Shedding light on Malaysia’s Special Branch
When Malaysians think of the work carried out by the Special Branch of the police, they tend to think of think of infiltration and spying on opposition parties and non-governmental organisations. During elections, the observant can spot them at political rallies, often obvious in their conspicuous attempt to appear inconspicuous. While the general Malaysian public may fear the power of these agents and their informers, seasoned activists and politicians are not, generally, terribly troubled by them. Indeed, the Options supplement to The Edge newspaper, published on the polling day of Malaysia's 2008 general elections, featured a photograph showing members of the civil society organisation, the Women's Candidacy Initiative, giving one unfortunate SB (as Special Branch officers are known) agent a hard time. The photographer has captured the relentless but good-hearted ridicule to which this poor man was subjected when he asked the women for information about who they were.
Drawing on personal experience
Of course, the Special Branch was not established to harass opposition party politicians or to be harassed by women's groups. Its roots lie in the Malayan Emergency which came into effect as the result of the Communist Insurgency. Given the significant role that the Special Branch play today both in the political sphere as well as in the minds of the public, it is important to understand its beginnings. Leon Comber's book, Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60, which due to its popularity has been given another printing this year, provides this in unrivalled fashion. As an SB during the Emergency, Comber is unusually well placed to draw on both personal experience and contacts to provide the reader with insights into the formation and raison d'être of the Special Branch.
The book is divided into twelve chapters. These describe the political context of the Emergency and Malaya's transition to independence from Britain. They also describe the demise of the under-resourced and underperforming Malayan Security Service, and the subsequent birth of the Special Branch. Two of the chapters are case studies illustrating Special Branch operations. One examines the role of the double-agent Lee Meng and how the Special Branch dealt with the communists' communications mechanisms, and the other case study examines the Special Branch's handling of problems along the Thai border. Other chapters focus on the roles of significant figures in Special Branch history, including Sir William Jenkin, General Templer, Colonel Young, and Sir Henry Gurney who was killed, practically by accident, in a communist ambush in Fraser's Hill.
‘Principles of intelligence collection'
Those interested in the modus operandi of today's Special Branch may find, as I did, Chapter Four the most rewarding. In it, Comber describes ‘the principles of intelligence collection' which included the planting of moles, the ‘turning' of communists into double agents, ‘strong-arm measures', ‘truth-drugs' and mass relocations of civilians. Interestingly, however, he notes that a former head of the Special Branch later came to the conclusion that many of these tactics were counter-productive and alienated the people they sought to win over.
The book is clearly written and often engaging and it is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the history of the Special Branch in Malaysia, the operations of which remain shrouded in so much mystery and about which there is much apprehension amongst ordinary Malaysian citizens.
Julian C. H. Lee
ESRC Research Fellow
Department of Anthropology, University of Kent.
jchl@kent.ac.uk