Another missing event in our sanitised history books!

http://penangmonthly.com/penangs-forgotten-protest-the-1967-hartal/

Penang’s forgotten protest: The 1967 Hartal

Mob attempting to overturn a bus.
Photograph: Peter Wong.

For almost two months in 1967, Penang erupted in violence and bloodshed. To many, the incident has been largely forgotten, but what inspired the 1967 Hartal, and how did it descend to chaos?

By Koay Su Lyn

The word “hartal” refers to a cessation of work or businesses in protest against a political decision. While the 1947 hartal, organised by the Pan-Malayan Council of Joint Action against the constitution of the Federation of Malaya, is widely quoted on paper today, there is little mention of a hartal that swept the island of Penang for two months in 1967.

Originally intended as a peaceful protest, it escalated into a bloody situation of heightened racial tension. Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee, the state’s first Chief Minister, even cited the protest as one of the events which might have prepared the ground for the 1969 racial riots. However, a closer look at the mood and circumstances surrounding the 1967 Hartal, which began in November and tapered out by the end of December, reveals the contrary.

The Prince of Wales Island crumbles
Penang in the 1960s was no wonderland. Both its economy and trading environment were in a depressing state. Per capita income declined as much as 12% under the national wage, and the island’s entrepot trade, mostly with Indonesia, was also affected by the Konfrontasi. A two per cent surtax imposed by the Malaysian government on Indonesian goods re-exported from Penang placed the island in a disadvantage compared to other ports like Singapore.

Things crumbled in 1967 when Penang lost its free port status. Businesses were struggling to survive and the unemployment rate was soaring. According to a Straits Echo report, in the early months of 1968 the state government estimated about 20% of the work force – including a total of 10,000 school leavers – required jobs. The island’s economic condition was so bleak that even the president of the International Chamber of Commerce predicted that Penang would end up as a fishing village. Dissatisfaction was mounting among the masses.

Tear gas was used to disperse the mob.
Photograph: Peter Wong

Sterling devaluation and brewing rage
The decision of the Malaysian authorities in November 1967 to devalue the Malaysian dollar which was then tied to the Pound sterling added fuel to fire. Malaysia had two types of currencies in circulation – the old, based on the sterling, and the new, based on gold. The new currency issued by the Malaysian government in June 1967 was to replace the old at par value, but without any stipulated “phasing out” period.

In light of the British devaluation, the impromptu action to similarly devalue only the old currency, making it 15% less valuable than the new, resulted in public confusion and anger, especially among the lower income group. Farmers, fishermen and small-time traders back then did not have bank accounts. Many lived in the rural outskirts and kept their savings in their homes, with the bulk of it in the old currency. The devaluation burden, which the government should accordingly have shouldered by itself, fell upon those who could least afford it.

When the authorities maintained that they were faced with no other choice but to devalue the old currency, immense public outcry followed, and many questioned the validity of that stand. It was under such conditions that Lim Kean Siew, then chairman of Penang’s Labour Party division, decided on a hartal a la Gandhi’s civil disobedience approach. A public statement urging the government to provide a grace period for the lower income group to replace their old currencies was similarly issued. Their demands were ignored.

Military and police taking over the headquarters of the Labour Party.
Photograph: Peter Wong

The hartal and its unanticipated violence
Contrary to common perception, the hartal was never meant to be a racial riot. It was intended as a peaceful, democratic protest against the decision to devalue the old dollar. Lim even made it clear that the move was in no manner communistinspired. Calls were merely made for shops to cease conducting their usual business routines by putting up their shutters as an act of protest. In fact, there were neither street demonstrations nor elements of violence and hostility during the first hours following the launch of the hartal.

In its early stages, it was perceived as a success by the Labour Party – it had the entire city of Penang under its control. Overwhelming support also gave the party a ray of hope for the upcoming 1969 general election.

What then started the trouble? In an era when thugs ruled most of the streets of George Town, the hartal spiralled out of control and exploded into an unexpected racial conflict when gangs and party extremists decided to take matters into their own hands. For this, even the police force was not fully prepared.

