The Heart Radical

by Boyd Anderson

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Anywhere Asian workers were being exploited by colonialists. At the docks, the railways, tin smelters, rubber estates.’

  ‘These were due to dissatisfaction with pay scales and conditions, I assume, not merely that their employers were colonialists.’

  ‘Sometimes it was over habits and customs.’

  ‘Meaning …?’

  ‘In the hospitals the colonialists still referred to an Asian worker as “boy”. We organised an end to that.’

  ‘And on a more practical scale?’

  ‘Workers on the rubber estates were being treated as slaves. Their pay was less than two dollars a day, hardly enough to feed one, let alone a family. But it went down even lower if the price of rubber in London went down. When it rained they were not paid at all. During monsoon time they could not even afford to feed their families. When they died because of the work they were just buried and forgotten. They are still just buried and forgotten. They are still treated as slaves.’

  The judge cleared his throat loudly. ‘Mr Tan, I think I have allowed your client sufficient of a platform to expound his beliefs. It is time to move on.’

  ‘Yes, your lordship,’ Pa said. ‘Mr Liew, how is it that your labour advocacy descended into violent upheaval?’

  ‘When the imperialist police began firing into crowds of protesters, we decided that Mr Gandhi’s ways may have worked in India, but in Malaya we needed Comrade Mao’s way.’

  ‘I see. Now, this Calcutta plan for revolution, for Comrade Mao’s way, was it not merely a communist ploy to undermine and disrupt the Marshall Plan in Europe by lighting fires all over Asia?’

  ‘That was one reason.’

  ‘So in effect the conflict in Malaya is part of a much larger struggle?’

  ‘Yes. It is a world war.’

  ‘All right, Mr Tan,’ the judge said, ‘I am going to stop you there before you give me cause to take more drastic action.’

  ‘My lord,’ Pa said, ‘surely I am merely a member of the Bar keeping up with the affairs of the world. I think that is the way your lordship expressed it earlier.’

  The judge glowered at my father, just as he had done so often on the first day. But on that day he had also, on occasion, raised his voice, and now he appeared to be more in control of his temper and spoke in measured tones.

  ‘Mr Tan, I have allowed you to follow this line as this trial is for your client’s life, and I appreciate that you are keen to show the value of that life. However, the reasons behind your client’s choice to live apart from society in order to better destroy it are not germane to these charges. Actions he may have taken in the pursuit of his goal are not germane, except for one. The action taken by certain persons on the sixteenth of June 1948 at Essex Estate that resulted in the taking of the lives of Mr Nicholson and Mr Goodwin is the only action in which I have an interest. Please now confine yourself and your witness to that subject and I will be happy.’

  ‘Your lordship’s happiness is a concern to me second only to my client’s welfare,’ Pa said.

  ‘I assure you, Mr Tan, they are one and the same thing.’

  ‘Of course, my lord. Mr Liew, were you at Essex Estate at Sungai Siput at any time on the sixteenth of June 1948?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Have you ever been to the Essex Estate at Sungai Siput?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Were you Commander of the Fifth Regiment of the Malayan Races Liberation Army on the sixteenth of June 1948?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘When were you appointed Commander of the Fifth Regiment?’

  ‘The next month. July.’

  ‘Were you a member of the Malayan Races Liberation Army before July 1948?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Was the London victory parade in 1946 your final duty with the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Between 1946 and July 1948 you were not a member of the Malayan Races Liberation Army?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Were you a member of the Communist Party of Malaya?’

  ‘Yes. There was no law against it.’

  ‘I’m not suggesting there was at that time. So you had no cause to live in a jungle camp on a mountainside during those years?’

  ‘No. I lived in a house in Theatre Street in Ipoh.’

  ‘Whose house was that?’

  ‘Comrade Chee Lien Na.’

  ‘And what made you decide to return to the jungle?’

  ‘After Sungai Siput the war had begun.’

  ‘If you did not lead the raid on Sungai Siput, who did?’

  ‘I don’t know. I wasn’t there.’

  ‘Surely you must know. You became commander of those men just the following month. Was it not Shorty Mak?’

