Evening star., 1950-12-03

OF CnlneSe communism.
Now. since the Oriental iror
curtain countries appear in neec
of this strategic essential for war
1t will be interesting to see If the
murderous gangs which have ter
rorized Malaga since 1945 will.
halt or even reduce their activ-
tiles. So far there is no sign
of it.
For in the Malay Peninsula, as
in the rest of Southeast Asia
political independence has not
brought with it the peace and
prosperity envisioned by the polit-
ical spellbinders. In LuZon, the
Hukbalahaps range around Manila
as though they and not the gov
ernment controlled the island. Ir
Indonesia, outraged minorities
struggle against Javanese i'm
perialism and threaten a return
to interisland warfare. In Burma
the precarious reign of Thakin NJ
hardly extends beyond the city
limits of Rangoon and the crisis
in Indo- China has been well re-
ported of late.
State of Siege
Now, in Malaga, where at, least
10000 well-armed and organized
guerrillas deploy around some
10000 British and native soldiers
q highly mobile, slash-and-rur
warfare has created what amounts
to a state of siege.
Like the other guerrillas OF
Southeast Asia, the Communist
gangs of Malaga were armed. at
great trouble and expense. by
Britain and the United States. for
the harassment of the japanese
occupying the peninsula.
To certain extent, which va
ried from place to place, these
guerrillaS were source of annoy
ance to Japanese patrols. but their
subsequent depredations against
the nationals who originally out
fitted them have been infinitely
more effective.
When, at the coming of peace,
the bona-flde guerrillas laid down
their arms and returned to their
jobs, the Communists formed
what they called the Malayan
Peoples Army and proceeded to
lay waste the countryside.
Equipped with stolen japanese
weapons as well as the arms they
got from the British and Ameri-
cans. they were often better out
fitted for battle than the govern
ment troops they bushwhacked;
frequently emerging the winners
OF pitched battles. although their
usual tactics were hit-and-run.
To date. the British and loyal
Malay casualties are Over a third
higher than those of the Commies.
About the size of the State of
New York in area. the Malay Pc.
ninsula, extending from Thailand
toward Sumatra. is a sparsely
populated land of tropical forests
and rivers. The tin, which is
dredged from the river banks and
shadows. Is no longer as valuable
an export as the rubber which is
tapped from the descendants of
the trees which were smuggled
out of Brazil in 1877 by Wickham
Steed. Strategically. however, it
is fully as important.
Tin and rubber. twin sources of
Malayan wealth, were both de-
veloped by aliens. The Chinese
were working the tin mines of
Perak centuries before the birth of
Christ, and the early Portuguese
settlers had a tin coinage when,
in the 10th century, the Dutch
took the territory away from
them.
Stimulated Immigration
And when the British intro
duced hevea brasiliensiS seedlings
to Malayan soil and developed the
rubber industry, the native Malay
became parasite on his own land,
owning neither of the products
that the native earth yielded.
Moreover, the rubber industry
stimulated further immigration
from abroad. Strong and willing
workers were needed to clear the
forests for planting and the good
natured and humorous-but lazy
Malay was soon displaced by
floods of arrivals from China and
India.
At the present time, the Malay
Is a minority in Malaga, number
ing only 81 million among a pop
ulation totaling three times that
many. The Chinese rank first
with a population of 2,615.000, and
the Indians (mostly Tamils) rank
third with $4,000. Clearly the
Chinese, even without the assist
ance of the Tamils, can so domi-
nate the voting power that the
native Malay may be left with
out a voice in the government of
his own land.
The Malay Federation which
emerged in February, 1948, from
the four Federated Malay States
Perak, Selangor. Negri- -Sembilan
and Pahang), and the five Un-
federated Malay States (Johore,
Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and
TrengganuD is still a British de-
pendency but with a popularity
elected central government at
Kuala Lumpar, the former capital
of Selangor. The equation, there
fore. of lone citizen. one vote" can
mean a great deal to the peace,
and integrity, of the Malay
Peninsula.
In 1947, an amendment to the
constitutional proposal of the
year previous sought to compen-
safe for this inequity by requiring
a minimum of Is years of con-
tinuous residence as preliminary
H. 49, -zzz -