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

[1938 Observer]

Grand Committee
Thursday, 8 September 2011.
Armed Forces Bill
Bill Main Page
Copy of the Bill
Explanatory Notes
Amendments

Committee (2nd Day)
2 pm
Amendment 25

Moved by Lord Touhig



**************************************

The following is a brief extract of the full submission.................................



Lord Touhig: My Lords, in moving Amendment 25 in my name and also supporting Amendments 26 and 27, I know that many in your Lordships' House, and others in the other place too, have great concerns about the way in which the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals, which advises the sovereign on the award of honours, has gone about its task. It has been argued over the years that the committee, known as the HD committee, is the right model to consider what advice to give to the sovereign. We are told that it is the right model because it is made up of senior civil servants from across Whitehall and that, due to the way it is made up and operates, it is protected against that terrible scourge, political influence-something which over the years officials have told me must be resisted. But, for the life

8 Sep 2011 : Column GC90

of me, I do not see why it is thought that a body of top officials who meet in secret and are not accountable to anyone is considered better equipped to be part of this process than, say, Members of Parliament, who are elected by the people and obviously enjoy the people's confidence, or indeed Members of your Lordships' House, a number of whom are noble and gallant Lords who have served our country in the Armed Forces with great distinction.

The point I am making is this. The lack of transparency and accountability which is at the heart of the way in which the HD committee operates is no longer defensible. Most of the time, the HD committee does not even meet; its members communicate with one another by telephone and e-mail. Even more worrying, at the very helpful briefing on this Bill arranged by the Minister on Tuesday, we learnt that there is not even a statutory basis for the way in which the HD operates-its decisions are based on conventions.

The system by which advice on honours is given to the sovereign has existed for some decades and needs to be overhauled. I have come to this conclusion having for some years now tried to understand how the HD committee reached a decision to advise Her Majesty the Queen that 35,000 veterans of the Malaysian campaign can accept the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal from the King of Malaysia but must not wear it-accept it but must not wear it. To deny our servicemen the right to wear the PJM was an unfair and cruel act by the committee, and I have attempted by way of Parliamentary Questions and freedom of information requests to lift the blanket of secrecy surrounding this decision. All my efforts have been thwarted, and a veil of secrecy descends on Whitehall.

I have been told that there are two enduring rules governing the work of the HD committee in these matters-the five-year rule and the double-medalling rule. The five-year rule prevents the award of honours more than five years after a conflict has taken place, and the double-medalling rule forbids the award of a medal for which an earlier medal has been presented. However, the HD committee set aside both rules and advised Her Majesty the Queen that the men should accept the medal from the King of Malaysia, but then it reimposed both rules to prevent them wearing the medal. I would add that not all British servicemen who took part in the Malaysian campaign even got the campaign medal from this country-so clearly there will be no double medalling in their case.

Some 114 Commonwealth servicemen lost their lives in that campaign; 180 were wounded. Is this the way in which a grateful country should honour their sacrifice? The veterans are told that they can accept the medal but must not wear it. That is an affront, and it is an insult. I should add that the Governments of Australia and New Zealand advised Her Majesty the Queen that their servicemen should accept and wear the PJM.

To add further dishonour to this whole affair, the HD committee lifted the ban on wearing the PJM for one week during the 50th anniversary of Malaysian independence. I have in my possession Foreign Office documents which make it clear that the decision was lifted only because the Malaysians had invited British

8 Sep 2011 : Column GC91

and Commonwealth ex-servicemen to attend the celebrations and it was feared that British veterans would cause some embarrassing scenes when they saw the Anzac ex-servicemen wearing their PJM, which the British were not allowed to do.

for the full submission just go to the link http://www.publications.parliament.u...908-gc0001.htm

[1938 Observer]

The Star online Malaysia Saturday September 10, 2011


Campaign for ex-servicemen to display medal without facing contempt in UK


Letter to the Editor.


IN 2004, the Malaysian Government decided to honour members of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth countries who had served in Malaya during the Emergency and Confrontation period.

This honour was in the form of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM).

In New Zealand and Australia, this medal was accepted and the recipient is allowed to proudly display it alongside his other medals, fondly known as ‘gongs’ in military banter.

However, the House of Lords in the United Kingdom refused to allow the PJM to be worn on parade or in public by their deserving recipients.

I recently stumbled upon a campaign called ‘Fight for the PJM’ which seeks to lobby for permission for the PJM to be worn legally in the UK.

