Tycoon Robert Kuok does not speak about communism with contempt, despite being a capitalist.
In his latest memoir, Kuok revealed that his brother William rose to become the propaganda chief of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).
Despite their diverging paths, Kuok spoke kindly about his brother, describing him as one who stood up against injustice and for the poor. He had one other brother, Philip.
Kuok said William had dabbled with the idea of joining the MCP to fight the Japanese occupiers, having witnessed the atrocities by them, particularly against the Chinese in Malaya due to the Sino-Japanese War.
However, Kuok said his brother did not join the MCP then as there was fear that being found out would lead to retribution on the entire family.
"I believe William joined the MCP in late 1945 or 1946. He never let on. I think his reason for keeping it close to his chest was not to implicate his family, because the British were hounding and persecuting the Communists who were literally driven into the jungle," he said in his memoir, a copy of which was obtained by Malaysiakini.
Before the British crackdown, Kuok said William moved to Kuala Lumpur and ran a tabloid newspaper as a mouthpiece for the left wing and after it was shut down by the colonial government, William became active in the militant Singapore Harbour Board Union.
"I was never derisive about William's activities of helping the poor and championing the cause of the labour unions. However, I didn't think that business and politics needed to go together.
"He, on the other hand, felt that I was only keen on making money. One day in 1948, he sat me down and told me I was wrong, and that sooner or later I would recognise the worth of his advise - that politics and economics, and politics and business were intertwined," he said.
Kuok said William entered the jungle in 1948 and it was then he realised life was not only about making money.
"Here was my own brother, one of the finest human beings I have known, risking his own life to help the downtrodden.
"When mother learnt about William, she never uttered a word; but I think she must have felt the terrible sacrifice of her own flesh and blood," said Kuok.
Kuok said the British ambushed William and his two bodyguards in the jungle along the border of Negeri Sembilan and Pahang in August 1953, killing them. William was 30 years old.
Role in ending MCP
Despite relocating to Hong Kong, Kuok said he was still dragged back into Malaysian politics and one such instance was then inspector-general of police Rahim Noor seeking his help to convey messages to the Communist government of China.
"The special branch of the Malaysian police contacted me often to say: 'Can you pass this message to China?' They asked China to silence the MCP radio, which was making broadcasts hostile to the Malaysian government.
"I passed the word and the radio was silenced," he said.
Kuok said he later sought a written commitment from China that it would no longer support the MCP, at the request of Rahim.
The tycoon said he was brought to an undisclosed location in Guangzhou, China, where a Chinese operative consulted him on the wording of the statement.
Kuok advised that the statement was what Kuala Lumpur wanted to hear but there were two paragraphs that could negate the statement and advised for them to be removed.
The operative agreed, but said the statement had been approved by a senior leader and asked Kuok to propose a solution.
With the operative's permission, Kuok whited out the undesired paragraphs and faxed the message back to Rahim.
"A few months later, the Malaysian government and Chin Peng signed a truce agreement. His people came out of the jungle, symbolically laid down their arms, pledged allegiance to Malaysia and the Malaysian Communist Party was no more," he said.
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Robert Kuok: A Memoir became available in Hong Kong and Singapore on Nov 25. It will be released in Malaysia on Dec 1.
