The Malayan Communist Party as Recorded in the Comintern Files

We should eliminate the danger of right-leaning 35 exclusionism in the Party’s policy toward mass
organizations. This danger has three types.
1. Narrow class-line to be evaded
Such a wrong stand presently prevails as carrying out worker-peasant work only and
labeling the petit bourgeoisie as “surrendered” and lagging behind the masses. Some
worker-work comrades arbitrarily proposed the slogan, “Workers have no home country”.
These comrades forgot that the Party’s present principal task was still an anti-imperialist
united front. They merely saw the interests of the worker-peasant movement and ignored
that petit bourgeois citizens generally had intensified their anti-imperialist sentiment day by
day. They did not take the stand that the interests of class coincided with those of nationals (
民 族 ).
As a result, using such slogans as “cooperation between employee and employer”,
“goodwill between China and Britain” and “whole nation’s diplomacy” ( 国 民 外 交 ),
reactionary elements of the bourgeoisie attacked our Party as a narrow class representative
and concealed their own compromise and surrender. This narrow policy line, which merely
relies on worker-peasant’s unity, cannot defeat the enemy’s aggression. If this view-point
continues and develops, it will help the enemy to break the unity of the nationals
( 民 族 团 结 ).
2. Lack of historical view-point
Ignoring the concrete historical development of the masses of their districts, these comrades
implemented the Party’s mass organization work. In particular, North Malayan comrades
merely saw an ever rising anti-imperialist sentiment. Never historically observing the
backwardness of the local masses (greatly different from Singapore), they adamantly
implemented the mass organization line decided at the 6 th Enlarged Plenum. On the other
hand, a large number of comrades recognized that only through struggle could we extend
our organizations. Some comrades (such as Perak) publicly declared their resolve to stop
open societies’ organizational work. Old societies were quietly dissolved one after another.
Some comrades virtually turned the trade union movement into a secret cell movement.
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