Interview with Mr. Paul Kiong / Prepared by Azlan Bin Latif

In this March issue, we bring you an exclusive interview with Mr. Paul Kiong, who was in Sri KDU for a talk session with the IB students. Mr. Paul Kiong was honoured with the highest award of Sri Gagah Panglima Perkasa, for excellent service in the police force fighting against communists. Including him, there are only 8 recipients of this award.  He was born in Perak, and spent 15 years of his life fighting communist. The March issue has the main topic of “Love”, and in this interview, we see how love has always been a strong motivation for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OM      : Having fought so hard to free our country from the hands of communists, you must love Malaysia very much. Can you describe the love you have for our country?

Paul Kiong       : I love Malaysia very much without any doubt. If there is a repeat of the communist era, I would not hesitate for a second time to put my life on the line for Malaysia. I am always prepared.

OM      : As a policeman in the special force, you must have had many interesting / dangerous experiences. Is there any among them that you want to share?

Paul Kiong       : The most dangerous experience I had was when some of the communist soldiers turned themselves in. At that time, we had this agreement that whoever turned themselves in to the police, they would not be punished, but would be treated as friends instead, with the condition of they would serve the police. So I had this one ex-communist who lived and stayed with me in the police camp. He was with the communists for 18 years. Logically, he would have been a very loyal communist servant, so it was very risky to just simply let him stay with the police forces. He could betray us anytime. But that risk was something that all the police had to take in order to gain his trust. Four days of living together with the ex-communist put our lives on the line. It turned out he never betrayed us. Come to think of it again, why would he betray us? He had been living comfortably with enough food supply and his family was in safe hands since quitting as a communist.

OM      : This might be a bit off the main topic, but we hope you don’t mind us asking. What is your response to Chin Peng wanting to return to Malaysia?

Paul Kiong       : Chin Peng was the leader for Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) and he was a commander. Back then, he wanted to topple the legal government of Malaya. So, his coming back here would definitely cause an unnecessary stir as a lot of people hold grudges against him. If he does come back, it will cause a lot of unhappiness and displeasure, especially among the police forces of that time.

OM      : Sir, we know that you have a wife. During the communist insurgencies you must have had to face many dangers almost every moment of the day. How did you and your wife cope with that? And how tough was it to deal with the fact that you had to live apart from each other most of the time?

Paul Kiong       :  We were married on the 2^nd of October 1971. How bad was it? My own son could not even recognize me as his dad after an operation I had. I went home at that time with a very pale face, well you know, in the jungle we didn’t bathe. Even if we did, we were not allowed to use soap or else we would easily be spotted by the communists. We could cope with the fact that I had to be away most of the time all because we understood each other. My wife understood the nature of my job. She never asked “When are you coming back?” Because we both knew that I might not be back.

OM      : As a reward and recognition of your services and sacrifices for the country, you have been honoured as the Panglima Gagah Perkasa. What is your response to that honour?

Paul Kiong       : I am very proud of it as it was given by the government, which means, it is from the people of Malaysia. To me, this is not a personal achievement, but together as a group, me and the police force.

OM      : During the battles you had, what was the main thing you thought of? What made you stay alive? What motivated you?

Paul Kiong       : All I had in mind was, the LOVE for my family, and also my country. I only wanted to go back home alive, because of my concern for them. If I was killed, who would take care of my family? I LOVE my wife and son so much, I just didn’t want them to be sad, I didn’t want them to hear the news of my death.

OM      : Last but not least, sir, do you have any message that you would like to send out to the young Malaysians today to develop their feeling of love for the country?

Paul Kiong       : Firstly, treasure the peace and harmony that you are enjoying now. We struggled and fought so hard to obtain this, take some time to understand the sacrifices we went through. Never forget the forefathers with their hardship to put us where we are now. Communism is unlikely to happen again here in Malaysia, so you won’t have the chance to defend your country like we did. But what you can do for Malaysia is to contribute and bring up the name of Malaysia in the eyes of the world, such as by excelling in studies or sports or whatever way. One thing I dislike about Malaysians nowadays is their habit of emigrating to other countries. In a way, I am offended because it is as if they did not have love for their own country.

OM      : Thank you, sir, for the very inspirational words. We hope to see you again and thank you for your sacrifices for the country. (Salutes!)