Mah’s memorable moments

BY K.W. MAK 

Retired crimebuster Datuk Albert Mah was working on his memoirs with this writer when he was sadly killedfollowing a robbery at his home in January. The following is what the writer gleaned from the compassionate manwho had a wealth of knowlege of our history and the communist insurgency. 

Edward Lee (Mah’s nephew) and I had gone to visit him on a Monday afternoon, and we spent a good two hours there, enjoying English tea, scones and cookies, and laughing at his humour and witty stories. 

Mah having tea with Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and thethen Penang Chief Minister Datuk Lim Chong Eu when he was Penang CPO.

“I joined the police in 1949. It was one year after the Emergency (communist insurgency) started and I wanted to plan my career at the time I came of age,” said Mah, who was 25 then. 

“I told myself I had to be my own boss and I must learn how the boss operates. There was a job available at the police headquarters and the man who interviewed me was Tun (Mohd) Salleh (Ismail), who was the ASP (Assistant Superintendent of Police) for personnel at the time.” 

When he applied to join the police, the British had decided to appoint locals to higher-ranking positions under a scheme where capable officers from inspector to ASP were hired.  

Mah welcoming crown prince (now emperor) Akihito during an official state visit in the early 1970s.

“When I saw the scheme, I applied for the job,” said Mah who began his career as a stenographer at the personnel branch. 

“Tun Salleh was the best Malay officer at the time and he too had joined to fight the communists,” he recalled. 

Tun Mohd Salleh would go on to become the first Inspector General of Police (IGP) in the country while Mah would climb to the rank of Penang chief police officer (CPO). 

Mah shared an interesting perspective of the country’s history with us. 

 

On the Communists 

Information on communist army movements was paramount at the time but the British officers could not get captured enemy soldiers to talk, he related. 

'The PAC wasthe highestauthority in thecountry then,unlike now. Wecould havequestioned thePrime Ministerhimself' -DATUK ALBERT MAH

“Six to seven officers would kick and hammer the man to get him to confess,” said Mah, who was in charge of recording and translating the statements. 

“After beating up four to five communists, the torturers became soft hearted and tired. I told them (the officers) to let me talk to the communists instead.” 

No one had taught Mah the proper interrogative techniques, but he developed a successful method that was borne out of a genuine concern and pity for the victim and the need to do his job. 

“I pitied the person being bashed, so I tracked down their relatives, used the secret service fund to buy food and got a relative to talk to the person. 

“The communist assumed that the food was brought by their relative and they would become very grateful that we allowed their relative to visit them with their favourite food.” 

Once the communist saw that there was a life out there beyond the four walls of the interrogation room, their resolve to resist crumbled and it was then that Mah stepped in. 

“I would tell the communist ‘why don’t you just tell the British officers because they have already seen what you know’. 

“They would break down crying and tell me everything.” 

It was from these interrogations that Mah got the recognition of his superiors. It took two years for Mah to earn his promotion and he stayed for another eight years in the Special Branch before he “got tired of working for the British officers”. 

“I got tired of the Brits taking credit for the information I got from the interrogation and they did not want to tell me what they did with the information. 

“The more information I got, the less I knew what the operation was about. I went to Tun Salleh for a transfer, and it was there that I got my uniform and was transferred to Kuala Pilah in Seremban.” 

Petaling Jaya – Early 1950s 

While still in Special Branch and dealing with the communists, Mah said he was attending a special class on how to gather information when Sir Gerald Templer walked in. 

“He came to open the class and he was very crude. He pointed to people and said ‘you, you’,” said Mah, describing his first encounter with the man credited for founding Petaling Jaya. 

In another meeting where the officers were trying to figure out where to settle the Chinese (part of the plan to overcome the communist insurgency), Templer came in again. 

“Templer asked for the map and drew a circle and declared that it would be the area for the resettlement. That would become Petaling Jaya.” 

Mah was part of the operation to relocate the settlers by virtue of him being there at the meeting. Eventually, Mah and his wife Datin Joan Lee were involved in arranging transport for Chinese settlers from new villages into Petaling Jaya. 

It was a tough life for the settlers, who lived in an enclosed camp. They had to be at the gate at 4am to be searched before they were allowed to do their work as rubber tappers. 

“We had to make sure the tappers didn’t carry any food with them for their own safety. The communists would force the workers to give them food or be killed, and the search gave the tappers an excuse for not having any food,” Mah said. 

 

Penang 

When he was the Penang Chief Police Officer (CPO) in 1963, Mah commanded the respect of his men because he in turn respected them. 

“I wanted them to be proud of their job, to be proud of who they are and to take responsibility for their actions,” he said. 

“When some of the officers were on duty during the May 13, 1969 period, I asked our women officers to get the wives together and prepare picnic baskets for their husbands. 

“Although they were all on duty, I made sure the officers had the opportunity to sit by the road blocks and enjoy the home-cooked food and the company of their wife and children. You could see how happy the officers were to be able to spend that time with their families.” 

Mah was also privy to a lot of information, including the intention of several Chinese groups to bring the riots to Penang and have the place torched. 

Worried about the impending disaster, Mah said he consulted lawyers on what he could do to arrest the many secret society members who were making their way to Penang. 

“The lawyers told me there was nothing I could do because these people had not done anything wrong yet.” 

Rather than having his men deal with arsonists when it actually happened, Mah took the law into his own hands. 

“When there is trouble, we have to rule by what you think is right. The people who came to cause trouble were identified and had their identity cards taken away and deported at the ferry port,” he said. 

Shortly after this, he was transferred to Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur.  

Mah quit the force after that and entered politics under the MCA-BN banner, winning the Bukit Bendera seat for one term. He then went into business. 

 

Parliament 

As a Member of Parliament, Mah did his job with the utmost sincerity and was appointed chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

Despite his junior position as a first time MP, he almost caused a riot when he started questioning the various ministers on the abuse of funds. 

“The PAC was the highest authority in the country then, unlike now. We could have questioned the Prime Minister himself if we needed to,” he said. 

“We called on the ministers but the deputies were sent instead and when they were questioned on why this or that did not seem appropriate, the deputies would always reply that the project was not under them and they did not know. 

“I issued a directive then that I wanted the number one to attend the hearing and answer the questions. No number two or threes, just the number ones. Everyone was sweating because I would not relent or accept excuses. 

“Tun Razak pulled me aside while I was going to the gents (during a parliamentary sitting) to tell me I did a good job in making sure everyone was now on their toes and asked me not to pursue the matter any further.” 

Mah certainly had a lot to tell, and it's tragic that he died before his memoirs could be written.