Rashid Maidin, A Senior Malay Leader in the Malayan Communist Party
Rashid was born in Kampung Gunung Mesah, Gopeng on October 10, 1917. Gunung Mesah is located along the main road between Gopeng and Ipoh. There is a Malay village here filled with wooden houses, which have now been converted into semi-brick houses.
Rashid was said to have been born into a poor family in Kampung Gunung Mesah, Gopeng. He was the eldest of eight siblings. Rashid completed his primary education up to standard five in a Malay school but later took English courses at night school and also studied via correspondence. Eventually, he possessed sufficient skills and a good command of the language to work as a technician at British tin mines in the Batu Gajah and Tanjung Tualang areas of Perak. Since childhood, he was said to be very interested in stories about Malay warriors like Datuk Maharajalela fighting against British colonialism in Perak, but when he started working, his focus was solely on earning an income to support his family in Gopeng. In 1939, at the age of 22, Rashid met Tu Lung Shan, who was tasked with recruiting new MCP members in Tanjung Tualang.
The group led by Tu Lung Shan was tasked by the party to organize activities in the area around Tanjung Tualang. At that time, Tu Lung Shan was only 17 years old, and the Second World War had already begun in Europe, witnessing the German army invading Poland. Initially, Rashid joined the Malay Nationalist Party of Malaya (PKMM), which was later banned by the British government for being accused of being left-leaning and opposing the British entirely. While fighting in the PKMM, Rashid was detained several times by the British government at detention centers in Tanjung Beruas, Melaka, as well as in Larkin, Taiping, Morib, and Tanjung Beruas. He once led a hunger strike in the detention center alongside Pak Sako. As detainees, they were allowed to work outside the detention center, and the wage given was 75 cents a day. Rashid joined the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) in 1941, shortly before the Japanese occupation, and became a member of the MCP central committee alongside Ishak Haji Mohamad (Pak Sako), Ahmad Boestamam, and Abdullah C.D in Perak. The Malayan Communist Party was founded on April 30, 1930. On December 18, 1941, the MCP signed an understanding with the British in Singapore to establish a united front to block the Japanese movement to the south of the Peninsula and to train MCP leaders and members in special operations against the enemy.
According to historical records from both the British and the MCP, a total of 165 communist members, including Tu Lung Shan, were seen undergoing training at the Special Training School 101 (STS101) in Singapore as soon as the agreement was reached until the fall of the island on February 15, 1942. Although he supported the anti-Japanese guerrillas, Rashid merely acted as a spy and performed behind-the-scenes work, not directly involved in armed resistance. Rashid chose the MCP as his new platform for struggle. After being hunted by the Malaysian authorities, Rashid and his group fled into the jungle near the Malaysia-Thailand border. There, Rashid married a Chinese girl who was also an MCP member. This Chinese wife is now named Latifah.
Chin Peng
entrusted him to lead the 10th Regiment of the MCP in Bentong, Pahang, and Rashid Maidin received orders directly from
Chin Peng
. Rashid Maidin resided in a village named the Malaysian Village on the southern border of Thailand. There were 62 houses, and the population there was approximately 200 people. There were three Malaysian Malays, while the others were all Thai citizens. His house was a two-story structure converted from the original house which only had one room. The left and right sides were filled with dokong, rambutan, and local fruit trees, a common sight in villages in Malaysia. In that village, he taught the village children to recite the Quran. Pak Sako said that Rashid Maidin had a strong and firm grasp of his religion. Under the arrangement of the Malaysian government, Rashid Maidin went to Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in 1999. His fellow comrades, Tuan Haji Ahmad Boestaman and Tuan Haji Ishak Haji Mohamad, had long since passed away. Rashid Maidin's body was still sturdy, and he was always dressed in all-white, complete with a songkok. His face remained youthful, and he looked like he was in his early 50s. On September 1, 2006, at 9 a.m., Tuan Haji Rashid Maidin took his last breath in Sisakoin, Narathiwat, southern Thailand, at his daughter's house.
Tuan Haji Rashid Maidin passed away due to old age at the age of 89. The funeral prayer and burial were conducted after Friday prayers. In the past, Rashid was said to have the special ability to disappear if hunted by security forces. He was also said to frequently visit his younger sibling in Kampung Sungai Itik, Simpang Pulai, Perak. The house was made of wood and stood on high stilts. Military forces surrounded the house but could not find Rashid, who was said to have been there.
