Fight for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (Malaysian Service Medal)

[1938 Observer]

This is a British Military Website which is well worth visiting......I have posted an initial explantation....(taken from the site) below

The pages in this web site tell the story of a medal, the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (Malaysian Service Medal). It is a medal graciously offered to Commonwealth forces who served Malaysia in its fight to preserve its newly won independence against terror and aggression between 1957 and 1966. The medal has been awarded to both servicemen and women, and to civilians.

The Queen has accepted the medal for wear by all her other Commonwealth veterans, including her own Representative in Australia, but she has been instructed by the Honours and Decorations Committee (quoting the Imperial Honours System) to deny British citizens the right to wear their medal. That anomaly is clearly unjust and inappropriate in the modern world.

'Lobbying' is not our natural habitat. We are ex-servicemen who have an intrinsic and instinctive sense of discipline and loyalty. As we set out our case, we do so with humility, and with an enduring loyalty to our country and our Queen, but this shameful recommendation has brought us together again for one last battle against a very unpleasant form of discrimination and aggression. And we shall not fail. We didn't then, and we shall not now. We shall not let down Malaysia, the Commonwealth, or our supporters - or ourselves.


Access to the Forum proper is via the informationbar at the top of the 'Home Page"

http://www.fight4thepjm.org/home.htm

[1938 Observer]

Just how miserable can the (un)civil service [and others] be when it comes to allowing these veterans offical recognition to wear a medal given by the greatful Government of Malaysia

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Ashbourne News Telegraph (UK) Published: 31/03/2010 09:53 - Updated: 31/03/2010

Proud to accept Malaysia medal but Government rules ban its use


A RETIRED Ashbourne man has received a medal from the Defence Minister of Malaysia for his work overseas in the early 1960s — and his own Government say he cannot wear it.
Abd Latiff Bin Hj Ahmed presented Ron Torr, of Weaver Close, with the Pingat Jasa Malaysia, in a ceremony at the Pavilion Gardens, in Buxton.

Mr Torr, 72, served in the region during 1960 and 1961 when Commonwealth forces were fighting Communist insurgents and the medal recognises British soldiers work, recognising their ‘distinguished chivalry, gallantry, sacrifice, or loyalty’.

Soldiers from across the world worked alongside the British and are free to wear their medals, however, veterans like Mr Torr have been told not to wear theirs as it was not handed out by a British Government and it may ‘upset The Queen’. (actually it is the civil serpent beaucracy )

Mr Torr said: “I’m taking no notice of it and we are still fighting it.” John Simcock, president of the North Malaysian and Borneo Veterans Association, said: “We fought our own Government to get that overturned and now we are fighting for the right to wear it.” The Queen has apparently given her consent for veterans to accept the medal, but the British Government has not formally given permission for people to wear it.

Many of the veterans chose to snub the protocol and wear them with pride on occasions like Remembrance Sunday.

Around 22,000 servicemen are due to receive the medals, 519 men were killed fighting against 6,700 guerrillas. Many men, like Mr Torr, also had to cope with mosquitoes, leeches and other wild animals in the jungle.

The Malaysian Government has approached the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to seek approval to present their new medal to British veterans and others who served in operations in Malaya and Malaysia between August 1957 and August 1966.
Permission was granted for the medal to be awarded to eligible recipients in 2006; however, no formal permission has been given to wear it.

Mr Torr was called up for National Service in 1959 and worked as an Army technician and went to Malaya after completing his training.

He said: “When you look back it does not seem that long ago, especially when you look at the photographs it all comes flooding back.” Mr Torr met his wife Linda only days before he joined the army and for the first five-years of their relationship they hardly saw each other and kept in touch through letters.

When Mr Torr returned to the UK, he worked as a maintenance engineer for 25 years and then went to work for Royal Mail until he retired seven-years-ago.

http://www.ashbournenewstelegraph.co...an-its-use.htm

[1938 Observer]

Army refuses to let veterans wear Malay medal at ceremony
Published Date:
24 August 2007 Edinburgh Evening News.

BRIGADIER Allan Alstead risked his life fighting Communist rebels during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s.
But he feels discriminated against because the British Army refuses to recognise a service medal from the grateful Malaysian government

The 73-year-old - now chairman of city-based charity Mercy Corps - will be among 30 Scots soldiers honoured d
ADVERTISEMENTuring Malaysia's Independence Day celebrations in Edinburgh next week.

But none of them will be officially permitted to wear their Pingat Jasa Malaysia medals.

Tens of thousands of troops fought in the former British colony during a state of emergency from 1948 to 1960. They were awarded the medal by the king of Malaysia in 2004, but it has never been recognised by the Foreign Office.

Brigadier Alstead, who lives on Murray Place, said: "It is a sad state of affairs and a lot of us feel very discriminated against.

