JOHOR BARU, Feb 26 — A Johor state executive councillor today reminded young people to avoid Marxist-like ideologies, claiming that socialism had failed and was inappropriate for Malaysia.
Johor health, environment, education and information committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said the younger generation today tended to forget the sacrifices made by servicemen for the country’s independence.
“They take such historical facts such as the Bukit Kepong tragedy as a myth and are more focused on failed Marxist-type ideologies such as atheism, socialism and others.
“It is proven that those ideologies have failed as a social model and is not suitable for our country,” he said after visiting the last remaining survivor of the 1950 Bukit Kepong tragedy in Bandar Baru Uda here today.
Ayub explained that socialism and communism must be distinguished from the modern welfare state, in which he said the government allocates a large share of economic resources fairly.
Socialism is different from communism as the former accommodates various political systems like parliamentary democracy and allows individual ownership of property. Many European countries practice socialism. Socialism is an economic system where goods and services are provided by the government, rather than through competition and a free market system.
Ayub, who is also the Kemelah assemblyman, said Malaysia’s struggle for independence was real and the younger generation must take note that this was not achieved without conflict and hardship.
He said that the peace that all Malaysians enjoy now was due to the sacrifices made by former servicemen who had given their lives for the country.
Earlier, Ayub and several state agency officers visited 73-year-old Jamilah Abu Bakar, the remaining survivor of the Bukit Kepong communist raid, and performed tahlil prayers for her deceased father Corporal Abu Bakar Daud at her home.
Abu Bakar, a marine policeman, was injured during a communist raid at the Bukit Kepong police station in Pagoh, Johor, on February 23, 1950. He later died of liver cancer in 1979.
More than 20 people died on each side during the standoff in Bukit Kepong between police officers and Communist guerrillas.