A group of gangsters exchanged blows with a goreng pisang seller along the Malay-dominated Datuk Keramat area and later killed a guard at the Standard Chartered Bank. It was tit for tat when a gang of Chinese youths harassed a Malay passer-by in retaliation of an earlier incident in which a Malay group had done the same to the Chinese.

The Straits Times reported chaos along the main streets of George Town – from Lebuh Chulia to Jalan Penang, Jalan Prangin and Lebuh Pantai. The windows of Cold Storage were smashed by stones and bricks, and the Jefferson Centre on Lebuh Pantai was attacked by youths shouting anti-devaluation slogans. Bus companies withdrew their vehicles following several attacks, such as when a mob was reported to have stopped a bus along Jalan Penang, throwing stones into the bus to chase out its passengers before attempting to overturn the vehicle. Two reporters from a local newspaper, Warta Negara, were assaulted when they attempted to snap pictures of the incident.

Barricades went up, curfews were implemented and the streets of the holiday island were deserted.

The deserted streets of of Penang.
Photograph: Peter Wong

A racial riot instigated by the Labour Party?
Towards the end of the hartal, the island was at its bloodiest – eight dead and 137 injured. Extra police personnel and members of the armed forces were sent from KL to control the situation. Lim and 23 other leaders were arrested. The code-launched “Operation X” initiated by the Home Affairs Ministry closed the party’s headquarters, followed by eight other branches throughout Penang.

Weapons were seized and several hundred youths (sources do not state whether these youths stemmed from the party or street gangs, but there is the possibility of dual-affiliations) were rounded up for suspected subversive activities. Clearly, someone needed to be blamed, and fingers were pointed at the Labour Party.

Tunku Abdul Rahman expressed his shock in the papers over the “outbreaks of violence in Penang over such a ‘small thing’ as the devaluation of the old dollar”. Regarding the hartal, he noted, “All hell broke loose. Malays retaliated with violence and what originally was a communist resistance against the government and the people, turned into a Sino-Malay conflict.” However, in light of the island’s troubles during that period, it is res ipsa loquiturthat the hartal was not a racial riot instigated by the Labour Party.

While it is true that the hartal was inspired by Lim as chairman of the Labour Party, there was never any intention for it to be racially motivated. The majority, regardless of race, did not want the devaluation that would make their livelihood more difficult, and it was that which led to a peaceful demonstration. Racial elements entered into the picture only when gangs, thugs and extremists decided to intervene.

Youths on bicycles storming the Jefferson Centre.
Photograph: Peter Wong

In fact, Lim was arrested at the height of the hartal even before the chaos had taken place, and the entire party was held responsible for the chaos that happened in the later stages of the protest. Even Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, then Malaysia’s Home Minister, was later quoted in the Straits Times as being “happy to say that there was no evidence to show that the clashes were racial”.

Despite the disorder, the hartal served as a good lesson for the island to be thoroughly prepared for the future. Penang was relatively calm in 1969, thanks in part to the diligent leadership of the police force led by Albert Mah.

Forty-seven years later, the 1967 Hartal has faded into obscurity. But to those who witnessed and struggled through those times, it is still very real and should serve as a constant reminder to appreciate the peace we often take for granted.

Koay Su Lyn is a research analyst with the history and heritage department of Penang Institute. A lawyer by training, she believes that one cannot truly comprehend the present without a proper reference to the past.

Today's news, tomorrow's thrash!

Ace in the Hole (a.k.a The Big Carnival; 1951)
Director: Billy Wilder

This must be one of the first movies that take a swipe at the evil of the media and the way they exploit the situation with only one intention on their mind, for financial gains. That is all. The apparent concern and empathy is all just show. Even though the media helps to showcase to the world, it has its own personal agenda. Put in Kirk Douglas, a smirk journalist with an attitude problem and some punchy line and you have it- a blockbuster which is eternally carved in the annals of time as a great film.

Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas), lands in an Albuquerque newspaper office after thrown out disgracefully of many papers back in the East. He is dreaming of a break which would put him at par with a Pulitzer winner. He dreams on.

He is sent to cover a rattlesnake show. En route to the venue, at a stopover for petrol, Chuck and his rookie photographer hear about a cave-in at an Indian reservation site. The owner of the petrol station, Leo, is trapped. The reservation area is filled with stories of curse and superstitions. Grabbing their chance,  Chuck and his assistant report the story and hog the headlines for the next few days. They manage to garner the attention of people from miles away.
Leo's wife, Lorraine, is a bored ex-waitress at a nightclub joint which is tied down by an unfulfilling marriage. She cannot wait to scoot off from all these and be in the midst of the bright of the city once again. She thinks that this is her chance, but Chuck talks her into staying put and act as an anxious wife at least for the media.

As Leo lays trapped in ruins, the popularity of the run-down town soars.
A corrupt power crazy Sheriff uses this opportunity to improve his chances for re-election. Actually, the idea was given by Chuck!

Lorraine is not complaining either. Her small cafe had not ever seen so much business. Somebody even starts collecting money at the reservation site. Scores of busloads and trainloads of people join in the fracas while Leo stays trapped and is slowly dying. Even the circus comes to town! A rescue fund is launched.

On the sly, Chuck gets exclusive rights to visit Leo in the cave and the rights to the story. He holds his office at ransom and throws his weight around. To drag on the story, he manages to convince the unsure rescue worker the longer way to get the victim, just so that the rescue mission and the story stays on longer!
As the story goes on and Leo's life is in a limbo hanging by a thread, he sees the love that Leo has for his wife and how his wife does not care a damn about him. Chuck realises his own mistake and tries to make amends...

A gripping tale which was based on real events.
The lesson that one can learn at the end is that no one actually cares what turns out for others. All they are interested in is their own agenda. And churning money and making a business out of everything in spite of your misery while appearing to sympathise and empathise to your predicament. Beware, it may be fake. People who seem too good to be true may not just be!

Quotable quote...
It's a good story today. Tomorrow, it'll be yesterday's news and they'll wrap a fish in it.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Taking benefit of doubt to the limit!

The Imposter (2012)

Gone are the days when documentaries were meant to be boring to be used as a tool to disseminate propaganda news of the Empire or sing praises of glory of the ruling regime. Documentaries in the 21st century are mostly investigative in nature. Some are even reenacted to re-live the suspense of story they try to impart.
It is quite difficult to fathom that events that took place in this documentary actually happened in real life. Some of the things sounds like a plot from a B-grade low budget spy movie but surprise, surprise, it actually took place.
A 13 year old boy, Nicholas Barclay, from St Antonio, Texas, goes missing in 1994. Despite extensive search, he was never found.

Nicholas Barclay, 13.

3 years later, the family receives a call from Spain. A teenage boy was found who could be their son. Nicholas' sister goes over to Spain, makes a positive identification of the boy and brings him back to US.

Frédéric Bourdin, supposed to Nicholas
at 17years!

You see, this boy, who was found is actually a serial impostor who finds joy in assuming other people's irony. This Algerian-French was, in 1997, when he made the allegation of being Nicholas Barclay, was 23 years old with dark hair and brown eyes. The real Nicholas was blonde with blue-green eyes! The impostor, Frédéric Bourdin, went to great lengths to hide his identity and hoodwink the Spanish police, American consulate there, the family and even the US authorities. The family attributed his change of personality, accent and even the change of colour of eyes and hair to his mocked up story of abduction by army personnel, child pornography and the like. Everybody bought the story and felt sympathetic for the ordeal that Nicholas had endured. 'Nicholas' started living the American life.
Trouble came in the form of a private eye who was called in by a TV company to look for 'the' missing teenager who was found after 3 years.

As the camera crew were filming the 'boy', the detective with the keen eye for details noted from a nearby portrait of the missing boy that their ear lobes differed tremendously. From his knowledge, he knew ear lobes varied from individual to individual as different as their fingerprints!

