Lest we get too comfortable; lest we forget

By Ooi Kee Beng, speech at book launch on 9 September 2026 at St Xavier’s Institution of Paul Kiong’s book, “The Communist Role I Played”.

WE LIVE IN comfortable times today. One could say, “too comfortable times”. It is therefore a privilege for us today here at St Xavier’s Institution, to host an event where we get to listen to a War Hero—if I may use that term— and a Survivor of the struggle against the Communist Party of Malaysia, the CPM, more specifically of the Second Malayan Emergency.

Not only is this talk—and his book—a stark reminder to us to not take our comfort for granted, it is also an important reminder to us about how important History is. We know ourselves best if we also know our own History.

More than just history though, the book—being an autobiography of a highly decorated Special Branch officer—should be given extra attention by all of us. It is all written in first person. That is worth a lot.

I love reading biographies, and I love writing them. But an autobiography, to my mind, is something special. First of all, it needs much less referencing by the author, because it comes from the memory of the person who was there, who saw things first hand, who was the main agent in the story.

Now, we also live in a time when the standards for truth are very low. To raise those standards require us to know History that is close to us, more immediate, more local. That history is easiest for us to relate to.

Being ignorant of History is a serious problem.

I once asked Prof Wang Gungwu, Malaysia’s greatest historian: “What is the point of History?”

His succinct reply was: “History is often misused to fool people. For that reason alone, one should be interested in history, so that we won’t be easily fooled.

Very good point.

Alongside formal history, there is a trend in world literature which is called “Creative Non-fiction”. And this especially includes biographies. They, to me, are a democratisation of Literature, and of History writing.

To me, really, biographies are the alternative histories we all long for.

So I for one am thankful that Datuk Paul Kiong has written down his very personal story so that we may know our history better, in direct and many indirect ways.

I love writing biographies for that reason. I love reading biographies for that reason. And I love reading autobiographies for that reason.

Now, how should I introduce a man who is going to talk about his life? So I shall let you know him through his own words. Let it suffice that I introduce him as one of the country’s war heroes, one of only 30 Malaysians who have been awarded the most prestigious Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa, or Grand Knight of the Valor; and that he is a Xaverian.

So may I now ask Datuk Paul Kiong to take the stage and to tell his story, a story which is very much a part of our national history. Listen deeply, and don’t let that story be forgotten.