Seminar Abstract

Communist Party of Malaya: A Comprehensive Bibliography is a resource guide that was published online on 1 September 2021. The bibliography covers an extensive range of material on the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of sources for interested researchers, and for national security practitioners engaged in resilience-building. Conceived as a ‘living’ comprehensive bibliography on the CPM, this research project intends to grow the research space in this topic. This official launch of the bibliography brings together a diverse panel of renowned academics and practitioners to share their perspectives and insights on the bibliography project and the subject of the CPM.

About the Panelists

Dr Ong Wei Chong is an Assistant Professor and Head of the National Security Studies Programme (NSSP), in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has taught at the command and staff college, advanced school and officer cadet school levels at SAFTI Military Institute, Singapore. In addition, he was an Affiliated Researcher with the Department of Leadership and Management, Swedish National Defence College and a Guest Professor at the École Navale, France. He is also an alumnus of the Phillip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies Basin Harbor Workshop, SAIS, Johns Hopkins (2013).

Wei Chong’s articles, commentaries and op-eds have been published in the journal and magazine of the Singapore Armed Forces (Pointer and Pioneer); RUSI Journal; Armed Forces and Society; Small Wars & Insurgencies, Defence Studies; The Pacific Review; Asia Policy; The National Interest; The Diplomat: Australian Defence Force Journal; Journal of Southeast Asian Studies; Straits Times; Today; Lianhe Zaobao; Defense News; Canadian Naval Review; and Diplomatie.

Professor Karl Hack is a Professor of History at the Open University, UK, having worked at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, from 1995-2006. He has interviewed a range of Malayan Emergency participants up to the Secretary-General of the MCP and published widely on the conflict. Key related works include (edited with C.C. Chin) Dialogues with Chin Peng: New Light on the Malayan Communist Party (2004) and The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the end of empire (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming February 2022). He has also published on empire more generally, notably ‘Unfinished Decolonisation and Globalisation’, in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 47, 5 (2019), and has been an expert witness in the Malaysian court system and worked with military and heritage institutions in Singapore and the UK.

Gen (R) Tun Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Mohamed Hashim bin Mohd Ali was born in Kuala Lumpur and is a graduate of The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, the United Kingdom. His career in the military included, amongst others, the commanding officer of a battalion, the commander of the Rejang Area Security Command (RASCOM) in Sarawak and the GOC of the 2nd Army Division working closely with his counterpart in Thailand. He successfully executed the philosophy that development and security must go hand in hand towards nation building. He was one of the Malaysian signatories at the Peace Accord that was signed in Thailand leading to the end of the CPM threat in Peninsular Malaysia. This led to the end of the communist insurgency in Malaysia. He retired as the Chief of Defence Forces in 1992.

Tan Sri Abdul Rahim bin Mohd Noor is the fifth Inspector-General of Police of Royal Malaysia Police and served from 1994 to 1999. He has also previously served as Director of Special Branch Malaysia, the Selangor State Police Chief, and as Sabah’s Police Commissioner.  During his term as Director of Special Branch, Malaysia, he played a key role in the negotiations with the Communist Party of Malaya and the signing of the Hatyai Peace Agreement in 1989. In 2018, he was appointed as the Malaysian facilitator for peace talks in Southern Thailand.


About the Chairperson

Professor Kumar Ramakrishna is Professor of National Security Studies, Provost’s Chair in National Security Studies, Associate Dean in charge of Policy Studies, as well as Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Prior to this appointment he was Head, Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) in RSIS (2006-2015), and Head, National Security Studies Programme (NSSP) from 2016 to 2020. He remains as Research Adviser to NSSP. His current research interests include British propaganda in the Malayan Emergency; propaganda theory and practice; history of strategic thought; and counterterrorism with a focus on radicalization.