FBI came to the picture. Fingerprints of the imposter revealed that he had a long record with Interpol for impersonation.

Then, the family came to the spotlight. Everybody started asking why the family took a person as their son when the features were so different! Accusations were hurled on the possibility that the real Nicholas Barclay could have been murdered and it is their way of covering up.

Years of investigations never revealed anything new. Frédéric Bourdin served a jail sentence and was extradited back to France. After a few more impersonations, he subsequently married and had kids. Nicholas Barclay is still a missing person.

In hind sight, when we look at the turn of events, we sometimes feel like a fool for being taken for a royal spin around the countryside. On the other hand, we do not want to be the evil one for suppressing the truth and giving the benefit of doubt, just in case we are wrong. Sometimes, what appears as glaringly obvious may indeed be the wrong choice!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imposter_(2012_film)

Horror

Horror Stories (2014)
Tunku Halim

Malaysians have a soft spot for things involving the other world, the unknown one lurking on the other side. Again and again this is evident form their penchant in seeking entertainment involving the supernatural, invoking them to help out out in helping out in their worldly duties and even turning up in droves to view exhibits allegedly used by practitioners of black magic.
The reception was too hot and intimidating that the powers that be had to close the exhibition in the National Gallery prematurely a few years ago.

The publishers of the book, unashamedly, admit that they print books to make money, not for literary excellence. What better way to strike the pot of gold than to write about ghosts and its avatars.
The easy to read book is a collection of 20 horrors stories which characters of which many Malaysians are familiar with - toyol, pontianak, cemetery, bomoh, etceteras.

