Batang Kali British Massacre Victims have a legal respite

Families of Batang Kali massacre victims finally have legal respite

KUALA LUMPUR: Descendants and families of the 24 civilians who died in the “Batang Kali massacre” of 1948 during British rule finally have a legal respite.

In an unprecedented breakthrough, the families, through their lawyers, will get a chance to argue their case in the British High Court next week.

We want the British government to clear the names of the families. -Tan Hai Kee

 

The judicial review test case on the alleged brutal killings of the unarmed rubber tappers by British soldiers has been fixed for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre adviser and founder Tan Hai Kee said the hearing would be fully funded by British taxpayers.

“It will be a significant breakthrough for Malaysian civilians and NGOs in challenging the British Government's decision.

“We want the British government to clear the names of the families, as the tappers were branded as bandits and communist insurgents,” he said after a briefing and prayer ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall yesterday.

On Dec 12, 1948, about a dozen elite Scots Guards went into a village in Batang Kali and separated women and children from the men. They then allegedly executed all but one of the men who pretended to be dead.

Some of the bodies were later decapitated and their genitals smashed. The Guardsmen claimed the victims were armed and tried to escape but the committee countered that this was a cover-up.

The committee submitted a petition to the British government twice, first in March 2008 via the High Commission and another in November 2010 addressed to Queen Elizabeth II.

The first petition sought an apology and compensation of £80mil (RM393mil) but Tan said monetary gain was not the main issue.

By REGINA LEE
regina@thestar.com.my

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British Massacre - Batang Kali Victims win UK court scrutiny

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Kin of Batang Kali massacre victims win UK court scrutiny  

  

KUALA LUMPUR: Family members of 24 unarmed Malaysian ethnic Chinese workers, allegedly shot dead by British troops in a massacre more than six decades ago, won a significant court battle in Britain that will give hope that the incident will be formally investigated, their lawyers said Thursday.

The British High court ruled on Aug 31 in favour of the family members for a review of a decision by the British government to refuse to investigate the massacre, in which the unarmed rubber plantation workers in Batang Kali, a remote town in Selangor state, were killed after being accused as terrorists trying to escape during the Malayan Emergency.



The court granted the judicial review as it deemed the case "raises arguable issues of importance", reported China's news agency Xinhua.

The lawyers said a full hearing would begin in early 2012.

"After decades of seeking redress for the Batang Kali massacre victims, we can now, finally, see the light of justice at the end of the tunnel," said lawyer Quek Ngee Meng, representing a victim's family.

"We do not expect the British government to reverse its stance, but it should immediately and unconditionally release all documents relating to the massacre and the aborted attempt to investigate in the past so the court that hears this case, and the public, have a complete picture," he told reporters at a press conference attended by six surviving kin of the victims, lawmakers and dozens of activists and representatives of ethnic Chinese groups. - Bernama

Malaysian Batang Kali massacre kin wins UK court scrutiny

KUALA LUMPUR, September 8 (Xinhua) -- Family members of the 24 unarmed Malaysian ethnic Chinese workers allegedly shot dead by the British troops in a massacre more than six decades ago won a significant court battle in britain that would give hope the massacre would be formally investigated, their lawyers said on Thursday.

The British High court ruled on August 31 in favour of the family members for a review to a decision by the British government refusing to investigate the massacre, where the  unarmed rubber plantation workers in Batang Kali, a remote town in Malaysia's Selangor state were killed after being accused as terrorists trying to escape during the Malayan Emergency.

The court granted the judicial review as it deemed the case " raises arguable issues of importance." The lawyers said a full hearing would begin in Spring 2012.

It will examine whether the British Secretaries of State for Defense and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Secretaries of State) acted lawfully when they refused to hold a public inquiry into both the killings and their coverup, and to make any form of reparation to the victims' families.



"After decades of seeking redress for the Batang Kali massacre 's victims we can now, finally, see the light of justice at the end of the tunnel," lawyer representing the victim's family, Quek Ngee Meng said.

"We do not expect the British government to reverse its stance, but it should immediately and unconditionally release all documents relating to the massacre and the aborted attempt to investigate in the past so the court that hears this case, and the public, have a complete picture," he told reporters at a press conference attended by six surviving kin of the victims, lawmakers and dozens of activists and representatives of ethnic Chinese groups.

The 24 ethnic Chinese were shot dead by the British Scots Guards in 1948, when the then-Malaya was under British colonial rule.

They were accused of being sympathizers of the communists and said to be trying to escape during the Malayan Emergency -- a guerilla war fought between the Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan communist group.

The victims' lawyers said the British government refused to correct the records even as evidence suggested all 24 victims were innocent.

After numerous appeals to both the British and the Malaysian governments for a probe into the massacre were turned down, citing lack of evidence, family members of the victims took the case to the British court.