I have had the pleasure to exchange a few e-mails with Mr Barry Fleming, one of the liaison persons, who had informed me that the ‘official’ people they spoke to referred to the medal with contempt.

I strongly feel that our British friends are being denied the right to wear an honour that they have earned.

It is by no means a mere shiny gong for doing nothing, as campaign medals are nothing new to the military system, and furthermore, medals have been awarded for far lesser significant events.

While on holiday in Australia in 2004, I met a friend of an Australian relative of mine who had served in Malaya

He still remembers how to speak Bahasa Malaysia, as he told me Penang was “sungguh panas sekali” and that he had limited vocabulary as he “sudah lupa”.

In the Fight4thePJM website forum, I again witnessed some British soldiers exchange a few phrases in Bahasa Malaysia.

It is of no question that these gentlemen still look fondly back at their duty period in Malaya and are very proud of their PJMs.

May I appeal that more media coverage be given to this issue, so that people in Malaysia are also aware that this is happening?

The mainstream media often covers news of Malaysians receiving foreign honours, among the three most notable are Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, Datuk Jimmy Choo and Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes being bestowed awards of the Order of the British Empire.

However, little is mentioned of the reverse, except perhaps the Datukship of Shah Rukh Khan a few years back.

It is high time this campaign was brought to light, and perhaps the British Government will come to their senses and allow the PJM its rightful place of honour on the chest of the deserving veterans

DARRYN K.Y. CHIEW,

Kuala Lumpur.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp.../North/9452813

[1938 Observer]

House of Lords............. 4 Oct. 2011



Moved by Lord Craig of Radley


13: After Clause 23, insert the following new Clause-

"Commonwealth medals

After section 339 of AFA 2006 insert-

"339A Commonwealth medals




Medals awarded by Commonwealth governments, including the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal, to present or former members of Her Majesty's armed forces may be worn without restriction.""




Lord Craig of Radley: My Lords, I speak to Amendment 13 in my name and that of other noble Lords mentioned on the Marshalled List. In the course of the debates on the topic of medals it has become

4 Oct 2011 : Column 1068

clear to me that there is considerable ambiguity and genuine confusion over who is responsible, who does what and why, and when foreign awards may be accepted by British subjects with or without restriction. Restriction seems to mean that a recipient may accept an award but is not allowed to wear it.

It has been normal for the Foreign Office to handle awards from foreign states but that now seems to be in doubt. I asked a Written Question about the Malaysian Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal but it was answered not by an FCO Minister but by the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever. The noble Lord has since written to me to say that he has set in hand a review of the process by which advice about the institution of medals and the acceptance of foreign awards in respect of military service is put together, considered and submitted to the Queen.

I also raised in Committee the issue of the prerogative when it came to submissions to the sovereign. I quoted two examples of Written Ministerial Statements, in 2005 and 2006, which made clear that the rules of no double medalling and a five-year moratorium were government policy. The Minister, in a Written Answer about the prerogative, dated 23 September, states that these references to the Government, "are not strictly correct".

Noble Lords will be taken aback to learn that such authoritative Statements to Parliament as two Written Ministerial Statements are not correct, or are deemed to be incorrect, in order to uphold a unique position claimed for the honours committee in relation to advice to the sovereign. I remind the Minister that in a reply to my Written Question in September about wearing the PJM medal, the noble Lord said about Commonwealth Governments:

"Each Government apply their own rules and judgment to their own citizens".-[Official Report, 5/9/2011; col. WA 17.]

Is there really such a difference for the UK Government? It would appear not. In his letter to me and other noble Lords dated 23 September, the Minister states that,

"there remains under the Prerogative scope to make exceptions".



In other words, Her Majesty follows the advice of her Ministers.

The Minister also claims that when an exception is allowed, the results are likely to be seen as anomalous or unfair. Surely, that is not the right conclusion to draw. Rather, it is that with the passage of time the rules themselves and officials who seek to hide behind them are the problem, not the numerous exceptions that have been granted over many decades. I am sure the Minister is right to have instituted the review. It should look at the so-called rules, and I welcome his assurance that a Written Ministerial Statement on the outcome will be forthcoming.

Amendment 13 should not be delayed because of any review. As I mentioned in Committee, the long-standing issue of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal has yet to be resolved. I visited Malaysia last June at the personal invitation of Prime Minister Najib. It was clear from what he told me and what I saw that Malaysia is now well on the way to achieving its vision of being a fully developed nation by 2020. Putting a restriction on the generous recognition of the contribution


4 Oct 2011 : Column 1069

of many service and other personnel to the start of that process of development seems quite unnecessary and lacking in appreciation of the donor's gesture and standing in the world. Even more bizarre, a British recipient has Her Majesty's agreement to accept but not to wear the PJM, while an Australian serviceman has Her Majesty's approval to accept and to wear it. How confusing and frustrating must that be to an individual with dual nationality?

