Baru-baru ini Peristiwa Bukit Kepong sekali lagi menjadi topik perbahasan yang hangat dalam masyarakat kita. Peristiwa serangan balai polis Bukit Kepong pada Februari 1950 oleh segolongan komunis telah diketahui umum melalui coretan dan catatan dalam Sejarah Malaysia. Dari semasa ke semasa, sebuah filem tentang peristiwa Bukit Kepong ditanyang di rangkaian-rangkaian media awam terutamanya menjelang Hari Kemerdekaan. Sebuah novel yang menceritakan peristiwa itu hasil tulisan Ismail Johari juga dijadikan sebagai bacaan rujukan untuk peperiksaan SPM dalam subjek Bahasa Melayu. Hampir semua bahan sejarah daripada pihak rasmi telah mengetepikan atau mengecam peranan golongan nasionalis radikal dan Parti Komunis Malaya kerana mereka menentang British secara bersenjata terutamanya pada sepuluh tahun sebelum dan selepas merdeka.
Tibalah masanya kita berbicara dan berdiskusi mengenai sejarah kita dengan lebih lanjut dan mendalam. Beberapa orang penganalisa politik dan sarjana yang berpandangan dan berpendapat bebas telah dijemput untuk mengupas dan membicarakan isu ini. Mereka akan berkongsi pengetahuan dan hasil kajian mereka dengan semua hadirin. Semoga melalui forum ini masyarakat akan lebih faham dan jelas tentang sumbangan tokoh-tokoh dan golongan-golongan pelbagai aliran dalam memperjuangkan kemerdekaan terutamanya golongan kiri yang selama ini dipinggirkan dan dimomokkan bagi menenggelamkan peranan mereka dan menaikkan nama dan peranan pihak lain.
The Bukit Kepong Incident has been the subject of considerable public debate recently. The communist assault on the Bukit Kepong police station in February 1950 is a relatively well-known event in the Malaysian history. A film on the Bukit Kepong incident is periodically screened on government television channels, in particular around the time of Hari Kemerdekaan celebrations. A novel based on the incident and written by Ismail Johari is also the subject of study by secondary students for the SPM Malay-language examination. In most if not all of the current official versions of that troubled period of our history, the role of radical nationalists and the Malayan Communist Party has been given little attention or has been condemned for the armed struggle which they waged against the British.
In response to the public interest in the subject, the forum will bring together various political analysts and scholars who are not normally featured in the official media so that they can share their knowledge and assessments with the public. It is hoped that arising from the forum discussions, there will be a better understanding of all the major political actors and forces that were in the forefront of efforts to secure the country’s independence from the British, and their respective contributions – in particular that of the left wing, which has been marginalized in the official historical narratives.
FORUM UMUM / Public Forum
PERJUANGAN KEMERDEKAAN MALAYA: PERANAN GOLONGAN KIRI (Malaya’s Struggle for Independence: The Role of the Left)
Tarikh/Date: 15 Sept 2011 (Khamis/Thursday)
Masa/Time: 8.00pm-10.30pm
Tempat/Venue: Auditorium Dewan Sivik, MBPJ, Petaling Jaya
Penganjur/Organisers: SIRD, Jawatankuasa Kempen Sejarah Malaysia Sebenar (KemSMS) & Free Public Forum Malaysia
Ahli Panel/Panelists:
1. Dr Khong Kim Hoong (author of Merdeka!)
2. Dr Mohamed Salleh Lamry (academic, writer)
3. Dr Rohana Ariffin (academic, Vice President of PRM)
4. En. Hishamuddin Rais (social activist)
5. En. Said Zahari (ex-journalist, writer)
Moderator:
Dr Abdul Halim Ali
Forum ini dijalankan dalam dwibahasa. Datanglah beramai-ramai. Masuk percuma.
This is a bilingual forum. Free admission.
For further information, please contact
KemSMS Secretariat (Ms Chin Mei Chi): 03-2272 3594 or SIRD: 03-7957 8342/3
