MALAYSIA'S Socialist Front scattered in the mid 1960s. But former members tell SANTHA OORJITHAM that socialism is still alive today — although it may be practised under different names by different parties.
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| Pas member Ishak Surin says Parti Sosialis Malaysia and he are on 'parallel paths' |
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| PSMarti Sosialis Malaysia would have to 'review' idea of joining Pakatan Rakyat, says Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim |
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| Dr Syed Husin Ali says Pas would not accuse him of being a communist today |
ISHAK Surin, Dr Mohd Nasir Hasim and Dr Syed Husin Ali all began their political careers with Parti Rakyat Malaya (PRM).
Each was arrested under the Internal Security Act for his socialist beliefs, which their jailors equated with communism and/or Marxism.
And today, each says he is pursuing the same goals with a different party. Ishak is now the deputy chairman of the Pas Workers and Squatters Bureau, Syed Husin is deputy president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Nasir is chairman of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
The Socialist Front peaked in the early 1960s but had collapsed by the middle of the decade. And after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, many wrote off socialism in Malaysia.
But with Parti Sosialis Malaysia winning one parliamentary seat and one state seat in the March 8 general election, with its registration in August and with several other parties claiming to champion similar "pro-people" policies, maybe reports of the death of socialism have been premature.
"Socialist goals are still alive today, advocated by different groups and parties -- although it is not as widespread as it was in the 1950s and 1960s," says political scientist Khong Kim Hoong, author of Merdeka!
After World War 2, groups such as the leftist Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) that had collaborated with the Japanese collapsed. Leftist Malay activists formed new groups, including the Malay Nationalist Party (PKMM) and Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (Api).
"All the Malay parties under Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (Putera) and the non-Malay parties under the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) united to oppose British colonialism," says Ishak.
In 1948, the British banned Api, followed by the Communist Party of Malaya, PKMM and others, jailing hundreds of their leaders, including Ahmad Boestamam, a former KMM member and the leader of Api.
When he was released in 1955, he started PRM, which the 19-year-old Ishak joined "because I saw it as the only way to achieve independence, not because I was a socialist".
But as the young teacher read, listened to lectures and attended meetings, "I found there was injustice. At that time, I thought socialism could form a nation and society which was just".
Ishak became assistant secretary-general and, after PRM and the Labour Party formed the Malayan People's Socialist Front (SF) in 1958, he helped in the campaign for the first general election in 1959.
The Front won eight seats at the national level, making it the third largest party in Parliament after the Alliance and Pas. Meanwhile, it was also consolidating power at the local level. In Penang, for example, it held 14 of the 15 George Town seats after the 1961 city council elections.
By 1965, Syed Husin notes, the socialists had gained control of the municipal councils in Penang and Malacca as well as the local councils in Seremban and Serdang.
Adds Khong: "Poverty, poor wages and healthcare, and less access to electricity and water were breeding grounds for socialism."
Trade unionist N. Patkunam, a founding member of the Labour Party of Malaya and member of its central executive committee, won the Sungai Pinang council seat in the 1958 and 1961 elections and was elected deputy mayor in 1960.
As a young teacher, he sold his parents' land in Green Lane and handed the proceeds to his party.
"We wanted a socialist society which would alleviate poverty and provide for fair distribution of wealth," he explains.
He helped Penangites to get low-cost housing, put in streetlights where there hadn't been any and helped people get jobs.
"I do not think people in Penang were afraid of socialism," he says.
But pressure was building up. Federal Government propaganda "demonised" socialism, claims Syed Husin, giving it "a terrible stigma associated with communism and being 'anti-religion'".
In 1964, the SF won only two seats. Ishak attributes this to Indonesia's declaration of Konfrontasi in 1963.
"The Front was seen as pro-Indonesia. All the SF leaders were arrested again."
And after he helped to organise a mass demonstration to protest the arrests, he was also detained under the ISA and later sentenced for having "subversive" documents.
But the final blow was the suspension of local government elections in 1965 (after the 1964 declaration of Emergency during Konfrontasi).
"Socialism never recovered," says Ishak. No more socialists made their way into Parliament until this year, although a couple won state seats over the years.
Unions have also been weakened since the Emergency, says Khong. Before independence, there was one General Labour Union, adds Nasir, "not separate unions for workers in the private and public sectors. It was very powerful. Most of the members were socialists".
At the same time, as Khong points out, working conditions have improved -- and so have the amenities.
By the 1980s, says a former PRM member helping with election campaigns then, "response from the voters and the public was very poor. They recognised that PRM members were committed but there was a real suspicion that socialism was not for this country. It was seen as anti-religion".
He was disillusioned by the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991 which he says, "really buried socialism. I left because I could see that capitalism worked, whether you liked it or not. There is ample room for democracy under capitalism".
Today, he is a planner with a government-linked company.
Ishak left even earlier, for a different reason: an ideological and leadership struggle within PRM in 1969.
Younger leader Kassim Ahmad, who had taken over as chairman in 1965, brought in "scientific socialism" and changed the name to Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia.
Scientific socialism had the same goals as the earlier ideology of "Marhaenism" (named after a peasant whom Sukarnomet), aiming to remove the vestiges of colonialism and work towards a society based on nationalism and social justice. "The party did not want to be associated with Indonesia," explains Syed Husin.
Founder Boestamam and others (including Ishak) left to form Parti Marhaen Malaysia which tried to revive the Socialist Front for the 1974 elections but failed. Ishak joined Pas in 1985.
"Pas helps workers, educating them on their rights and educates squatters on their right to housing," he explains. "It has similar goals to socialism."
Parti Sosialis Malaysia was formed by another splinter group. When PSRM reverted back to PRM in 1989, Nasir left "after they dropped socialism from both the party's name and constitution".
Since then, his party has worked with "urban pioneers", plantation and factory workers, farmers, Orang Asal, students and migrant workers among others.
Among its successes, says the new Kota Damansara state assemblyman, were pushing for the Selangor state policy (which was adopted in the early 1990s) that when plantations are developed, the affected workers must be given alternative housing; and persuading the Federal Government to put smaller plantations under what is now the Rural and Regional Development Ministry so that it could take care of them (which was done in 1993).
Meanwhile, Syed Husin led PRM members into a merger with Parti Keadilan Nasional to form Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2003 -- although some Keadilan members opposed the merger arguing that PRM and he were "socialist and anti-religion", he recalls.
And when PKR wanted its deputy president to contest the Kota Baru parliamentary seat in the 2004 general elections, Kelantan chief minister Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat objected to his socialist background, claiming that socialists are "adik kepada komunis".
PKR's objectives now are "more pro-people and non-racial", says the party's deputy president. "Wealth is to be shared by the poor and disadvantaged... You can call it socialism if you want. Some say it is Islam."
Although Pas may still associate socialists with communists, he says, "they have changed their attitude towards individuals and would not accuse me of the same today. And if PSM wanted to join Pakatan Rakyat, I don't think Pas would oppose that".
PSM and former socialists like himself "are still struggling for a non-communal society with fair distribution of wealth," he says.
"Our paths are parallel. If they stick to these principles, they will succeed. I can do the same within Pas."
But if reports of the death of socialism are premature, speculation about PSM joining Pakatan Rakyat may be premature as well.
"We have yet to receive an invitation," says Nasir. "If there is one, we will review it in our congress."
Both PSM candidates stood on a PKR ticket during the March polls and have cooperated with other PR parties for years.
But, the chairman stresses, "As socialists we prefer to overhaul this exploitative system rather than fine-tune it."
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