
Throughout the signing of the 1989 Hat Yai Peace Agreement over the past 30 years, the Thai government has been deemed to have been more earnest in their commitment.
Former Malayan Communist Party (CPM) chairman Abdullah CD, through his spokesman Indrajaya Abdullah, said that if reviewed one by one, Thailand would be more diligent in implementing what was contained in the agreement.
“If we check one by one, now there is only one that the Thai government has not implemented, but there is a reason for this. Maybe in a year or two this can be implemented, which is the land grant problem.
“In the agreement, we were given land and then will be gradually given land deeds up to the land grant, so this has not been implemented, but all the Thai governments have recognized our ownership and this has already been acknowledged.
“Besides that, we get various assistance such as assistance to rubber planters and farmers.
“We all enjoy because we got a letter of guarantee from the party that manages the Southern Region,” he said when met by Malaysiakini at Abdullah CD’s house in Kampung Chulabhorn Patana 12, Sukhirin, Narathiwat, recently.
Indrajaya Abdullah
Abdullah CD, the leader of the 10th CPM Regiment who is now 96 years old and has speech problems, was also present to accompany his son-in-law during the interview.
Earlier, the issue of the CPM resurfaced after a report on the ashes of the late former CPM secretary -general, Chin Peng, was brought back to Malaysia.
It was followed by a ceremony to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Hat Yai Peace Accords at a private college in Kajang as well as a similar, but more lively ceremony in Hat Yai, Thailand.
The Hat Yai peace agreement was signed between the CPM and the Malaysian and Thai governments, which led to the dissolution of the party and the laying down of communist guerrilla weapons.
An agreement was signed between the CPM, Malaysia and Thailand, 30 years ago.
It also allows former CPM members to be given assistance to start a new life whether living in Malaysia or Thailand.
However many of them chose to stay in Thailand, including its senior leaders such as Abdullah CD himself, Chin Peng, and Rashid Maidin.
Equal treatment, free hospitalization
Meanwhile, Indrajaya said, after choosing to reside and become Thai citizens, they were also given the same treatment as other citizens.
“Just like before we got citizenship status a dozen years ago, the welfare matters given to us are also the same as other Thais.
“There is nothing lacking. For example go for free hospital treatment.
“Although we did not get citizenship status at that time, but there was no problem, and our freedom to walk here and there was all unrestricted.
“It’s not like in Malaysia. At that time, like what I heard, our former members who returned to Malaysia, if they want to leave the country, they must get a letter of permission from the (police) Special Branch, and so on. There is nothing here.
“So, I said compared to the Malaysian government, Thailand is more serious,” said Abdullah CD’s son-in-law and chairman of the Hat Yai Peacekeepers Association.
The 30th anniversary of the agreement was held in Hat Yai on December 2nd
The Hat Yai Peacekeepers Association is made up of former representatives involved in the success of the 1989 Hat Yai Peace Agreement which ended the Malaysia-CPM and Thailand-CPM wars.
‘Still IC red’
Meanwhile, Indrajaya lamented the fate of their comrades-in-arms who chose to return to live in Malaysia.
He said, about 10 of them until now have not been given citizenship status.
Abdullah CD
“As far as I know, our friends who returned to Malaysia, there are still a number of about 10 people until now have not been given citizenship rights, still red identity cards.
“Even though they are clearly Malaysians, I don’t want to say much about the others.
“That’s why it’s like I said that day, the political and social atmosphere is quite different between Malaysia and Thailand,” said Indrajaya.
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VIDEOS on Malaysia
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