THEY gave their lives in defence of the country against Communist insurgents.
However, the final resting place of those who died defending the Bukit Kepong police station on Feb 23,
1950, in Muar, Johor, resembled more a rubble-strewn field than a warriors' burial ground.
Even worse, family members of the slain policemen claim they were prevented from upkeeping the graves,
as it was "government property".Information was informed that family members and relatives of the fallen policemen were upset to find part of the cemetery wall collapsed when they visited the Bukit Kepong Muslim graveyard during last week's Hari Raya celebrations.
A section of the collapsed wall bore names of those buried there following the deadly attack that left at least
25 people, including policemen, their family members, auxiliary policemen and Bukit Kepong villagers, dead.
Their graves are separated from the rest in the cemetery by a perimeter fencing painted in blue.
The Malay Mail was alerted to the deplorable state of the cemetery by Haizad Ibrahim, a grandson of the Bukit Kepong police station chief, Sergeant Jamil Mat Shah. "Is this how they respect the heroes of Bukit Kepong?" Haizad wrote in an email.
Jamil was survived by four children, including his third child, a daughter Jamilah, now 66, and who is Haizad's
mother.
Haizad said the wall had collapsed for at least a year now. "We wanted to fix it but we were told to leave it
alone as it was government property," he said.
According to Haizad, the family opted to take care of the graves but their requests were denied.
"If the government took care of it, that's fine but this was not the case. Just give us the permission to maintain
it," he said.
Another family member, who chose to be known only as Rafie, said they were still trying to find out what caused the wall to collapse.
"We are checking with the Bukit Kepong police station on what caused it. Perhaps a tree had fallen on the wall,"
he said yesterday.
The Bukit Kepong tragedy was remembered last month when PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu was accused of glorifying the attackers of the police station.
Mohamad, who is Pokok Sena MP, was alleged to have said during a ceramah in Tasik Gelugor, Penang, on
Aug 21, that the men who attacked and killed the servicemen and their families in Bukit Kepong were heroes
because they were fighting against the British.
He was also reported to have made the remark that both Umno founder Datuk Onn Jaafar and the country's
first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman did not deserve to be called independence fighters because
they were officresting placeers of the British administration.
However, Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, later clarified his remarks, saying those who attacked Bukit
Kepong were heroes as they were freedom fighters and not because they attacked Malay policemen.