"Other veterans of similar conflicts, such as Borneo, have received medals from foreign governments and can wear them.

"It seems that Malaysian veterans like myself are not being given the same privilege. It's very unfair and there is a lot of strong feeling among the thousands of UK troops who served in this war. Many of us fought in jungles and swamps in terrible conditions.

"We were being stung by scorpions, eaten by leeches and there were times we couldn't even use mosquito repellent, in case the smell attracted enemy forces.

"We just want to see this medal recognised for that service and to be allowed to officially wear it alongside our other honours."

Monday's ceremony is part of a week-long festival on Castle Street to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Malaysian independence.

A spokesman for the festival said: "This is a big event that aims to thank these veterans for their part in ensuring Communism did not take hold in Malaysia.

"They have been given the Pingat Jasa Malaysia, but a lot of them are angry that they cannot wear it at the ceremony."

Sandra White MSP, who has backed a campaign to have the medal recognised, said: "It is a disgrace that these men who risked their lives are not having the chance to display this medal."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "It is long standing policy that non-British awards will not be permitted for events or service that took place more than five years before initial consideration, or in connection with events in the distant past. This compromise of allowing acceptance, but not wearing, recognises the generous gesture of the king of Malaysia."


for a full list of comments on this article go to the link




http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/br...ans.3320600.jp

[1938 Observer]

Veteran’s fight for right to wear war medal

Source.......Dumfries & Galloway Standard. Aug 6 2010 by Patricia Lewis, Dumfries Standard Friday

http://www.dgstandard.co.uk/dumfries...1311-27006254/

A VETERAN of the Forgotten War pleaded with the Government yesterday: “Let me wear my medal.”

Seventy-two-year-old Andrew Nicoll of Annan revealed how he’s been locked in a four-year fight with officials in Westminster over an award he was given by the Malaysian Government to recognise the conflict in their country between 1957 and 1966.

But because it’s not a British medal, UK rules state it can’t be worn in public.

Mr Nicoll, a retired lance corporal told the Standard: “We feel discriminated against. Soldiers from Australia and other commonwealth countries are allowed to wear their medals but not us.

Full article at the link above or in the "Breaking News" topic.

[1938 Observer]

New Scottish Parliamentary Motion.

The following has been placed before the Scottish Parliament -

S3M-06801 Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (Scottish National Party): Pingat Jasa Malaysia— That the Parliament regrets the continued refusal of the Committee on the Grants of Honours, Decorations and Medals to allow British veterans to wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (Malaysian Service) medal awarded to Commonwealth forces for distinguished chivalry, gallantry, sacrifice or loyalty in upholding the Malay Peninsula or Malaysian sovereignty during the period of emergency and confrontation at the time of its newly won independence between 1957 and 1966; notes that other Commonwealth nations have allowed their veterans to wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal; believes that it is time for the honours committee to do the right thing and to allow British veterans the same courtesy as their Commonwealth comrades, and calls on the committee to overturn its previous objections.
Lodged on Monday, August 09, 2010; Current

Please get in touch with your Member of the Scottish Parliament, if you have one, but no harm in contacting them even if you haven't, and ask that they sign this new motion.
The more who sign it the more those in other places will take note.


http://www.fight4thepjm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2235

[1938 Observer]

Malaya patrol

[1938 Observer]

Scenes of the jungle fight against terrorism in which British, Australian and Malayan troops took part. Royal Navy helicopters transported personnel and wounded soldiers

Malaysia: Kuala Medang, Pahang, fighting,1952.




Malayan emergency

[1938 Observer]

Chelsea Pensioners Debut Album 12.07.10

BritishForcesNews | July 13, 2010

They are living London landmarks and have a combined age of nearly 550. But that hasn't stopped 7 Chelsea Pensioners from signing a record deal. The album will be called the Men In Scarlet and will be released in November. Our reporter Claire Sadler has been to the Royal Hospital Chelsea to find out more




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Now you may be wondering what this has to do with this forum topic theme.......

Just go the Fight for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia forum


to read the topic Chelsea Penioners Show The Way

http://www.fight4thepjm.org/forum/vi...239&highlight=

[1938 Observer]

Posthumous PJM Presented to a Special Family

This from the "Fight for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia" website Sat Aug 28, 2010 8:15 am



http://www.fight4thepjm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2241
Quote..........."Yesterday was a rather special day. I accompanied a man to the Malaysian High Commission – he was to be presented with his father’s posthumous PJM.

The man was Major (Retd) Peter Lenthall, not himself a PJMer but his family has a long history of service to Malaysia. Peter Lenthall and his brother and sister were born in Malaya. His father was Captain Edgar Lenthall MBE ARCM. During WW2 Edgar Lenthall served with the British army and was engaged in the final battle before the fall of Singapore. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese, as were other members of the family. Peter escaped on a boat to Durban.

