CHINESE army veterans have slammed a cleric’s “distortion” of history, saying non-Malays played a key role in the fight against the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).

Malaysian Armed Forces Chinese Veterans Association (MACVA) president Major Tan Pau Son said Templer’s 12 were the pioneers of the army.

“There is such a thing as Templer’s 12, and they included Major General Lai Chung Wah, Major General Leong Siew Ming, Lieutenant Colonel Khong Kim Kong, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Ng Boon Hwa and Major General N. Selvarajah.

“Of the 12 in the group, six were Chinese. They were the first batch sent to the royal military academy in England,” said Tan in a press conference at the MACVA headquarters in Mid Valley City today.

Templer’s 12 were a hand-picked group of officers by then British High Commissioner to Malaya General Sir Gerald Templer on July 27, 1952, to form the Federation Regiment’s pioneer group of multiracial army officers.

Other members of Templer’s 12 were Brigadier General Victor Nelson Stevenson, Brigadier General Asna Mohd Sutan, Colonel Gui Poh Chui, Lieutenant Colonel Thong Chee Sin, Major Lakhbir Singh Gill, Major Amiruddin Mustapha Albakri and Lieutenant General Abdullah Shamsuddin.

All of them are now retired.

Ismail Mina Ahmad, chairman of Ummah umbrella group Gerakan Pembela Ummah, said yesterday at The Rise of the Ummah convention that only Malays had fought against the Communists, British and Japanese.

He said as such, non-Malays were a danger to Islam and Malay political rule.

The National Patriots’ Association has urged Putrajaya to respond to Ismail’s remarks and set the record straight on non-Malays’ involvement in the battle against CPM.

Tan said MACVA knew of six other army veterans, who were recipients of the Panglima Gagah Berani (PGB) award, who had fought against CPM.

“The PGB is Malaysia’s second-highest bravery award. It is awarded for extreme courage and gallantry in combat,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The highest award, in order of precedence among federal awards, is the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa.

The non-Malays given the PGB award were the late Colonel Maurice Lam Shye Choon, Major Lee Ah Pow (Rtd), Second Lieutenant David Fu Chee Ming (Rtd), Sergeant Choo Woh Soon (Rtd) and the late Sergeant Cheng Eng Chin.

The sixth veteran bestowed the award was Ranger Mat Isa Hassan.

“Ismail’s assertions are factually and historically inaccurate, and belittle the contributions of non-Malay army veterans, specifically the Chinese, Iban, Indians and Sikhs,” said Tan.

Meanwhile, MCA religious harmony bureau chairman Ti Lian Ker, in a statement today, said former education officer Raof Husin’s statement, made at the Ummah convention on Saturday, that Putrajaya was constitutionally bound to limit study aid to Bumiputera students, was wrong.

“Article 153 is not a blanket provision intended to deprive others. It is qualified, whereby specific assistance is rendered only to a proportion that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong deems reasonable.”

He said the Ummah, as an umbrella body for Muslim civil society organisations, should be mindful of upholding the true teachings and practices of Islam.

He said this could be done by adhering to the principles of righteousness, fairness and justice as advocated by the religion.

“We Malaysians are brought up to respect each other, and to fear God’s wrath. Thus, we are taught to be compassionate and kind to all, especially those who are poor and weak, by rendering them the assistance needed.”

As such, Ti said, Raof’s use of Article 153 of the federal constitution to “deprive or punish the poor of any governmental aid” was wrong.

“This is an article that provides for specific aid for Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, in terms of educational scholarship. It is to be determined by the Malay rulers on the basis of proportion and need.

“It is not an absolute provision, and the assistance rendered is qualified.”

He also slammed Raof’s claim that the number of Bumiputera professionals was still small.

“That was back in the 1960s and 1970s, when the New Economic Policy was introduced to remedy, restructure and redistribute wealth in society.

“Raof’s statement seems to show that he is living in the past. We are now in 2018, and generally, Malays have made tremendous progress.” – January 15, 2018.