• A love struck lowly clerk desperately tries to woo a sophisticated secretary but in vain. In desperation, he employs the help of a shaman. The consultation proved successful as this beau comes running to his apartment. The only problem is that she had been dead two days previously!
• A group of friends go on a pontianak hunt just to discover one of the friend is one.
• A young clerk experiences disturbances in her new apartment where a previous occupant had committed suicide. She survived the ordeal as her departed father stood beside her as her guardian angel.
• Two friends; one, a Hitler kind in his household whilst the other, a pacifist kind go on a short weekend holiday (just like the good old days). The holiday actually was a non event. As they were returning home, they decide to play a prank on the pacifist's domineering wife. The pacifist thought by showing a closed jar that he found at a rest station, he could take dominance in the house. She was morbidly scared of the underworld, hence he thought of telling her that it contain djinn. Little did he know that the jar did indeed held host to a trapped djinn. During the excitement, the jar fell to the floor and the devil was unleashed. The wife had a shock of her life and succumbed to a massive heart attack on the spot, leaving him to fend for his two kids and live in guilt for the rest of his life.
• Martha is a timid lady who just wastes her life being a wife to a man who raped her in her youth. Her husband has no qualms of exhibiting his extra marital tryst. She cares him through his drunkenness, his fight through cancer and endures the loneliness after his death in their matrimonial home. Even in death, the husband (in spirit) haunts her and rapes Martha's young maid!
• A legendary folk lore tale of orang minyak in which one impregnates its victim and the offspring creates a small ruckus in KL city centre.
• A high maintenance model girlfriend gets Eric to supplement his income through gambling. He is introduced to a medium in a cemetery. The only problem is that he has to produce a fresh human heart on a monthly basis! That means murder.
• A high flying traveller discovers the hard bruising way not to take medicines from strangers. 
• A senior citizen still reeling over the death of wife get a strange premonition from her to meet him at a cemetery. Unknown to him, a vengeful vampire is out for his blood as he is the only living descendant of the murderer who bludgeoned her to death. 
• An old chap goes back to his alma mater after 60 years to see the place where he transformed from a boy to a man. He remembers the time when a recurrent image of an old man used to scare the living daylight out of him. Little does he realize that the elusive old man is he himself peeking into his past as he plunged to death after a heart attack at 80.
• An art dealer goes in search of his drinking buddy, a gravedigger, who seem to be under the weather of late. Despite of the nature of his occupation, he seem to be morbidly horrified to the appearance of an apparition of a body of a drowned young girl that he had buried. It turned out to be the prank of some young girls. However, the story takes a twist when they accuse the gravedigger of killing the girl. It turns out the gravedigger is actually a vampire! He turns the scene into a blood bath. 
• A librarian, by chance, bumps into an antique shop during his lunch break. He succumbs to the shop owner's cajoling to enter the shop 'Malay Magick'. What he discovered was a devilish hermaphroditic creature who gave him a time of sexual ecstasy. The experience become his downfall. He later blew his savings and lost his job due to his addiction for a time at this joint. The librarian became a vagabond scavenging on leftovers and rummaging dustbins. 
• An aging journalist is assigned to cover an exposé on a rich businessman. When he reaches the premises, he finds that a greater task lay ahead. The businessman's wife confides that her husband was trying to kill her! With not much fanfare, the wife is killed by a stray cobra in her bathroom. 
• An ambitious insurance salesman thought he had his entrance to the Million Dollar Club when he courted a rich brother and sister couple. He was dreaming of his pot of gold when the sister falls for him. They marry. Little does he know of her devious plan to kill him off during the honeymoon for his insurance money instead!
• A company manager had a nasty vision of himself killing a lady in a washroom. Meanwhile, a young girl, who has her heart broken by her boyfriend has a terrible nightmare. Both passed it off as the games that mind plays.
  Soon the girl starts working in the man's office and pretty soon, they become a couple. They marry, have a child and things become sour. The husband kills the wife, all orchestrated by the girl's dolls!
• A devoted family man believes that his Indonesian maid is using witch craft to lure him to her bed. He does not resist the temptation and kind of enjoys it. He pays a big price for his indulges. He dies soon after he loses his whole family to poisoning.
• A kind heart girl helps another girl who was born with a weird birth defect. She was born with a big ugly tail and dysmorphic facial features that would even scare the living daylights of a witch's black cat. She builds a friendship bond. With the help a Chinese sinseh, the medically untreatable condition ameliorated. Her tail fell off and her facial features improved with plastic surgery. What do you know! The newly made beau ran off with her boyfriend. After some years, she was all ugly again with her tail growing again. She was a wreck, living all alone in a cheap hotel in town with no friends. The kind girl hearted was no longer kind. When she was contacted for help, instead of helping, she was coerced her to commit suicide. Pretty soon the once kind girl started growing horns. 
• The protagonist, through his cousin, came to discover that a toyol, trapped in a doll was stealing all the loose change around the house. He managed to catch and set it free. He cannot fathom why people in the world are so greedy and full of evil. Little does he realise that years later, he himself was sucked into this system of materialism and greed. As a man of power, he solicits the services of the toyol for his personal gains. And he feels justified, looking at the mounting commitments!
• A sister who loses her boyfriend to her vivacious sister attempts to poison her by feeding her her favorite ice cream tainted with poison. Unfortunately, the conniving sister made the most elementary mistake when she ate from the wrong cup. Gasping her last breath, the other sister realized that she had been poisoned. She avenges by not calling for EMS. The dying sister vowed to take revenge. Her ghost returns many years later when her living sister, now with big children, indulges in an extramarital affair. The ghost kills the boyfriend and the sister becomes catatonic. 
• An elderly man who came out of the closet at a late stage of his life, is jilted by his boyfriend. He is depressed when he is also inflicted with liver cancer. His only last wish was to see the dawn of the new millennium which was a month away. He survives through 31st of December 1999 only to shoot himself past stroke of midnight.

A light entertaining read to take the wearies of everyday living. These types of book - you read, you close the book, don't think much about it and carry on with life... That's all.

Romedy with sleaze!

