As a signatory to the MCP-Malaysian Peace Accord, Chin Peng has given an appraisal of the book ‘The Finest Hour: Malaysian-MCP peace accord in perspective’ as a realistic projection of the Emergency.

I believe this is because the work adopts the perspective that the Malayan people waged an anti-colonial nationalist protest and revolution against British colonialism that ended with political independence and peace.

The book also details the contribution of Dr Mahathir who, as prime minister, initiated and orchestrated the entire peace process to its successful conclusion. In a Foreword he mentioned that the book was "bold and extraordinary" because 'the finest hour' brought peace for all Malaysians".

It is most interesting to note that the recent History Channel documentary on the Malayan Emergency appears to have drawn heavily on the perspective of national integration adopted in the book.

This is not surprising considering that the chapter on ‘Revolt and Revolution in Malaya’ in the Blackwell's Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (2009), has recognised that this insertion which is based on the book, is the only valid and reliable source drawn from the entire bibliography that dates back to the 1500's.

The film footage of the documentary needs to be clarified. While the extensive coverage is invaluable as a 'road map' of the Emergency, it must be remembered that the contingent of the entire local "security forces" engaged in the suppression of all parties in the struggle for independence were doing so to defend the status quo of British colonial rule.

As a result many civilians were also unfortunately caught in the crossfire and suffered casualties.

I believe the government needs to give serious consideration to the official endorsement of this book ‘The Finest Hour’ as the most realistic appraisal of the Emergency for the reasons mentioned above.

This will also be in line with Prime Minister Najib's 1Malaysia.