This is a bold and "extraordinary" book. "The Malaysian-Malayan Communist Party Peace Accord" is projected "in Perspective" as Malaysia's 'Finest Hour', because it finally brought peace to the country.

Others may dispute this but certainly no other country has managed to deal with guerilla insurrection as successfully as Malaysia. It took a long time but finally the MCP agreed to lay down arms. It was a great moment for Malaysia when they did. But there was no celebration. The people of Malaysia seemed to have taken the event for granted.

The MCP claims that they fought for Malaysia's independence.There could be some legitimacy when the British still ruled the country. But after independence in 1957 that claim becomes meaningless.

The MCP fought against Independent Malaysia with the same ferocity it did with colonial Malaysia. But what is extraordinary, and indeed refreshing about this book, is the perspective adopted.

It is one that is argued within the theoretical framework of political economy, where the peace accord is turned on its head by uncovering the political, economic and social struggles against the impact of colonial rule on the indigenous and immigrant societies in Malaya and their resistance to it.

The book therefore can be seen as a microcosm of the colonial and post colonial social history of Malaya, encompassing the struggles and sacrifices in the experiences of the three main racial groups respectively, against British Colonial rule, leading to political resistance and finally independence.

In this sense the book can be said to begin where it ends.

The Malays and Malaya

The book has also made certain "stunning" observations. It has looked at the historically important significance of the first resistance movements by the Malays as the indigenous people of this country, against British rule.

This study confirms in no uncertain terms, that Malaya belonged to the Malays and therefore it was the latter who organized the first resistance movements against the usurpation of their sovereignty with the accompanying political disenfranchisement, economic marginalization and alienation from the modernization process.

But this resistance, almost from day one, was ruthlessly suppressed initially by the British and indeed subsequently by the Malay ruling class themselves in collaboration with the colonial government.

Nonetheless, despite these defeats, the resistance continued so that it is recorded that the British hardly had a period of continuous 'peace' for six months during their entire rule in Malaya.

In this connection it is also seldom realized that the Malays deeply abhorred being dominated by foreign powers, in this case the British. Therefore some of them took advantage of the first opportunity to join the advancing Japanese forces which promised to give them freedom from the British.

This determination to reject foreign rule was manifested in the declaration of the first Malay Nationalist Political Party (KMM) which sought "to regain our homeland from White Domination since the fall of Malacca in 1511" (The Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain: "Malay Nationalism before UMNO" {posted on Malaysia Today Website, May 13th 2006}).

The point that needs emphasis here is that by joining the Japanese, KMM members had access to arms. Indeed the importance of possessing arms is also emphasized in the folklore.

Access to arms

A Malay proverb advises that "the one without a gun should give way" (ibid, posted on Malaysia Today Website, 26th February 2006).

The discussion as above has relevance for one of the most controversial dimensions of the Emergency, namely why some Malays joined the Malaysian Communist Party. It has been fairly well documented that one of the more important reasons was the sheer state of desperation due to economic hardship particularly in areas where the recruits lived.

At the same time the evidence also suggests that, the Malays who joined the predominantly Chinese Communist Party suffered some discrimination in the jungle and in the camps.

Therefore it is being argued that despite this, the Malays still joined the MCP in order to have access to arms to fight against the British for independence, in what they believed to be a reasonable chance of success.

This book has emphasized therefore that some Malay nationalists, the Malay Left, and Islamic political parties in the anti-colonial resistance movements were unanimous that despite the negative impact, the non-Malays, should find a place in an independent free Malaya.

Dr Burhanuddin, considered an Islamic nationalist, in fact proposed a common nationality for both Malays and non-Malays as "Melayu".

This book is by no means the 'last word' on the "Emergency". But the author hopes that it would generate sufficient interest to lead to further research.

I too believe that more Malaysians should do research on the MCP and the Emergency because so far most of the books written about it are by the British. Quite naturally their writings have been biased.

The MCP laid down arms when I was the Prime Minister of Malaysia. I leave it to readers to evaluate the significance of this. But certainly it marked the end of a very prolonged insurrection involving guerillas warfare. Guerillas believe they can never be defeated. But in Malaysia they were.

DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD is Malaysia's former prime minister. The above is one of the four forewords for the recently launched book authored by social scientist Dr Collin Abraham entitled The Finest Hour The Malaysian-CPM Peace Accord in Historical Perspective.