Affendi, 41 Years Living in the Jungle Serving in the MCP
On September 27, 2018, we had the opportunity to meet an elderly couple who once served with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). The Malayan Communist Party (MCP) was an organization founded in Malaya in 1930.
This organization was originally established to oppose British colonial rule, which was governing Malaya at the time. During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) formed the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) to fight them. On the day of our meeting with the couple, the editor of orangperak.com was accompanied by Dr. Muhaimin Sulam, a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), to gain some insight and information about the lives of those who once served with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). Au Heng Fong, who was born in 1930, served with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) at a very young age. While serving with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), Au Heng Fong was better known by his pen name, Affendi. He was surrounded by high-ranking individuals in the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) such as
Chin Peng
, Abdullah CD,
Rashid Maidin
and many others.
Au Heng Fong, or Affendi, was born in Sungai Merbau, located between Tapah and Bidor, Perak. He only received two years of formal schooling due to financial difficulties faced by his family. The Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), an organization of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) also known as the Three Stars, ruled Malaya for fourteen days in 1945. Many people of Chinese descent joined this organization due to their hatred of the Japanese, who had conquered China at that time.
Three years after the Japanese army surrendered to the Allied Forces on August 16, 1945, Au Heng Fong, who was 18 at the time, entered the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) camp and lived in the jungles of northern Malaya until he was 59. This indirectly meant he lived in the jungle for 41 years, from 1948 to 1989. It was a very long period spent hidden from the outside world, living in seclusion within the jungle.
During his 41 years in the jungle, Au Heng Fong married a woman who also served with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) in the same camp. They were blessed with 4 children. However, their children were handed over to local residents because children were not allowed in their jungle living areas.
All of the couple's children were handed over to local Muslim families as soon as they were born. Three of their four children have been located and now live as citizens of Thailand, while the youngest child could not be traced because the family who took them in reportedly moved to the state of Kelantan.
All of their children raised by Muslim families were brought up with Malay culture and practiced the Islamic faith. Now, all those who have been located have families of their own, with children and some even having grandchildren.
The 41 years spent in the jungle while serving with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) were full of challenges for Au Heng Fong. He was not assigned to combat units; instead, his duties were focused on translation work for reading materials for other teams and units within the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).
This is a notebook he used as a dictionary, which he wrote himself to facilitate his reference work for translations into Malay. For information, Au Heng Fong was also skilled in writing in Jawi script in the past, which he was taught by
Rashid Maidin
.
In 2018, he reached the age of 88, and he still works to support himself and his wife as a translator, performing many translations from Chinese to Malay.
