Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Ya’kub managed to convince several of the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP) insurgents to lay down their arms and in 1973–74, the government scored a key victory when Rahman Ya’kub successfully convinced one of the NKCP leaders Bong Kee Chok to surrender along with 481 of his supporters.
– Wikipedia
Last week I joined one of the few survivors of a vicious communist attack in Siniawan District —once infested with communist terrorists.
On the top of the communist terrorist (CT) hit list was Special Branch officer DSP Peter Lim Chian Seng who took me to the scene where he and his teacher wife was ambushed.
His father named him ‘Chian Seng’ or ‘I am a survivor’ on December 11, 1941 — the day the Japanese first bombed Kuching.
Lim said: “I was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck nine times, but a midwife saved my life.”
On the fateful day of the ambush on July 11, 1971, Lim recalled the couple were heading from Bau to Kuching in his Volkswagon when the ambush occurred as they neared the Kampung Buso-Bau Road.
“I knew the CTs were waiting to finish me off because according to the grapevine the Special Branch chief at that time Tan Sri Koo Chong Kong was top of the list and I was next.”
But Lim had the presence of mind to ask his wife to keep his .38 Smith and Wesson pistol with six rounds in her handbag — just in case he needed to use it.
“A large group of CTs opened fire spraying my car with shotgun pellets and bullets from a rifle. I was hit in the face and a pellet was embedded in my skull while a bullet grazed my left chest.”
Despite bleeding profusely he continued driving and ran into a second ambush 25 yards away.
Apparently, the group of CTs had instructions to finish him off because many of their supporters were arrested by him.
“As the blood blurred my vision, I suddenly lost control when I ran into the second ambush.
“Fortunately, my vehicle skidded and crashed into a telephone pole at the top of a steep valley and prevented the car from going into the ravine,” said Lim.
Both husband and wife then prepared for the fight of their lives.
Lim used the pistol to keep the enemy at bay.
“Suddenly, the CTs stopped shooting because they failed to kill me. They must have realised that I was not going down without a fight,” added Lim, who was by then soaked to the skin with his own blood.
The CTs were also aware that security forces personnel frequently travelled the Kuching-Bau Road and were not prepared to take chances.
After several minutes Lim’s wife finally managed to stop a passing lorry and both hitched a ride to the Bau police station not far away.
“I must thank my brave wife. It seemed like ages before anyone was willing to stop and give us a lift.
“My wife stood by the roadside desperately waving down passing motorists, while I stayed hidden in the valley.
“It was still touch and go because the CTs could be still around. I had six rounds of ammunition and made sure that if I had to fight them, I had to leave at least one bullet for myself.
“I can imagine what would have happened if they had captured me alive!”
Lim was operated on, his pellet removed and two weeks later he was back on duty.
Four months later, another attempt was made on his life at the Bau-Jugan junction, a stone’s throw from the Siniawan police station.
In the second incident, Lim and a convoy of policemen were travelling by a Land Rover from Bau to the Siniawan police station when they were ambushed by gunmen at a sharp corner near the junction.
“Following my first experience I was better prepared. When they opened fire I ordered the driver to step on the gas pedal and we barely made it around the bend without crashing.
“Two minutes later we were at the police station where we got reinforcements. I returned on foot with some men through the jungle to see if we could make a counterattack. But they had fled.
“At the scene we found eight home-made Molotov cocktails which they had prepared to use against us. I dread to think what would have happened had our driver lost control of the vehicle and we crashed at the ambush site,” he added.
Lim was promoted a year later to the rank of ASP but while he was away the terrorists continued to cause havoc in the district.
On July 14 1972, a group of armed CTs caught a local young man named Johnny Lee at Tondong, accusing him of being a police informer for the Special Branch. After a ‘public trial’ in front of the local populace, he was sentenced to death and tied to a tree and tortured, before being set on fire.
The CTs then burnt down the abandoned police station at Tondong.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
