13th May 1969
13th of May 1969 will forever be the date that will live in infamy for Malaysia. The racial clash that occurred on that day is a grim memorial for all Malaysians regardless of race. The lost of lives and property is nothing compared with the everlasting suspicion against each other that seems to be permanently etched in our hearts.
I personally believe that the series of events concerning the racial riots that occurred has not been told exhaustively to the public. Hardly can I find a publication that can gives a satisfactory descriptive explanation of that tragedy. For all these years the media still seems to treat that bloody event as a taboo, as something that need not be told.
Nearly 40 years have passed since 13th of May 1969 and along that time Malaysians have gone so much far in their development in particular their thinking. I dare to say that Malaysians nowadays are mostly well informed regardless of their background thus be able to make brilliant justification in any matters. And because of that I believe that we are ready to know the full story of the riots not to rekindle old hatred but to understand and to learn from it.
Nothing is more vivid in storytelling than a movie. Why not the government, NGO and capable individuals band together to produce a movie on this matter? We had enough with stupid local movies which genre is so typical and stereotype. Perhaps it is about time for us to emulate the west with respect of their productions of history based movies. One of the best would be Schindler’s List, where it able to portray the holocaust and the decadence of humanity at that time in a way that it touches the hearts of its viewers.
So, are there any Malaysian director and producer willing to take up the challenge?
P/s: Al-fatihah to those who lost their lives during the May 13th tragedy. May God forgive us for the bad things we done to each other.
Dear respected readers, feel free to share stories of the 13th May tragedy by writing comment(s) on this post. However stories and/or comments which have tendency to stir racial sensitivity(ies) shall be censored. Thanks.
my family is one of the many families which were affected thanks to the tragedy of May 13. tambahan pula at that time kan kami duduk kat area melayu, so the incident memang dasat maa.
i remembered my late grandma told me the story of the 13 may. dia baru lepas pantang, beranakkan pak su aku. same goes with my nek su yang juga baru beranakkan my mom’s cousin. huru hara woo kat KL. they have to menyorok gila2 punye sbb takut dibunuh. my paksu and his cousin yang masih bayi gile gile (newborn kan) terpaksa disorokkan dalam tong kukus nasi lemak sbb takut diapa-apakan. ada rumah2 yg terbakar. ada orang yang juga mati terbunuh.
maklum la time tu we still live at the setinggan area. ngeri jugak time tu, so my late grandma told me lah.
alhamdulillah tragedi itu pun berakhir and after much blood sweat and tears, my grandma saved enough money to buy a decent home for the family, which is later bought and revamped by my mother, who eventually took care of my late grandma until her last day.
so, tiap2 kali 13 mei musti aku ingat peristiwa tu. sebab effect dari peristiwa tu adalah rumah tempat aku tinggal sampai ke hari ni.
just hoped that one of these things will never happen again. sebab mungkin puncanya daripada 1-2 orang je, tapi the effect was so great it ended up affecting so many lives of the other KL-ites as well.
sedih plak biler aku ingat balik. sheesh.
btw you may oso read kua kia soong’s book on 13 may. quite interesting oso. but i read everything with a pinch of salt, as i always make room for so many sides of the story in order to make an informed decision. heheh.
Far mmg terpk that u shud write something semalam since it is 13th may. tp lupa nak ckp. tetibe tgk dah ade post. Great ppl think alike..hehe.
my mom was heavily pregnant with my 2nd brother that time. they had to menuntut ilmu kebal ngn sorg tok bomoh ni together with datuk zaman khan (who was their neighbour in penang that time) to prevent the chinese from harming them. mind u that was in august 1969, way after may 13. still the sentiment was so strong that when my mom nak bersalin they have to ask police’s permission to break the curfew and get out of the house.
on the other hand, in kl on may 13 itself, my uncle was stranded in his office in jln ampang for days and days coz he cant go back. he had to passed chowkit in order to get home to kg baru, the bloodiest spot.
cuba ko baca last weekend’s star. aku suka yg mahadev shankar punya cerita. and also one story by a chinese man yg diorg menyorok dlm rumah org melayu and was saved from being murdered. classic example of muhibbah.
Masa 13 Mei both my sisters are still infants. nak pulak masa tu sorang sakit, ubat takde caused by the curfew. so my late father have to merangkak thru tali air sawah nak cari ubat. he said that it so so dangerous to walk openly at that time sebab the military will shoot anything that walks on two legs on sight.
I also heard stories yang orang melayu and cina tolong hide each other masa tu. as Ida said that is a true and classic example of muhibbah. Bak kata org, great things happen in times of adversity.
I have read the star’s special docu on 13th may tu. Its good but it lacks the ummph of a credible historical piece of writing.
thanks to all yang sudi yang write something about the tragedy. It is important that we all learn something from it.
mak aku asal kampung baru, kl. time may 13th kuarantin dok kat umah, org cina bawak parang mengamuk kat luar rumah katanya….walaupun
masa time hindraf end of last year, arwah uncle aku baru meninggal, so aku jaga umah arwah kat kampung baru seminggu, ulang alik dari ofis. plak dah, india plak mengamuk luar rumah, pas bangun tidur aku tengok kat luar rumah, bila plak kampung baru jadik brickfield?
aku kunci pintu tutup tingkap bagai sambung tidur, helikopter rounding atas bumbung activist dok jerit terpekik kat luar, dah takleh tido.