After the Emergency, the Lee Meng saga became a footnote in the history of a long war between Malayan government and the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party, known as Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA). During the Japanese occupation, they were known as Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army. To many locals, they were simply "Bintang Tiga" because of the three stars on their jungle caps. According to some, the three stars represented the three major races of Malaya; Malays, Chinese and Indians. But in 2014, the Lee Meng saga once again became a headline when Ong Ka Chuan, then Malayan Chinese Association (or MCA) president, praised the role played by the late Tan Cheng Lock, founder of MCA, for seeking clemency for Lee Meng from the Sultan of Perak. MCA, at least back then, was rabidly anti-communist and one of its founders, the late Lee Hau Shik, was a colonel in Kuomintang, a Chinese group opposed to communist ideology. Kuomintang was also active in Malaya during the Japanese occupation. The late Tan Siew Sin, Minister of Finance after Merdeka, was a son of Tan Cheng Lock.
Almost 7,000 MNLA guerrillas were killed during the emergency, and about 1,500 British personnel were also killed. It was the second-highest casualty for the British; the highest was during World War II. It was simply called Emergency, not a war, because of pressure from British business groups. Labeling it a war would probably cause insurance premiums to double or triple, or even resulted in "force majeure," meaning an act of God and hence, removing insurance companies from liability. Corporations like Sime Darby and many others were at one time owned by British business interests.
Lee Meng as she was popularly known, was an MCP alias. Her real name was Lee Ten Tai. She was born in 1926 in Canton (now Guangzhou), China. Her family moved to Perak sometimes around 1930. Her mother was later banished to China in 1950 for communist activities. Lee Meng died in Guangzhou in 2012. After she was deported to China, she married Chen Tien, a high-ranking MCP official. Lest you forget, Chen Tien was one of three MCP officials who attended the Baling Talks. He was the chief of the MCP Central Propaganda Department.
An Innocent Or A Terrorist?
During her trial, Lee Meng vehemently denied being a terrorist. She also denied being in the photographs that shown her with hand grenade and guns. Almost all the witnesses against her were captured or surrendered terrorists, but the pictures of her with weapons were items found in a cave during a raid by security forces. She called the ex-terrorists who testified against her "surrendered dead devils," a term often used by the communists against their colleagues who surrendered. Her lawyer, Mr D R Seenivasagam (D. R. Seenivasagam Park in Ipoh, formerly known as Coronation Park, is named after him), said she should not be charged for "the sins of her mother". It must be remembered that Lee Meng's mother was deported back to China by the British for communist activities. One of the tools used by the British during the Emergency was to deport communist members, sympathisers back to China. Some historians say, up to 35,000 Chinese were deported and the figure does not include around three hundred Indians. Before Merdeka, both Chinese and Indians were not citizens and the issue of citizenship for them was only agreed during various hearings held by the Reid Commission.
Chin Peng in My Side Of History called her "a dedicated communist." But he had no praise for her, calling her reckless at the same time.
A Cause Celebre
According to Wikipedia, a cause célèbre is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate.
