Cik Dat bin Anjang Abdullah, commonly known as Abdullah CD (born 2 October 1923), is a former

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n politician who served as chairman and General Secretary of the

Communist Party of Malaya The Malayan Communist Party (MCP), officially the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), was a Marxist–Leninist and anti-imperialist communist party which was active in British Malaya and later, the modern states of Malaysia and Singapore from ...

(CPM).

Biography

Abdullah was born on 2 October 1923 in

Parit Parit ( Jawi: ڤاريت; ) is a main town of Perak Tengah District, Perak, Malaysia. List of Schools in Parit:- Primary schools: # Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Parit (SRKP). # Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Iskandar Shah (SRKIS). # Sekolah Jenis Keb ...

, Perak to

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

parents. His involvement in politics was sparked by interests in the Maharajalela Wars against the British. As a young man, he joined the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM), and became the secretary of the KMM in the Lambor district in Perak during the early stages of the Japanese Occupation. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Abdullah CD was involved in the setting up of the Malay Nationalist Party (or in Malay, the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Muda / PKMM) in October 1945 with other early leftist Malay leaders such as Mokhtaruddin Lasso, Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy,

Ahmad Boestamam Ahmad Boestamam (30 November 1920 – 19 January 1983), or Abdullah Sani, was a Malaysian freedom fighter, politician and was the founding president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and Parti Marhaen Malaysia. Ahmad Boestamam was born in Setapak, Ampa ...

Ishak Haji Muhammad Ishak Haji Muhammad (14 November 1909 – 7 November 1991), better known as Pak Sako, was a Malaysian writer, active in the 1930s until the 1950s. He was a nationalist and his involvement began before independence and continued thereafter. He fo ...

, amongst others. He was also responsible for organising the Malay labour movement, and was elected as the vice-president of the Pan-Malayan Federation of Trade Unions (PMFTU). Not long before the declaration of emergency in Malaya in June 1948 by the British colonial government, Abdullah CD, Dr. Burhanuddin Helmi and Ahmad Boestamam conducted a meeting to discuss the conditions and steps to be taken in the struggle for Malayan independence. When the British declared an emergency, Abdullah led many members from the CPM, PKMM, API (Angkatan Pemuda Insaf), AWAS and PETA into an anti-British guerrilla revolution in the jungles of Malaya. In July 1948, he was captured in north Pahang, but he managed to escape. On 12 May 1949, Abdullah started the 10th Regiment of the CPM in Temerloh,

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

, and continued to be its leader until peace was achieved in 1989. On 2 December 1989, he was one of the signatories of the

peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surrend ...

between the CPM and the government of Malaysia, finally ending the period of armed struggle. Abdullah was involved in many armed battles against the British, and suffered serious injuries from a hand grenade explosion. He was married to Suriani Abdullah (née Eng Ming Ching), also a leader of the CPM and have been married since February 1955. They remained married in Sukhirin,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

until Suriani's death in 2013.Abdullah CD(2005), ''Memoir Abdullah CD: Zaman Pergerakan Sehingga 1948'', SIRD

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah CD 1923 births Living people People from Perak Malaysian communists Malaysian politicians Malaysian people of Minangkabau descent Muslim socialists