Musings of a Common Man: Growing Up in Malaysia

Musings of a Common Man: Growing Up in Malaysia consists of Khong Kim Hoong’s memoirs, organised by periods, occasionally highlighting significant episodes. He belongs to the one per cent of his age cohort who secured tertiary education in early post-colonial Malaya. More significantly, he took a path less taken to eventually become a major radical student leader at a significant conjuncture in the history of post-colonial Malaysia. This memoir reminds us of a Malaysia which no longer exists. While it is impossible to turn back the clock, it is an important reminder that Malaysia can be different. There were times when Malaysians were not consumed by varieties of ethno-populism. In uniting to demand independence in 1947, leaders across the political spectrum in PUTERA-AMCJA compromised behind the Perlembagaan Rakyat (People’s Constitution).

Suppressed by the British colonial administration, these progressive nationalists re-emerged after independence, winning seats in the first Malayan parliamentary under the banner of the Socialist Front. Tunku’s regime justified this repression for their ostensible disloyalty for being friendly to Indonesian President Sukarno, who opposed the ‘British neo-colonial’ project to create Malaysia from the remaining British possessions in the region. The repression and propaganda against them effectively created an ideological vacuum, quickly filled by rival ethno-populisms. These rival ethno-populisms have been hegemonic in Malaysian political discourse since then, but these have not been unchanging, with the influential often responding to new threats and opportunities. Khong’s memoirs are 3 welcome reminder that another Malaysia is possible.