"For the first time after six decades, I feel a sense of closure," said Loh Ah Choy, whose uncle was killed before his eyes when he was nine.

"He was my only uncle and he deserves justice," the 70-year-old told Xinhua.

Relatives of Batang Kali massacre victims nearer to seeking justice

By MARTIN CARVALHO mart3@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: After almost 18 years of tough challenges and extreme obstacles, relatives of the Batang Kali massacre are finally making headway in seeking justice over the killing of 24 villagers by British soldiers in 1948.

MCA Public Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Michael Chong said the United Kingdom Legal Service Commission had granted the families financial aid to pursue their case. An appeal for aid was rejected in November.

“I am very happy. We nearly gave up as cold water was poured on us several times over the years,” he told The Star here yesterday.

“Finally, families of the victims are able to see some light to help them seek justice.”

Chong, who played a crucial role in initiating the call for a judicial review in 1993 over the Malayan Emergency massacre, said the aid came as great relief to the families.

The four claimants, Wooi Kum Thai, Loh Ah Choi, Lim Kok and Chong Hyok Keyu, faced RM480,000 in legal fees (not including RM525,000 in future cost) when their request for legal aid was turned down.

However, the commission’s Special Cost Control Review Panel allowed their appeal on April 15 and with this, the four can proceed with their case at the British courts.

Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre coordinator Quek Ngee Meng said the panel granted the appeal as it was of the view that the claimants had a 50% to 60% chance of succeeding in their case, which is of wider public significance.

“They can now, with more certainty, resort to legal avenues to the fullest so that the truth behind the massacre can be uncovered and that the historical wrong corrected,” Quek said in a press statement issued here.

On Dec 12, 1948, in a military operation against the communist insurgents, a group of British soldiers allegedly shot dead the 24 villagers in a rubber estate near Batang Kali before setting their village on fire.

In March last year, families of the victims and several non-governmental organisations formed the action committee.

The committee submitted a petition to the British High Commission calling for an official apology, compensation for the victims’ families, and financial contribution towards the educational and cultural development of the Ulu Yam community.

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British Massacre - Batang Kali Survivors and kin seek inquiry and damages  

London Bridge is falling down !

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WHY NOT? By WONG SAI WAN

The recent riots in Britain have given this nursery rhyme new significance about all that is wrong, but sadly it is nothing new.
Image via Wikipedia

THE world was shocked to see thugs, many barely in their teens, rioting and looting in various cities in England, which many Malaysians consider a heaven, with some unabashedly saying that going there is “balik kampung” (going back to the hometown).

The horror of the whole thing was brought even closer to home by the video clip of Malaysian student Mohd Asyraf Rafiq Rosli being robbed by the rioters after he had been assaulted. It was uploaded onto YouTube for the world to see, and then picked up by all TV stations.

The assault and robbery of Asyraf and the burning of a century-old furniture shop in Hackney were the main haunting images of the riot.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was quick to recall Parliament for an emergency session, where he condemned the rioters and at the same time dismissed the mid-summer nightmare as greed and thuggery.

He rejected any suggestion that his government’s budgetary cuts was the cause of the riots, and declared “all-out war” on gangs, which he blamed for fuelling four nights of frenzied looting, saying they were “a major criminal disease that has infected streets and estates across our country”.

“This has been a wake-up call for our country. Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face,” he said, adding that a redoubling of efforts to tackle broken families, welfare dependence and educational failure was needed.



“Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?”

But has this come a little too late?

Well-known London social worker Sheldon Thomas, an ex-gang member who runs a mentoring programme, pointed out that British society is “broken” and the government action may be too late.

“People like me have been saying this for decades,” he said. “People are angry, people are frustrated. There are no jobs, there is no aspiration.”

Thomas and many of his fellow youth leaders said Cameron’s government was only reacting to the visuals that were seen all over the world, especially when the rioting and looting affected the wealthier part of the cities.

Youth and social workers have been sounding the warning for years but successive British governments were more interested in projecting the growing materialistic part of Britain while the inner city problems were swept underneath the proverbial carpet.

People like Thomas are right. Go to YouTube and type “Moss Side” to see hundreds of CCTV video clips by the Greater Manchester Police on gang problems there.



National Geographic produced an excellent series on Manchester’s underworld, titled Gunchester. It seems there are more guns in this former industrial centre than in any other city in Britain.

Moss Side, the centre of these violent gangs, is one of many inner city projects started in the 1950s after World War II that have turned into a social mess. There used to be thousands of council flats in Moss Side and neighbouring Hulme, where hundreds of Malaysian students stayed in their student days.

Among these, almost 30 years ago, was yours truly. Moss Side then was filled with blacks from the Caribbean and Africa. And they still form the majority today.

It was here in 1985 that the first race riots occurred, and spread to the rest of Britain. As a consequence, the British government decided to do away with the flats, blaming them for the inner city problems.

