75 years on, Batang Kali massacre families still fighting for justice
Published on: Tuesday, December 12, 2023
By:
Lynelle Tham, David Pillai, FMT
Family members of the 24 victims outside Menara Binjai where the British High Commission is housed.
Kuala Lumpur: Families of the 1948 Batang Kali massacre today submitted a memorandum demanding an official apology from the British government over the Dec 12 incident that claimed the lives of their loved ones.
Britain’s deputy high commissioner to Malaysia David Wallace received the memorandum from the Action Committee Condemning Batang Kali Massacre coordinator Quek Ngee Meng. Also present were the descendants of the 24 civilians.
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Wallace described the moment as “moving”, adding that the incident had undergone numerous investigations.
“The British government has talked of regrets about how this has unfolded. It is definitely moving to hear the stories of the family members of the victims,” he told reporters.
The Batang Kali massacre, also known as Britain’s My Lai, took place on Dec 12, 1948, during the Malayan Emergency when Commonwealth forces fought a communist revolt in the then British colony.
Chinese labourers were killed after British soldiers entered the Batang Kali rubber plantation, where they rounded up villagers for interrogation.
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The British government claimed the villagers were suspected insurgents and were shot while attempting to escape. However, other villagers asserted that the men were summarily executed.
Speaking to reporters later, Quek said they planned to write to British opposition leaders and MPs in light of elections there next year.
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“We will also be writing to human rights groups, local and international, to seek their endorsement of the appeal. The fact is undeniable, innocent people were killed,” he said.
“The feeling of unfairness over family members killed mercilessly still remains. It’s this type of emotion that we cannot get rid of. We hope that the British government can hear the appeal of the families.”
One of the victims’ family members, Ng Yean Leng, said she initially didn’t understand her father’s stories about the event. But over time, she felt a moral responsibility as a family member to revisit and share the story.
Ng, whose granduncle was gunned down in the incident, said: “I am the third generation of my family, and if my generation doesn’t tell this story and pass it on, our next generation will be even more unaware of this cruel historical event.”
Gary Lim, representing his father Lim Kok at today’s event, retold the story of the horrific morning the Scots Guard rounded all the 24 civilians, including his grandfather Lim Tian Shui, who was the supervisor of the rubber plantation.
“The Scots Guards thought they were communists and without checking, caught and shot them,” he said.
“We want them to look into this case seriously. My father has been following up on it, and now it is my turn.”
Also present at the memorandum handover was MCA secretary-general Chong Sin Woon who hoped the British government would offer a formal apology.
This marks the second time the group has demanded an apology, the first being in 2012 after the London court upheld a government decision not to conduct a public inquiry into the shootings.
This was despite the court acknowledging the UK’s responsibility for the deaths of the 24 civilians.
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