Jonathan gave me a local contact who may be of help, Andrew Hwang (Secretary of MVG Malaysia). I duly sent him an email just before noon today and he replied just before 1pm. He asked a few questions that could help him zero in on the 'mission'. Unfortunately I could only answer one of his 8 questions, that is dad was a Victoria Institution boy. I sent him my reply at 6.16pm and he phones me 30 minutes later.
The next 25 minutes were fascinating. Andrew raised a very valid thought- that my dad was either in the Selangor 2nd Battalion or the The Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) which was a resistance movement originated among ethnic Chinese cadres of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). The MPAJA would go on to fight Commonwealth forces during the postwar Malayan Emergency (1948-60).
Andrew being a true historical buff is on a crusade to raise awareness of the unsung heroes of Malaya.
Here is Andrew's email to me:
Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 7:31 PM
Dear Daniel,
I am just slightly younger than you!
The fact that your father went to VI, this meant he probably enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force (abbreviation: 2FMSVF). Now, most of 2FMSVF's papers were lost due to the fact that the British abandoned KL without a fight suddenly. They used to have a yearbook entitled "Volunteer" which had the names and photographs of those enlisted but no surviving copies have surfaced in Malaysia to my knowledge. They might be in private collections but I do not know the owners and have no way of contacting them.
Practically all the VI boys who might have known your father in school and who are still alive are now living in Australia. I will have to divert my search there. I have an extensive network among the Malaysians who migrated. Those who migrated in the 1960s and 1970s usually lived much much longer than those who remained in Malaysia. Many are still lucid in mind, mobile and healthy although they are in their 90s! Does your mother know the year your father completed his Senior Cambridge exams? I would be able to home in on his actual classmates.
Try to find out where your father worked. This could give me some clues about him. I will contact George Hesse on the Caxton Press angle. This could prove to be very interesting.
Good to have spoken with you. Will let you know what I find out in due course.
Regards,
Andrew
The next 25 minutes were fascinating. Andrew raised a very valid thought- that my dad was either in the Selangor 2nd Battalion or the The Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) which was a resistance movement originated among ethnic Chinese cadres of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). The MPAJA would go on to fight Commonwealth forces during the postwar Malayan Emergency (1948-60).
Andrew being a true historical buff is on a crusade to raise awareness of the unsung heroes of Malaya.
Here is Andrew's email to me:
Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 7:31 PM
Dear Daniel,
I am just slightly younger than you!
The fact that your father went to VI, this meant he probably enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force (abbreviation: 2FMSVF). Now, most of 2FMSVF's papers were lost due to the fact that the British abandoned KL without a fight suddenly. They used to have a yearbook entitled "Volunteer" which had the names and photographs of those enlisted but no surviving copies have surfaced in Malaysia to my knowledge. They might be in private collections but I do not know the owners and have no way of contacting them.
Practically all the VI boys who might have known your father in school and who are still alive are now living in Australia. I will have to divert my search there. I have an extensive network among the Malaysians who migrated. Those who migrated in the 1960s and 1970s usually lived much much longer than those who remained in Malaysia. Many are still lucid in mind, mobile and healthy although they are in their 90s! Does your mother know the year your father completed his Senior Cambridge exams? I would be able to home in on his actual classmates.
Try to find out where your father worked. This could give me some clues about him. I will contact George Hesse on the Caxton Press angle. This could prove to be very interesting.
Good to have spoken with you. Will let you know what I find out in due course.
Regards,
Andrew
No comments:
Post a Comment