The truth was that Moss Side and many such inner city areas were a different country from the rest of Britain. They were improvised areas with many unemployed. Moss Side was – and still is, I am told – a bastion of drugs, vice and gangsterism.

A colleague, a fanatical Manchester United supporter, said he had been to the city many times, but he never ventured into Moss Side.

“Be careful when you see a boy wearing a hoodie (a sweatshirt with a hood) walking towards you. I will normally cross the street when I see one,” he said.

I don’t blame him because records show there had been more than 800 gang-related murders in Manchester in the past decade.

About five years ago, a 14-year-old boy was killed by a rival gang in Manchester.

His was not an isolated incident. There have been scores of teenage murders up and down England, especially in the inner cities, like Moss Side.

But to blame the gangs alone for the recent riots is a convenient excuse at best, or political naivete at worst.

Morality is not a word with any meaning in places like Moss Side, where the social structure has broken down. In this kind of place, one competes to be the youngest mother or grandmother.

Most parents do not know where their kids are at any time of the day. Anyway, most fathers and mothers have criminal records or had served time at the nearby city prison.

I recall being in a newspaper shop in Moss Side and the local postman strolled in and greeted the woman shopkeeper, who replied: “What can I do for you today, Mick?”

He said: “Can I have a 12-year-old virgin, please?”

To this, the elderly woman replied: “There are no such thing as 12-year-old virgins here. This is Moss Side.”

This conversation has stayed in my mind for the past 30 years and, of course, it was an exaggeration by the shopkeeper and the postman, but not by much.

We in Malaysia must be aware that we are also building inner city estates all over Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. Tall council or public housing flats are a sure-fire formula for such problems as in Moss Side.

The Women’s and Family Development Ministry must study these areas carefully to ensure that social problems are solved before they become tinder to a highly inflammable situation.

Executive editor Wong Sai Wan was kept awake for three days in Moss Side by Bob Marley’s No Women No Cry when he died on May 11, 1981



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British loan sharks up 40% !

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Number using loan sharks in Wales up 40% in four years

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Loan sharks often target vulnerable people such as single parents on low incomes, according to the Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit
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The number of people in Wales turning to loan sharks has risen by 40% in the last four years.

The Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit (IMLU) said the figure has jumped from 15,000 to 25,000 since 2007.

The most vulnerable areas include Swansea, Newport, Cardiff, south Wales valleys and the north Wales coast.

Steven Hay, head of the unit, said victims were usually debt-ridden individuals trying to provide for their families.

He said loan sharks targeted vulnerable people like those on low incomes.

Funded by the UK government, but acting on behalf of Wales' 22 councils, the Cardiff-based IMLU has a mix of trading standards officers and former police detectives for its investigations.

Gambling debts 

Mr Hay told BBC Wales: "In other parts of the UK, it can exist around drugs, gambling debts or alcohol but we found that more than anything the people in Wales want to provide for their families and sometimes that drives them to go to a loan shark for money."

Continue reading the main story

Case Study

"Katie" is a single mother with two small children who got into trouble after borrowing £3,000 from a loan shark.

She had to pay back £5,500 - an interest rate of more than 100%.

"He was a very big man and I had heard what he had done to other people and what he was capable of," she said.

"I wasn't sleeping, I was suicidal and I was always worried that my kids would be better off with somebody else and that I should end it all for them to have a better life.

"It really was horrendous."

The loan shark lending money to Katie was eventually arrested and jailed.

He said that since its inception in 2007, the unit had identified loan books held by illegal money lenders totalling around £2.5m, and had managed to eradicate around £1m of illegal debt in Wales.

The team has also worked with 1,700 victims and brought 32 people to trial, but the figures are "just the tip of the iceberg", according to Mr Hay and his team.

Claire Smith of Swansea's LASA Credit Union, one of the areas identified as vulnerable by the team, advised people to use their services instead of turning to loan sharks.

She told BBC Wales: "If an illegal money lender is taken out of an area, the issue you have is if somebody has been using that as a source of credit and that credit is taken away, no matter how bad it is, and they think that there is nowhere else to go, another illegal money lender will just come in and take over the patch."

 

Steven Hay said the figures were just the "tip of the iceberg" and more victims are out there

Mr Hay added that loan sharks targeted communities with vulnerable people, such as families or single people on a low income, often reliant on welfare benefits.

Unlawful imprisonment 

Anyone who makes money from lending must have a consumer credit licence from the Office of Fair Trading.

The unit has uncovered many cases of people charged extortionate rates of interest, often with no paperwork.

As well as the threat and use of violence, loan shark criminality can extend to blackmail, money laundering, fraud and unlawful imprisonment or kidnap.

Mr Hay urged those experiencing problems with loan sharks to contact the team's 24- hour hotline on 0300 123 3311.

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