  ‘My lord,’ said Mr Davies, ‘my learned friend is leading the witness to give an answer that, by his client’s own admission, can only be hearsay.’

  ‘Quite so on both counts, Mr Davies,’ said the judge. ‘Move on, Mr Tan.’

  ‘As your lordship pleases. I have no more questions.’

  My father sat down and the judge leaned forward and looked at him with his head at a slight angle, a look that suggested he wanted to say, ‘I don’t understand you.’ I was sure that was what he wanted to say because I often had the same feeling with my father myself. But as much as he wanted to, the judge did not say he didn’t understand. After he looked at Pa for a long moment, what he said was this:

  ‘Mr Tan, surely you do have another question. I am still at a loss to know where your client would have us believe he was at the time in question if he says he was not at the place of the murders. Is this an oversight, or are you leaving that vital information to the slim chance that your learned friend might discover it?’

  My father rose to his feet, and I could see the corner of his mouth just begin to twitch. He always got that little twitch when he knew that he knew something you didn’t.

  ‘If your lordship pleases, I have every confidence that the whereabouts of my client at that time will be established before your lordship is required to come to a decision in this matter.’

  The judge continued to stare at him. He still did not understand. ‘Very well,’ he said, and then made notes. ‘Do you have any questions for this witness, Mr Davies?’

  ‘I certainly do, my lord.’ Mr Davies shuffled through his papers, and then he put one hand on his hip and left the other swinging by his side, making little circles in the air. He tilted his head back so that when he was looking at Toh Kei he was looking down his nose.

  ‘Mr Liew … by your own admission we know that you were commander of the Fifth Regiment of the Malayan Races Liberation Army. Hasn’t this regiment been responsible for an unknown number of atrocities during the Emergency?’

  ‘My lord,’ said Pa, getting to his feet. ‘My learned friend himself says they are unknown.’

  ‘Perhaps counsel could rephrase that question,’ the judge said.

  ‘As your lordship pleases. Mr Liew, how many deaths has the Fifth Regiment of the Malayan Races Liberation Army been responsible for?’

  ‘My lord,’ said Pa, ‘surely my learned friend is not seeking to discover information about actions that do not pertain to the only action in which your lordship has any interest.’

  ‘Thank you for reminding me, Mr Tan,’ the judge said. ‘It is not often that one hears one’s own words echoed so soon. Mr Davies, you know the action of which your learned friend speaks. Please confine yourself to it.’

  ‘As your lordship pleases,’ Mr Davies said. ‘Mr Liew … you say you did not join the Malayan Races Liberation Army until after the Sungai Siput incident. However, as you were commander of the regiment and this was the opening assault in your offensive, do you expect us to believe that you had no involvement?’

  ‘It was not our opening assault. That was simply a bad estate that exploited its workers, treated them as slaves. Malaya has too many estates with European man
agers who bully their workers, work them to death, and hire thugs to break legitimate strike action. The objective of assaults such as this was to teach those estates a lesson. The workers must be protected.’

  ‘Protected with guns? Protected by committing murder? Is that your idea of reasonable industrial action?’

  ‘It was not my idea. I was not involved at that time. Your side declared the war, and that is when I joined the fight.’

  ‘Declared war? You mean Emergency.’

  ‘You can call it what you like. Emergency allows you to conveniently ignore the Geneva Convention. For us it is war.’

  ‘For us it is the Emergency, as my lord the judge here has reminded us many times. Now, at this revolutionary meeting you attended in Calcutta, did you decide then to employ tactics of terror?’

  ‘No. We did not start that. The British imperialists started that when they tried to break up our legal protests by killing workers.’

  ‘Are you a murderer, Mr Liew?’

  ‘My lord,’ Pa said. ‘My client has already said he is not guilty of the charges brought against him here. If my learned friend is referring to any other offence, surely it cannot be …’

  ‘Yes, Mr Tan,’ the judge said, ‘I take your point.’

