The Communist Uprising in Malaya

The communist insurrection in Malaya will be six months old by the end of this year. Two questions are frequently asked in connection with it: What is its relation to communist uprisings elsewhere in South? east Asia? And why and when did the Malayan Com? munist Party decide to resort to direct action? The answers are bound to be speculative in charac? ter, for no direct sources of information are available. The central executive committee of the Malayan Com? munist Party (MCP), its high command, has always been an ultra-secret underground body, even during the postwar period when the party was a legal organization. The party was proscribed immediately after the in? surrection and is now likely to remain so for a long time to come.