Was It Really A Mistake

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 RULE NO 1 AGAIN - NO NAMES
Here is some history. 
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with armed conflict continuing intermittently from 1 August 1927 until Communist victory resulted in their total control over mainland China on 7 December 1949.   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Civil_War)
The Chinese Civil War lasted for 27 very long years from 1922 until 1949. Eventually the communists won and Chiang Kai Shek and his Kuomintang fled to the island of Taiwan where they set up the ROC (Republic of China). 

Both the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang had their supporters throughout the Chinese diaspora in South East Asia. Although the Kuomintang lost the civil war in China, their 'affiliates' in South East Asia were still active. They continued the fight against pro-Chinese Communist Party affiliates in their own countries. 
In Malaya, the Kuomintang was very influential among the Chinese diaspora here and they played a large part engaged against the communist insurgency in Malaya. 
One of the main leaders of the Kuomintang in Malaya was  Colonel Tun Sir Henry Lee Hau Shik or more well known as Tun HS Lee (Jalan Tun HS Lee). From 1955 to 1959, Tun HS Lee was Malaya's Minister of Finance and Minister of Trade.

He was also the only Chinese signatory to the Independence of Malaya Agreement that was signed in London between the British and the Malayan delegation led by Tuanku Abdul Rahman.
Tun HS Lee was also one of the founders of the Malaysian Chinese Association or MCA. From the day of its founding until today, the MCA has been a pro-Kuomintang outfit. 
Ok here is the flag of the Kuomintang  in China and Taiwan. Note that the KMT flag has a white coloured 12 pointed star against a blue background.



There are variations of the Kuomintang Flag. Here is the flag of the Kuomintang affiliate in Vietnam (People's Action Party of Vietnam). It featured a yellow coloured 12 pointed star on a blue background.  Does this begin to look familiar to anyone?
Now this is from Wikipedia here: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Kuomintang 
So initially the MCA membership was made up of mainly Kuomintang members who joined the MCA 'as an alternative and also in opposition to the Malayan Communist Party'.  And here is the flag of the Malaysian Chinese Association or the MCA. The MCA undoubtedly has a similar flag as the Kuomintang but they have a 14 pointed yellow star on a blue background. The Malaysian flag (Jalur Gemilang) also has a 14 pointed yellow star on a blue background. Which is cool. Nothing to get excited about ok. 
Now below here is a picture of another flag that appeared somewhere recently (that has caused some controversy).  In this flag there is also a yellow coloured 14-pointed star against a blue background.    If there had been a yellow crescent then this would exactly be the Malaysian flag. But there is no yellow crescent.  Beside this flag (it was just a graphic - not a real flag) was the flag of the People's Republic of China or Communist China whose President Xi Xinping was visiting Malaysia at that time.  So what does this all mean? 'We are still alive and kicking'? Or 'Let bygones be bygones and lets be friends?' 



Conclusion:
History is useful. As some wise Chinese man said, 'We look in the mirror to adjust the hat on our head. We look at history to adjust our future'.  No this is not from a Chinese fortune cookie. (ACS Ipoh Class of 77 - do you remember this from our Sejarah class?)
It is also important on which side of history you were. For example, if you were the proverbial "dead horse" in history (the horse that died, that got killed, that lost the battle, that lost the war, the horse that got beaten up) would you want to be the same dead horse again? Not likely. Perhaps you may want to look at the other horse, the one that kicked your ass.  Then maybe you could change your future much better.  
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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