  ‘My lord,’ said Mr Davies. ‘I too have a point to make here. Mr Tan has gone to great lengths to portray these crimes as acts of war and to portray the state of emergency as a state of war …’

  ‘Yes, Mr Davies,’ the judge said, ‘and you know my opinion on that point.’

  ‘I do, my lord. Nevertheless, I would like to make the further point that these crimes were committed before the Emergency was proclaimed. As they occurred at eight o’clock in the morning, and as we have heard that the proclamation was not posted until the afternoon, there can be no argument that these acts were criminal acts and can in no way be defined as anything other than criminal acts, whatever the subsequent state proclamation.’

  ‘I see,’ said the judge. ‘However, this witness is not going to help you make that point as he has already given testimony to the effect that he was not there; at least that is what he says. If you wish to make that point you will have to leave it to your closing speech.’

  ‘As your lordship pleases,’ Mr Davies said.

  But then Toh Kei looked at the judge and held up his hand, like a schoolboy who knew the answer in class. ‘If you don’t mind, I will answer it.’

  The judge had to ask what the question was again, and when it was told to him he said, ‘Very well. Mr Tan, do you wish to advise your client at this stage?’

  ‘No, my lord,’ Pa said.

  ‘Then on his head be it,’ said the judge. ‘Go ahead, Mr Davies.’

  ‘Mr Liew, are you a murderer?’

  ‘I killed many Japanese during the war. I did not keep count. Not once did the British suggest, either during the war or after it, that killing a Japanese made me a murderer.’

  ‘Apart from Japanese, who else have you killed?’

  ‘My lord,’ Pa said. ‘I submit that my client is not required to answer that question, unless my learned friend is referring to the offences in the current charges, in which case my client has already provided his answer.’

  ‘Yes, Mr Tan,’ the judge said, ‘I must agree with you. Move on, please, Mr Davies.’

  ‘As your lordship pleases. Mr Liew, you have told the court that you produced a newspaper in your camp called Humanity News, is that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Mr Davies retrieved a sheet of paper from the many scattered over the table in front of him. ‘I have a translation here in English from an edition of Humanity News which came into the possession of the security forces. Allow me to read it to you. “Malaya today is under the heel of British imperialism already in its death throes. The struggle of the Malayan peoples for liberation shows that the masses are determined to cast British imperialist rule into the garbage can of history.”’ He sighed and put the paper back down. ‘Did you write that, Mr Liew?’

  ‘I wrote in Chinese.’

  ‘Then is what I just read an accurate translation of something you wrote in Chinese?’

  Toh Kei pursed his lips and frowned. ‘I suppose it is close enough.’

  ‘The garbage can of history,’ Mr Davies said, looking at the judge and raising an eyebrow. ‘So that is how you think the British will be remembered in Malaya. Are you aware that seditious libel is a criminal offence against the Crown?’

  ‘My lord …’ Pa said.

  ‘Yes, Mr Tan,’ the judge said. ‘Mr Davies, a criminal offence it may well be, but not the one this court is convened to deal with, is it? Please move on.’

  ‘As your lordship pleases. Mr Liew, have you ever been sentenced to a term in prison?’

  Pa jumped to his feet. ‘My lord …’

  ‘I’m going to allow this, Mr Tan. Your client’s criminal record, if he has one, is relevant. These are, after all, criminal proceedings.’

  ‘My client does not have a criminal record, my lord.’

  ‘In that case, surely you have nothing to fear. Go ahead, Mr Davies.’

  Mr Davies repeated the question, and then Toh Kei said, ‘I have been held in prison. But I have never been convicted of a crime or served a prison sentence.’

  My father, who was still on his feet, said, ‘Can we now move on, my lord?’

  Judge Pretheroe looked over his glasses, first at Pa, then at Mr Davies. ‘I think I would like to hear about this. Go ahead, Mr Davies.’

  ‘Is it not true that you were held in prison both before the war and after as you were a communist agitator? Is it not true that you were regarded at that time, both before and after the war, as a threat to the security of Malaya?’