After the war, Captain Edgar Lenthall served for 10 years with the Malay Regiment. He was also the director of music and Peter has recordings of some his compositions. Edgar Lenthall conducted the orchestra at the 1957 Merdeka Celebrations in Kuala Lumpur.



Edgar Lenthall’s PJM was presented to Peter (who was there on behalf of his family) by the new Malaysian Defence Adviser, Brigadier Othman Jamal who was with his assistant, Major Izwan Zainal Amran RMAF. I remembered the Brigadier – he was at the MHC when I was presented with my PJM by the then Deputy Prime Minister, now Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak in July 2006. The Brigadier, then a major, was Tun Razak’s aide at the time.

After yesterday’s presentation, I handed both Peter Lenthall and the Malaysian Defence Adviser a Fight4thePJM Lapel Pin and explained to everyone in the room the current position of the campaign. Whilst I never invite comment from our Malaysian friends in order to avoid embarrassment, I think I detected looks of approval for our ongoing fight to have full honours restored to their medal – that air of approval grew when they read our motto on our Lapel Pin “Pingat Kami-Hak Kami”, “Our Medal-Our Right”!

I took the opportunity to explain that the 1968 London Gazette provided the Queen’s approval for eligible recipients to wear their PJM and that this was backed up by our Legal Opinion. I also explained that the Coalition Government had made a solemn pledge in their Manifesto to review the Honours System, and the PJM decision. I went on to emphasise that we at the F4 will ensure that all participators, particularly MPs who signed EDMs, are regularly reminded about their solemn pledges.

But yesterday was a day for the Lenthall family. Theirs is some history - some service! And the family now have their father’s PJM."

[1938 Observer]

20 honoured for defending Malaysia

Source....The Star online.Malaysia. Tuesday August 31, 2010

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KUALA LUMPUR: Even though they are not Malaysians, they fought valiantly against communists who threatened to snuff out Malaysia in its infancy.

Among the 20 recipients of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia conferred to veterans for their service in defending Malaysia’s sovereignty during the days of insurgency and the Confrontation, eight were from New Zealand, Australia and Britain.

“It was a very humbling experience. I felt really appreciated,” said Edward Buck Healey, 71, after receiving the medal from Army chief Jen Datuk Zulkifeli Mohd Zin at the Defence Ministry here yesterday.

The New Zealander was a young lad when he was posted to Kedah with the 1st Royal New Zealand Regiment A Company during the Malayan Emergency in 1961.

“We were only boys and we thought we were bullet-proof. Of course, we found out otherwise.

“It was a very different Malaysia back then. We were always patrolling the Thai border and we would stay in the jungle for days looking for communist stashes,” Healey related.

Healey’s fellow comrade Raymond William R. Foster from D Company was elated when he received the medal.

“I did not expect this at all. I am really happy to be honoured for my service,” he said.

Foster also said he had returned to Malaysia 12 times after finishing his stint in 1964.

“I love it here. While the country has advanced by leaps and bounds, Malaysians are still as friendly as back then,” said Foster, who also advised young Malaysians to work hard and look after their country.

Another recipient, Che Onn Neamat, served in Borneo from 1966 to 1967 when Malaysia was engaged in armed confrontation with Indonesia.

“Even though my duties involved maintaining vehicles, it was an equally important job to make sure our forces functioned as one,” said the 69-year-old retiree from Malacca who enlisted with the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp...68&&sec=nation

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Now.from the PJM website -----one of four "thank you" letters sent to the Editor of The Star.

"To: The Editor, The Star Online
Re: Your Article '20 honoured for defending Malaysia', 31 Aug 2010

Sir,

We in the UK read your newspaper online and I was very interested to read this article. I served in the Commonwealth Brigade in Malacca with New Zealanders and Australians. Queen Elizabeth II has formally approved the Pingat Jasa Medal to be worn by everyone except us British. She was advised by civil servants who said that the Malaysian medal did not meet a British standard! We do not agree and have been fighting for five years to reverse this shameful decision. We are backed by Parliament. We are very proud of our service to Malaysia and with our Malaysian friends, and it is time for British civil servants to recognise what Malaysia has achieved and our small part in helping Malaysia protect its newly won Independence. Your readers can know more by visiting our web site at www.fight4thepjm.org.

I attended the Malaysian High Commission in London last Friday accompanying a man who was presented with his father's posthumous PJM - but the family is banned from wearing it in memory of their relative even though the deceased father had served in the Malay Regiment for 10 years and conducted the Orchestra at the Merdeka Celebrations in August 1957.

Barry Fleming etc"

I very much hope others will write to the editor at editor@thestar.com.my.


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BarryF is fighting for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia
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The other congratulatory letters may be read at......................

Fight for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia website topic


http://www.fight4thepjm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2243