The Apartment (1960)

Director: Billy Wilder

Watching this movie reminded me very much of 'Mad Man', the TV series. There is so much of partying and infidelity going on in a place where people were supposed to bring home an honest pay. But instead what goes on is apple polishing, intimidation, dangling of carrot and scurrying for strewn shreds of bones for the dogs a.k.a. subordinates. In fact, it is said to be based on a showbiz producer's affair and his usage of his staff's apartment for his tryst. The husband had supposedly shot the lover boy.
Well, if you think the story sounds like a heavy drama with explicit display of emotion, you are wrong. With actor like Jack Lemmon, you can only expect comedy. This one is a romedy (romantic comedy). In fact it was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 5.

CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lowly clerk who is a hit among his bosses at an insurance mega company. He is a hit not because of his undivided commitment to his profession but because his apartment is strategically located for his bosses' extra-marital clandestine activities with their subordinates- secretaries, telephonists and elevator attendants. In fact, CC has a log to ensure their usage does not clash. For his sacrifice, he gained the notoriety of being labelled a woman's man by his neighbours and he spending many cold nights in the park to accommodate his bosses.
Slowly, CC climbs the ladder of promotion. The problem starts when CC falls for the same elevator girl (Shirley MacLaine) as his immediate boss. In midst of covering up for his boss, nursing a suicidal girl and seeing an innocent girl being taken for a ride, he finally confesses and gets the love of his life.
This film had its own problem with its denigrators who accused the filmmakers as making a 'dirty filthy movie'. CC Baxter's boss in the movie, played by Fred MacMurray, who had an affair in the movie, was hit on the head with a purse for high negative role by an old woman in the street! Not much different from India!

Maid to serve?

Whatever happened to Tamil mantra 'your job is your God'? Postmen clung on their postman bag even when their vehicle plunged into a ravine. Secret service agents stood steadfast in line of fire to protect the symbol of sovereignty of a country even ignoring their own lives. Humanitarians flock to war torn or epidemic hit zone to care for the needy. Servants rather take abuses than invoke the wrath of their employers.

We are talking about a different time zone. Unless you have travelled back in time in a time machine, you would realise that things have changed drastically. 

Perhaps some the examples mentioned above are remnants of the feudalistic era or leftovers from the practice of caste system of division of labour based on familial tool of trades. It can also be a figment of what Pol Pot and his revolutionaries were trying to propagate. The ideology that man were made to serve nature and we do not need technology as Mother Nature has it all for us.
There used to be a time when certain things were considered to be out of bounds when a person is at work. Some things are obvious. Thou shall indulge in any intoxicating beverages whilst at work, unless of course, you are from the upper strata of the work force and entertaining clients and make them lose their inhibitions in order to secure businesses in your favour is one of the scopes of your work.
Generally, you do not like to see a person in uniform puffing away at his post. Nor should he be seen fiddling with his smartphone or seen busy entertaining his caller rather than vigilant on the task he is assigned to.
But then, values change. The honour of being in a job and the pride of carrying his duties to the virtues held by generations before us has lost its lustre. In the present world where everything and anything goes and is possible, there is nothing wrong in turning up at a lecture in beach wear. It only show that he is innovative and is open to ideas. Well, as long as the work gets done.

Slip sliding away...

Face to Face (Swedish; 1976)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
This is a painstakingly slow film about an extremely difficult topic, of mental illness.
A psychiatrist, Dr Jenny Isaksson, comes to stay with her grandparents after her husband, also a psychiatrist, goes on a long conference. She had lost both her parents during her childhood to be cared by her grandparents.
Her grandfather is having senile dementia whilst the grandmother goes out of her way to care for her partner.
The environment of the house rekindled her suppressed childhood memories to ignite an episode of mental disorder that becomes quite debilitating, affecting her duties as a doctor, mother to her daughter and herself.
It shows the intricacies of a breakdown. It is difficult to pinpoint events that lead to it. In a world where we like to put a name to any disease and go down to the bottom of it, it makes us wonder if there is anything (or do we know everything) about this dreaded irritant. There seem no shortcut to put this ailment at bay. It is a case of the body being willing but not the mind. Individuals inflicted with worse life situations and misery somehow come out unscathed and in stronger form whilst others just keep slip sliding down the slippery pit of hopelessness and helplessness.