Let’s play the numbers game

If brutality and the number of deaths are the reason for deciding whether to cut off all dealings with anyone, then there are worse people than Chin Peng. The example of the Wahhabis I used above would be one case in point.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

5,000 people died in more than 40 years of conflict between the Malayan Communist Party and the Malayan Government. In that same period, almost 7,000 guerrillas were killed with about 4,500 captured or surrendered. Note that half the 5,000 who died were civilians. But not all these civilians were killed by the Communist Terrorists. Some civilians were killed by the security forces.

That was what happened over 40 years or so from 1948 to 1989.

Over the last six years, 1,300 people died under detention. This is according to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, SUHAKAM, a government body. So this is not a bleeding-heart, save the whale, gay rights, burn the bra western human rights group that is saying this. 1,300 people were killed by the Malaysian government in just six years says the Malaysian government.

Every year, 7,000-10,000 people die on Malaysian roads. Half of those who die ride Japanese motorcycles. And most of the other half who die drive Malaysian made cars such as Proton or Kancil or one of those other coffin-on-wheels.

An unknown number of Muslims were killed over 140 years up to 1925 in the Arabian Peninsular. The actual figure is unknown because there were no citizenship records then but it is estimated that the figure runs into at least tens of thousands. However, Jews and Christians, somehow, were not touched though. It was only Muslims who were put to death.

And the perpetrators were Muslims of the Wahhabi Movement who wanted to cleanse the Arabian Peninsular of deviants, heretics, and apostates. Of course, who constitutes a deviant, heretic or apostate depends on the interpretation of those who were doing the killing. But the yardstick they used was very simple, and to them quite rational. If you are Muslim and you are not riding with them, then you must be a deviant, heretic or apostate. If not then you would certainly be in their raiding party.

Simple logic. So all Muslims not part of the raiding party must die. Jews and Christians can be spared. The Wahhabis burned libraries, destroyed graves and shrines of holy people, and massacred entire cities, goats and camels included. They would then cut off the heads of those killed and place them on spikes around the city as a sort of decoration. They even tried to demolish the dome of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina but somehow stopped short of actually doing it.

Today, of course, these Wahhabis are the keeper of the two holy mosques of Mekah and Medina and millions of Muslims visit these mosques every year to fulfil their pilgrimage.

I hear the objections to allowing Chin Peng to return to Malaysia. Historians even say that Chin Peng is a British subject and not a Malaysian citizen — so there is no question about allowing him to return to his homeland. Malaysia is not his homeland.

Okay, whatever it may be. What I am concerned about is not so much that Chin Peng is not being allowed to ‘come home’ as much as the reasons for denying him his request to come home.

The government says that many Malays, in particular the armed forces and those who lost family members during the Emergency, would be upset it Chin Peng were allowed to come home. 40,000-50,000 Malayans were killed during the Emergency, they argue.

Okay, first of all, it is not 40,000-50,000 Malayans that were killed. And this already demonstrates the insincerity of the government. If the government can blatantly distort the statistics of those killed during the Emergency, what is to stop them from also distorting the figures of those killed during the May 13 riots?

The government says a few hundred died during May 13. Others, who disagree with this figure, say it runs into thousands. The government says it were Malays, Chinese and Indians killing each other. Others, who disagree, say that this is only partly true and that many, in fact, were killed by the security forces and that the bodies had bullet holes in them.

Ultimately, we are talking about statistics here and trying to use statistics to justify our decision. If Chin Peng had killed only 100 people, would that mean it is now acceptable for him to come home? Is it because he killed thousands rather than hundreds we just can’t allow him to return?

It appears like the government is playing a numbers game here. Whether Chin Peng can or cannot return to Malaysia would depend on the number of people who were killed over more that 40 years from 1948 to 1989. The higher the figure, the less reason to allow him to return. The lower the figure, the more reason to allow him to return. From the statements by those who oppose the idea of allowing him to return, this appears to be the reason.

If brutality and the number of deaths are the reason for deciding whether to cut off all dealings with anyone, then there are worse people than Chin Peng. The example of the Wahhabis I used above would be one case in point. If you just knew what they did over 140 years up to 1925 you would probably boycott Mekah and Medina and would refuse to enter those two cities until the Saudi government can be toppled and the two holy cities of Islam be brought under international administration just like the Vatican City in Rome.