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Book Review
The Tunku tapes |
THIS BOOK should never have been published. It is said to be an edited compilation of tapes made by the journalist K Das of his conversations with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the former prime minister, in 1988. There are several reasons why I deplore the publication. When Das asked to write the biography the Tunku , after much persuasion, agreed and paid the first instalment of 5000 ringgit. If I remember correctly, 10 instalments were to be composed and for each instalment 5000 ringgit would be paid, which made a total of 50,000 ringgit. Each instalment had to be vetted by the Tunku and approved. Das booked into the Ambassador Hotel and I found him a computer to use. But the project collapsed; the first instalment was never written. Das disappeared without an explanation. I learnt this astonishing news on one of my regular visits to the Tunku on my bicycle. We were both mystified but learnt later that for reasons beyond his control Das had to give up the project. Some examples will demonstrate my distaste for the project. There are libellous statements about Cathay Keris and Shaw Bros which would have shocked the gentlemanly Loke Wan Tho, noted for his kindness and generosity. There are disparaging remarks about the Perak royalty, about their being uncouth and grumblings about Pahang and rather rambling utterances which puzzle as to which sultan he was defaming at this point. He named an attorney general as Salleh Yusof when in fact it was Kadir Yusof. The Tunku's memory was not in top form then, but there is no denying that his mental condition was still vigorous enough to warn him, had he had the opportunity, that unguarded statements and memory lapses should not see the light of day. There are a lot of questions which I am sure Das would like to have answered. For instance, in Bombay the Tunku had asked Ghazali Shafie to join UMNO and Ghazali had poohed poohed the idea; when May 13 shook the capital Ghazali was one of those who plotted to take over. Then why did he put him in the Cabinet? Was it because he was the sort who would make an excellent captain of his golf team ? - a standard, he had told Lee Siew Yee of the New Straits Times, by which he judged men by. |
| And yet another question
nags. Was Ghazali suggested by someone on the British side who
knew he was trained in intelligence by Force 136 while in India? And
was it because he wanted another operator on board that he appointed Khaw
Kai Boh, former head of the special branch Singapore, to the cabinet? Another mystery which I am sure that Das would have probed is why Razak demanded not only payment of back taxes but stopped his pension altogether. This petty vindictiveness needed an explanation. And Penang people would surely want to know why Tunku destroyed Penang's free port status. Das would have thought of many more questions to ask being the trained journalist that he was. If there is anything which excuses publication of this book it is the revelation by Tunku that he did not expect Baling to succeed because the British were in complete control of this country and that at that time he was only a Chief Minister without the full powers to do as he wanted. In 1955 he had called for an "amnesty" and that he would meet Chin Peng to discuss it, but the British made him drop the idea. As Prof Madya Dr Nik Annuar Nik Mahmud (Note) says ". . The record shows that the Tunku was not a free agent; that he acted within the directives issued by the British government, in other words, under the control of the director of operations." When the British finally agreed to the meeting in 1955 they had become more sure of their man but nonetheless they were testing the Tunku who had the support of the Labour Party and sections of the MCA and UMNO. Nevertheless the meeting was for the purpose of "clarifying" the second "amnesty" proposals. Prof Madya Dr Nik Annuar Nik Mahmud says that faced with hostility the Tunku had finally to concede that he would merely listen to what Chin Peng had to say then report back to the British. When Chen Tien first emerged from the jungle as representative of Chin Peng he was at once told that the purpose of the meeting was to explain amnesty terms and not for negotiations, a point often neglected by our "Gurkha" historians. The other thing that we learn from the book is that Dr Mahathir wanted to have a republic. The publication of this gossip booklet was not fair to the Tunku, nor did it do justice to the journalistic integrity of a fine journalist. What the Tunku said of Aziz Ishak who had asked to write his biography was overlooked. " I financed it and when the time came to publish it I asked to take a look and he said you cannot take a look. I said what the hell do you mean by that? I paid for it, it is story of my life and I am not allowed to take a look at it!" Perhaps it was that disappointment that led the Tunku in his authorisation of 21 July 1988 to write: "I also expect Mr Das to consult me on the final draft of his book before publication". There was not even a first draft instalment. # Lim Kean Chye |
| Book reviewed: K Das and the Tunku Tapes compiled and edited by Kua Kia Song, SIRD (Note: Tunku Abdul Rahman and his Role in the Baling Talks - A documentary history by Prof Madya Dr Nik Annuar Nik Mahmud, Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra) |
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| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 51 |