Nazri launches Emergency monument

SUNGAI SIPUT: Tourism and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz today launched the Malayan Emergency Monument and Gallery in remembrance of security forces, planters, civilians and workers who lost their lives during the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960, and its resurgence from 1973 until 1989.
It was initiated by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) of Perak.
Nazri said the incident created a new history for Malaya with Sungai Siput becoming a centre of attention worldwide.
The communists, he added, launched a campaign of murder, arson and destruction to disrupt the economy and instill fear into the people.
He said Malaysia’s position today is accredited in no small way to those who sacrificed their lives for the nation.
“I hope the state government will create a historical trail package to attract tourists to the monument and gallery,” he added.
MPOA Perak chairman R. Sivalingam said the monument and gallery is located at the very site where three European planters were murdered.
He said the site is preserved because of its historical significance.
Recollecting the history, Sivalingam said the triple murder is still talked about by locals in Sungai Siput despite it happening six decades ago.
The killing of three European planters in Sungai Siput by Malayan Communist Party guerrillas triggered off the Malayan Emergency on June 16, 1948.
On that day, Elphil estate manager A. E. Walker was shot in cold blood at his office desk at 8.30am.
About 30 minutes later, some 1.6km away, manager J. M. Alison and his assistant Ian Christian of the Phin Soon estate were tied and mercilessly shot by 12 terrorists.