Printing the word of independence
THE struggle for independence began almost immediately after General Tomoyuki Yamashita and the Imperial Japanese Army departed from Malaya in August 1945.
Many Malayans, including Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al- Haj, formed groups and vociferously spoke in public gatherings of a dream to be free.
But in October 1945, Britain issued a policy statement on forming the Malayan Union and on Oct 11 that year, sent Sir Harold MacMichael to negotiate with the sultans.
After three days of negotiations, MacMichael obtained the Sultan of Kedah’s consent and, together with the signatures of all the other sultans, Britain again colonised the land as of April 1946.
The Tunku, who was Kedah sultan’s half- brother, was against the formation of the Malayan Union and became a popular public speaker in the state.
Records of his burning desire to see Malaya free are enshrined in the national archives and surprisingly, a few memories of that struggle can be gleaned from a humble printing shop in Jalan Pekan Melayu in Alor Setar.
It was founded by the Tunku’s old friend and MCA comrade Ch’ng Cheng Teik in 1948.
Ch’ng’s son, Hock Eng, 63, now runs the business, Thean Teik Printers, and although desktop publishing technology has inevitably seeped into the business, the shop still keeps the antiquated machinery, some of which are over a century old.
“My late father and the Tunku were old friends. Politics ran thick in my father’s blood and he joined Bapa Malaysia in the dream of a free land.
“He spoke of how hard it was to gain independence without war and violence.
“He is proud that Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that found independence through peaceful talks,” said Hock Eng.
The final sprint for independence began when the British instituted municipal and town council elections in 1952. With his understanding of the cosmopolitan nature of the Malayan population, the Tunku with Datuk Onn Jaafar and also MCA pioneers Tun H. S. Lee and Tun Tan Cheng Lock and MIC leaders K. L. Devaser and K. Ramanathan successfully formed the Alliance party which today has evolved into the Barisan Nasional.
Hock Eng recollects his father’s tales of going to Baling with the Tunku to help Indian immigrants who had failed to get documents from the British government.
According to historical records preserved by the MIC, the British cancelled the Malayan Union in 1948 and formed the Federation of Malaya. The resulting legal turmoil left tens of thousands of Indians and Chinese being refused citizenship, including those born in the land.
“My father often told us how difficult it was to be free of colonial rule when he was alive. He always reminded us to appreciate what we have today,” Hock Eng said.
He was only four years old on the first National Day and has vague memories of an eruption of cheers at home when news broke out that the country had achieved independence.
In the shop he inherited, there are two old printing tools.
“The rolling machine made of solid wood and a letterpress printer with pedals are easily more than a century old.”
He has no idea if these machines had ever been used by his father to help the Tunku print the reams of newsletters, flyers and public literature needed to keep the dream of Independence alive in the minds of Kedah’s people during the trying years.
The building itself hides more history. The founding father of modern China, Dr Sun Yat- Sen, was said to have spent three nights here.
“He was said to be here to meet local Chinese for the Xinhai Revolution in China in 1911.
“This place was also a clubhouse of sorts for overseas Chinese to read newspapers and get to know the latest development in their homeland.
There is even a foundation stone here with names of those donating to their homeland during China’s civil war,” Hock Eng said.
He has no successor in sight, though. All his four children aged between 33 and 39 are in the Klang Valley or abroad and show no interest in taking over.
He said he had no problems being tech- savvy despite his age and does his best to keep abreast with the latest in printing technology for his customers’ sake. But business does get slow.
That’s when he can take things easy and reminisce about the old times, when those ancient printers were whirring.