  ‘Yes, but …’

  Mr Davies cut him off. ‘A simple yes or no is all the court requires. Now … you have told the court that you were not a member of the Malayan Races Liberation Army between 1946 and June 1948, but you were a member of the Communist Party of Malaya – is that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And before that, in 1942, when you became a member of the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army, did you take an oath and swear loyalty to the communist cause?’

  ‘I swore an oath of loyalty to the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army.’

  ‘Yes, but as that army was a communist force, didn’t you also swear loyalty to the Communist Party?’

  Toh Kei thought about it and then shrugged. ‘You can see it that way if you want.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter which way I see it, Mr Liew, what matters is the way it was. Wasn’t your oath to the Communist Party and its violent struggle?’

  ‘If your way doesn’t matter, then you may as well be allowed to have it.’

  ‘The witness will confine himself to simple answers,’ the judge said, looking over the top of his glasses at Toh Kei. ‘Again in this case, yes or no.’

  Toh Kei sighed and said, ‘Yes.’

  ‘So your loyalty was sworn on oath to the Communist Party and its violent struggle?’ Mr Davies said.

  He sighed again. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Such an oath is a lifetime undertaking, is it not?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So I put it to you, Mr Liew, that between 1946 and June 1948 you were an upholder of the violent struggle by the Communist Party of Malaya, and therefore a member of the Malayan Races Liberation Army.’

  ‘I was a member of the party,’ Toh Kei said. ‘Our struggle during that time was through peaceful methods, as I have said.’

  ‘Yes,’ Mr Davies said, shuffling through some papers on his table. ‘Gandhi’s way, as you would have us believe. You may find his lordship believes otherwise.’

  ‘Mr Davies,’ the judge said, ‘is it now your turn to anticipate my finding in this matter?’

  ‘Of course not, your lordship.’ Mr Davies bowed to the Bench. ‘Now … Liew Ek Ching. Isn’t it true that you don’t use that name any more?’

  ‘It is true.
’

  ‘You now call yourself Toh Kei, is that correct?’

  ‘Yes. Everyone calls me that. Everyone except you British.’

  ‘Isn’t it true that you took that name because it is a homo-phone for Trotsky, that it sounds like Trotsky, the Bolshevik insurrectionist? Is that the kind of mind that appeals to you, a radical like Trotsky?’

  ‘My name means good leader. It inspires my comrades.’

  ‘So you don’t admire Trotsky. Comrade Stalin, perhaps?’

  ‘I do admire Trotsky. He is a martyr to the cause of revolution.’

  ‘Is that how you see yourself, a martyr?’

  ‘I am a warrior in the cause of revolution. One of millions.’

  ‘Soon to be a martyr, perhaps? Is that why you are here?’

  ‘My lord,’ said Pa, ‘my learned friend seems to be usurping your lordship’s authority to decide this matter.’

  ‘Yes, that does appear to be the case, Mr Tan,’ the judge said. ‘Mr Davies …?’

  ‘I beg your lordship’s pardon. Mr Liew, is this your warlord … I’m sorry, I do believe you said warrior. Is this your warrior mission, that you become a martyr to your cause here?’

  ‘No,’ Toh Kei said. ‘I did not surrender to become a martyr. I did not wish to have this trial. I would have died in the jungle if I did not surrender, and a friend convinced me that I had a reason not to allow that.’

  And then he looked up at the public gallery, and once again it was as though he was looking at me. But I knew who he was really looking at – his special friend sitting right beside me. Now that I had seen Toh Kei, listened to him tell his story, I could see why Dr Thumboo looked at him like that. It was clear that she cared for him very much, but she was half Indian and half Dutch, and I didn’t know if she had ever read the Water Margin, but probably not, so I hardly thought she would see him the way I now started to see him. He didn’t have to look like Dirk Bogarde as now I could see a bit of the Black Whirlwind in him. He looked ordinary enough, as ordinary as a padi planter, but he had joined the mountain army to fight the dark forces and risen to be its leader, just like the Black Whirlwind on the water margin of the legend. I had watched him deal with Mr Davies and, while he may not have done so with the force of the Whirlwind this time, today’s battle was in a courtroom and he fought with words. I could see that such a man could be a hero in any of my mother’s favourite films.