The book, titled “May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969,” was released by author Kua Kia Soong, who says the worst riots in Malaysia’s 50-year history were not random acts of communal violence but a coup attempt by a faction within the ruling Malay party.

I have just got a copy!!!

Has anyone read it...if so what are your coments?

I don't know, the official versions I have read didn't come to a conclusion, but I wouldn't be surprised because in the 1964 race riots in Singapore, when Singapore was still part of Malaysia, the "offical" story blames UMNO, or a section thereof for instigating the riots.

The Chinese were on the verge of seizing power in Malaysia in 1969... or at least they thought they were. They won big in Selangor, Penang and Perak. They went into a victory frenzy in the streets of KL .. thousands of Chinese poured into the streets of KL shouting racism against Malays and carrying placards with racist vitriol against Malays, some of these placards clearly read "MELAYU KASI BALIK HUTAN" ("SEND MALAYS TO THE JUNGLE) and "INI NEGERI CHINA PUNYA" (THIS COUNTRY BELONGS TO CHINESE)..

Clearly, the Chinese were on the surge .. they never had it so good ... they thought this time would really seize Malaysai from the Malays and put all Malays in reservations or sent them to the jungle...

And u guys expects Malays to roll over and play deqad..

The May 13 episode was one in a series of Chinese attempts to set up a Chinese country in Malaysia..

Kua Kia Song is a Chinese guy...

1969 riots
In the May 10, 1969 general elections, the ruling Alliance coalition headed by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) suffered a large setback in the polls. The largely Chinese opposition Democratic Action Party and Gerakan gained in the elections, and secured a police permit for a victory parade through a fixed route in Kuala Lumpur. However, the rowdy procession deviated from its route and headed through the Malay district of Kampung Baru, jeering at the inhabitants. [1] While the Gerakan party issued an apology the next day, UMNO announced a counter-procession, which would start from the Selangor Chief Minister Harun bin Idris' home in Jalan Raja Muda. Tunku Abdul Rahman would later call the retaliatory parade "inevitable, as otherwise the party members would be demoralised after the show of strength by the Opposition and the insults that had been thrown at them." [1]


I pasted the above from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13_Incident

You see .. the Chinese started first ... the Malay-dominated police was generous enough to provide permit for them to celebrate victory along a safe and fixed route .. instead these ungrateful descendants of Chinese immigrants decide to attack Kampung Baru and seize Malaysia .... Kampung Baru is the oldest and really the cradle of Malay presence in KL .. these Chinese thought by annihilating Kampong Baru, they could destroy the Malays....

I respect what you have mentioned above!!!

Just two question's I ask...and nothing personal...OK

Why was it that all the Police and Army through down thier weapons, changed clothes and went home!!! The Chinese Gangsters took control and maintained " civil order"..? and why did Tunku cry on TV ?

Before you reply please research!!! I may suprise you!!!!!!!!

Engage brain before you speak...= old quote by a White Nation Indian from Canada

What the Chinese did by marching though the Kampong was not smart, still it doesn't matter, it does not justify violence, the biggest question though was why no one was prosecuted on either side.

Yes I agree with you!...I am showing my age now.....I was in KL during the riots not a pretty sight
and I hope that it will never again be repeated! I was shot at twice by people unknow to me, while
I was giving "First Aid" to a young Malay female child aged 6yrs old......she died in my arms as I carried
her to shelter away from the fighting!!!!!

We confess that there were Chinese ethnic mistake too during the incident of 13 May. During the poll, the Chinese ethnic should not playing the sentiment with tie the broom on the every car and propaganda with sweep the Malays back to the sea and jungle. if I am the leader of the Chinese community in that time, I will insist to avoid them to do such stupid thing! I rather make a propaganda :” we are the best partner of Malays!”

Weren't the riots a manifestation of the 'amok' trait that runs in the psyche of Malayan peoples?

Holy crap, wong fee hung was retired uncle ???????
What you did was tremendous generous....
I just finish read that book and I didn't seem to agree on his stand, you know he told the stories based on prejudice white diplomat. There are too many versions of stories, and you believe what you want to believe but the riots seem to change Malaysia forever.....
He seems to blame Tun Razak for this and I don't know why ????

The very foundation of Umno are lies - lies about May 13 riot, lies about secularity of constitution, lies about special right, lies about supremacy of court, and of course lies about the NEP.

How can our accountability and transparency not be limited by the very lies of the foundation of our governance?

If we read the Malaysia Federal Constitution of 1957, we will not find the word "bumiputera" - hence some would say the origin of the word is grounded in the political agenda of some politicians to discriminate against citizens not of malay ethnicity.

In short there is no constitutional legitimacy in the use of the term "bumiputera" except for its purpose which is to discriminate for the sake of discriminating.

Some fifty years after independence from the British, the demographic profile of its population has changed. Most of the Chinese/Indians today are no longer foreign born, and through the principle of "jus soli" (Latin meaning "right of the soil") are citizens by birth.

The word "bumiputera" (Sanskrit meaning "son of the soil") which came into popular use after the riots of 1969, is a convenient term not grounded in the science of anthropology but in the politics of race - in other words its use is a convenient invention by malay politicians and malay leaders to justify the policies of Umno which dominated the ruling alliance, which came to be known as the New Economic Policy (NEP).

It could have been called "The Great Affirmative Action Policy" but the architects of the NEP are visionary leaders whose motives go beyond affirmative action.

It is not a coincidence that post-1969 saw the rise of business oriented leaders in Umno and the political demise of the malay school teachers whose hold over power in the party suffered a setback. The labeling is important as events many years later are to demonstrate to us that more is envisaged rather than just affirmative action.

Let there only be one class or let Malaysia be a nation of the "classless". Malaysians do not need a caste system like we find in India.

Enough is enough. The word "bumiputera" creates a class of Malaysians based not on ethnicity but on some dubious criteria with religion factored into it.

It is conceptualized for the convenience of policy makers who rode on the wave of malay nationalism unleashed after May 13, 1969 to maintain their position of power and influence.

The faster we do away with the word "bumiputera" the better it will be. The use of the term "bumiputera" post-1969, I submit, has less to do with affirmative action but more to do with politicians who see in it the opportunity to maintain their hold over power.

It is time power be handed over to a fresh breed of Malaysians who think less in terms of Malay, Indian and Chinese or "bumiputera" and "non-bumiputera" but more in terms of Malaysians of different ethnic descent.

But let us not lose our perspective. The United States has been independent for more than 200 years but is still today struggling with racism. Malaysia is still politically a toddler learning to walk. Success is about what happens when we fall rather than in the walking.

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The "white diplomat" is probably more impartial then any Chinese or Malay historian. History is always a matter of perspective and history is littered with half truths and made up stories to make one person/group appear better/worse then what they actually are.