Min Yuen

The Min Yuen (Chinese: 民運; pinyin: Mínyùn; Malay: Gerakan Rakyat) was the civilian branch of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), in resisting the British colonial occupation of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency, The Min Yuen was mainly charged with supplying communist revolutionaries with food, information, and medical supplies.^[1]

Since the beginning of the Emergency, the British Government recognized the Min Yuen to be especially problematic to their counter-insurgency operations. As the Min Yuen was made up of ordinary civilians, its members were indistinguishable from the rest of the population, making it impossible for security forces to instantly recognize and arrest them. Hence, the British Government found it imperative to isolate the Min Yuen as far as possible from the communist guerrillas based in the jungle. This was achieved under the Briggs Plan when 400,000 civilians were forced into a network of internment camps called "new villages" which sought to segregate the communist revolutionaries from their civilian supporters.

Names

The term Min Yuen began appearing following the declaration of the Emergency in June 1948. It is the Romanization of the two-character abbreviated form of the Chinese term Minzhong Yuendong (Chinese: 民眾運動; pinyin: Mínzhòng Yùndòng; lit. 'people's movement').^[1][2]

History

Membership

In May 1948, at a security conference in Kuala Lumpur, Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley estimated that there were 5,000 members of the MNLA who had already taken up arms against the British colonial occupation of Malaya and 250,000 members of the Min Yuen and other CPM-affiliated organizations.^[3] In the early years of the Emergency from 1948 to 1951, the MNLA frequently attracted recruits from the Min Yuen to join their guerilla army. Many opposed colonial British rule and were inspired by the success of the Chinese Communist Party in defeating the Kuomintang in 1949.^[4]

During the peak of the Emergency from late 1951 to early 1952, there were roughly 50,000 members of the Min Yuen.^[5] However, with the mass internment of nearly 500,000 Chinese civilians into prison camps called "New Villages" by 1952, the Min Yuen were greatly hampered in their ability to meet with communist guerrillas.^[6] The New Villages were located away from the jungle, had perimeter fencing, and guarded by Special Constables (and later the Home Guard).^[7] This made it difficult for communist sympathizers to freely meet and supply communist guerrillas with food and information.

Infiltration by the Special Branch

Under the Briggs Plan, the Special Branch was tasked with penetrating the Min Yuen and destroying the MCP from within. While the Special Branch did not manage to penetrate the upper ranks of the MNLA and MCP leadership hierarchy, they were successful in inserting undercover agents into the Min Yuen.^[8]

In some scenarios, once the Special Branch had gathered sufficient information on known Min Yuen members, they would threaten to arrest and punish them under Emergency Regulations unless they agreed to cooperate.^[9] In other situations, the Special Branch would plant misinformation in the Min Yuen knowing that it would be passed on to communist guerrillas as genuine, thereby destroying the credibility of the Min Yuen as a reliable source of intelligence.^[10]

See also

• Viet Cong
• Harold Briggs
• Psychological warfare

References

• v
• t
• e

Communism in Malaysia and Singapore

Wars and incidents

Wars	Malayan campaign Vietnam War Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Communist insurgency Sarawak Malaysia (1968-1989) Thailand Malayan Emergency Background & causes Briggs Plan New village Special Operations Volunteer Force Commonwealth Military Involvement Southern Rhodesia Australia New Zealand
Incidents	Sungai Siput Incident Death of Lau Yew Labis Incident Penang Ambush Assassination of Sir Henry Gurney Bukit Kepong Incident Battle of Semur River Batang Kali massacre Operation Termite Pipeline Ambush The Templer Plan Operation Coldstore Assassination of Abdul Rahman Hashim Assassination of Khoo Chong Kong Bombing of National Monument Operation Spectrum

Organisations

• South Seas Communist Party
• Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army
• Malayan National Liberation Army
  • 10th Malay Regiment
• Malayan Communist Party
• Min Yuen
• Revolutionary Faction
  • MPLF
• CPM/ML
• Malaysian Communist Party
• Singapore Federation of Trade Unions
• North Kalimantan Communist Party

Key people

Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore	Chin Peng Abdullah CD Lai Teck Shamsiah Fakeh Ahmad Boestamam Rashid Maidin Mokhtaruddin Lasso Kamarulzaman Teh Abu Samah Mohd Kassim Musa Ahmad Ibrahim Chik S. A. Ganapathy Suriani Abdullah Lau Yew Lee Meng Chen Tien Yeung Kwo Fong Chong Pik Eu Chooi Yip Lim Chin Siong Wahi Annuar Mat Indera R. G. Balan P. Veerasenan Devan Nair
Malaysian Borneo	Bong Kee Chok Yang Chu Chung Wen Ming Chyuan Yap Choon Hau Lam Wah Kwai Ang Chu Ting Wong Lieng Kui Cheung Ah Wah

Related topics

• Calcutta Southeast Asian Youth Conference
• University Socialist Club
• Domino theory
• Agent Orange
• Subramaniam v Public Prosecutor
• Malaysia–Soviet Union relations
• China–Malaysia relations
• China–Singapore relations
• Barisan Sosialis
• Brunei Revolt
• Chia Thye Poh
• Siddiq Ghouse
• Sarawak United Peoples' Party
• Bidong Island
• Japanese Red Army
  • 1975 AIA building hostage crisis
  • MH653
  • Laju incident
• Lambeth slavery case

Peace agreements

• Baling Talks
• Peace Declaration of Sri Aman 1973
• Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989

In popular culture

• Operation Malaya (1953 documentary)
• A Piece of Ribbon (1963 play)
• The 7th Dawn (1964 drama)
• The Last Communist (2006 film)
• Apa Khabar Orang Kampung (2007 film)
• Tanda Putera (2013 film)
• The Garden of Evening Mists (2011 novel)
• The New Village (2015 film)
• The Garden of Evening Mists (2019 film)

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