During Malaysia’s path to- Merdeka, police officers Pritam Singh Grewal and Ching Chee Ming played significant roles in the struggle, especially during the Malayan Emergency.
Their contributions were crucial in maintaining order and supporting the transition from colonial rule to independence.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Their contributions were crucial in maintaining order and supporting the transition from colonial rule to independence.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00During my father's jungle squad days, there were all razors in the jungle squad team.
00:15And the leader of my father's team was Mr Pritam Singh, who really inspired all his
00:22members to take care of the safety of the community and to watch out for the enemies.
00:33Everybody watched each other's back, regardless of race or religion.
00:39So it was really, really mohibah at that time.
00:43My late father, Mr Pritam Singh Gorewal, was serving in Central Police Station, Ipoh, before
00:50the Second World War.
00:53And after the World War, he was posted to Stevan from 1946 to 1957.
01:01From there, he rose and became a Chief Sub-Inspector.
01:04When my father was serving in Stevan, there was a lot of terrorist companies around in
01:11the villages and quite close to the town.
01:15And so what they did, they formed a jungle squad.
01:19And my father, the late Mr Pritam Singh, was the leader.
01:24During Malaysia's path to independence, police officers also played important roles in the
01:28struggle, especially during the Malayan Emergency.
01:32I can recall my late father telling us that during his school days at Nan Hua School,
01:40Setiawan, one of his classmates was Ong Boon Hwa, Elias Chin Peng, the most famous communist
01:48leader in Malaysia.
01:52And what happened was, a lot of the students were intimidated and bullied by Ong Chin Peng
02:03to join the communist guerrillas.
02:07A lot joined him, but my father refused.
02:10He didn't believe in communism.
02:13So in order to avoid Chin Peng, he actually left school after that.
02:18He never continued his studies, and he joined the jungle forces.
02:24My father and all his squad in the jungle squad, they used to go to the jungle, deep
02:29in the jungle.
02:31Sometimes they would go for a week or two weeks, sometimes longer period, and it was
02:35a very tough time for them to go through.
02:38And there were a lot of problems also, but whatever it is, they all will be there serving
02:47the country.
02:48So the day they were coming back, there was so much of excitement, and everyone was waiting
02:55to see the father.
02:56Some fathers, some people came back alive, but some, so sorry, some of them didn't come
03:03back.
03:04When I see my father coming down, I'll be so happy, I'll run to him.
03:09Then there were so many other ladies who were crying.
03:13Both Ching Chee Ming and Pritam Singh Grewal made significant contributions in combating
03:18insurgents together, supporting the independence movement.
03:21My father was in a special branch, a very secretive part of the police force.
03:28He was in plain clothes throughout his career, and I remembered he also recruited students
03:39from Chinese schools to be his informers as to whether there are any communist activities
03:44going on in the schools.
03:47He also recruited hawkers who come to the house late at night to have private discussions
03:53with him on the goings-ons in the town.
03:58It was a very, very difficult time at that time.
04:02It was not an easy time for the families, and the main part was they were happy because
04:07they were serving the country.
04:09My late father, Pritam Singh, dedicated his whole life to the country.
04:18He was so patriotic in everything he did, and he was well-respected, and for all his
04:24good services and honesty, he was awarded, the British awarded him with a medal.
04:33In 1957, he was awarded AMN by the First Agho of Malaysia, and that was the Merdeka, the
04:40first Merdeka of 1957.
04:43The struggle for independence saw soldiers and fighters from different racial and ethnic
04:47backgrounds coming together for one purpose, Merdeka.
04:51By looking at my father's old photographs, his service in the police, I could see that
04:57there was no racism there.
05:00Everyone was like a family.
05:02There were Chinese who were mostly detectives, there were the Punjabis, there were the Malays,
05:06and South Indians.
05:08Everything was done together, more of a family than anything else.
05:13In 1957, the concept of Muhyibah was crucial in the context of Malaysia's transition to
05:19independence from British colonial rule.
05:22The spirit of Muhyibah at that time, when the word Muhyibah wasn't even coined yet,
05:28was so strong among all Malaysians, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sikhs.
05:34And I really felt that when I was staying in the police barracks in Telintan.
05:39We would celebrate each community's festivals, Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali.
05:45It was really, really fun.
05:47It was a wonderful childhood for me.