As I have already mentioned, in his response to my Written Question about the PJM, the noble Lord the Minister attempted to explain this anomaly away when he said:

"Each Government apply their own rules and judgment to their own citizens".-[Official Report, 5/9/2011; col. WA 17.]

In other words, the Government are in the lead and Her Majesty is following that advice. How does that sit with the claim that the honours committee is independent of government? Once again, we have confusion and conflicting answers to the same Question. No contortionist could so ridiculously point in so many different ways at the same time. Other Commonwealth countries are also making giant strides in development, and this Government are anxious rebuild and reinforce the ties of Commonwealth. For these reasons, I believe that now is the time to make special provision for awards from Commonwealth countries. With the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting due at the end of this month in Perth, it would be a positive announcement for the Prime Minister to make at that meeting.

A further argument sometimes prayed in aid of the discredited restrictive rules is that the presence of a second award on the chest of an individual somehow reduces the value of the national award. I wonder whether that is really right. The individual can take pride in both and his contribution is clearer to those who see the medal ribbons on his uniform. I recently saw a photograph of the late Lord Mountbatten of Burma. He had 10 rows of medal ribbons on his Admiral of the Fleet uniform. I am sure he was proud to be able to display them all, but I shudder to think how the honours committee of the day managed to recommend so many exceptions to their precious rules so close to the date of their original adoption. I invite the noble Lord the Minister to accept this amendment. I beg to move.

Lord Ramsbotham: My Lords, as in Grand Committee, I support every word of my noble and gallant friend Lord Craig. Unlike in Grand Committee, I have not brought my PJM medal with me; nor have I brought my General Service Medal with its clasp, showing that I was involved in confrontation in Borneo, but they are two medals for the same thing.

Another aspect of the unfortunate way in which this issue has been handled relates to the veterans who raised the issue of the PJM with the Government. They were, frankly, treated in a way that I would not have expected of the Ministry of Defence. The HDC-the Honours and Decorations Committee-may have met, but if it did so, it did so internally and did not share any of its findings. The letter that was then sent to the veterans was unworthy of the ministry. I am grateful

4 Oct 2011 : Column 1070

to the noble Lord the Minister for announcing that he is going to revisit this, and I hope that this time there will be proper transparency so that the veterans are aware of the arguments and that they are not just produced in secret and, as my noble and gallant friend has said, erroneously.

6.15 pm
Viscount Slim: My Lords, while we were in Committee in your Lordships' Chamber, there was a very fine debate on the Commonwealth and how it could be brought closer together and how we could enhance it. There were some excellent speeches. I think this whole question, put by the noble and gallant Lord, of Commonwealth decorations and medals received would bring the Commonwealth even closer together. After all, in the last three years, one New Zealander and two Australians got the Victoria Cross. There seems to be no problem about them participating; they are from the Commonwealth.

The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence have missed a point or two about the PJM medal of Malaysia, which is in dispute at the moment. The HD Committee, which I feel is the right way to go about these things, and I have said so in Committee, has missed a trick. Here is a Muslim nation-sophisticated, democratic and ably led-offering in gratitude a medal of thanks to all our veterans. That is really what it is. It is about the only nation I can think of that we have left that has thanked us like this. Of course, history shows, as many noble Lords will recall, that the gratitude comes from the fact that while the terrorist campaign was going on, and the British were definitely running that, it gave the Malays time to make their Government and to build their democracy.

As I said in Committee, I do not think that the HD Committee advised the Sovereign well. I would put it no stronger than that because I would not wish to embarrass the Sovereign in any way. We have not been very clever, as the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham says, in the way in which we have treated the veterans in rather rude, grubby and unfriendly letters that say, "You can do this but you can't do that". There is discontent among those veterans. They are old men and women now. Many in the brigade of Gurkhas spent 15 years of their lives in Malaya, and they are not allowed to wear the medal. Many British service men and women in the 11-year period went back one, two, three more times. This is giving, and this is service-to Britain and to Malaysia. The noble Lord the Minister wears such a medal himself. I know that he puts it on the inside of his jacket when he goes out and makes sure that he has it on. I say to the noble Lord the Minister that if I appeared in front of the Agong or any of the Malayan generals whom I know, respect and look up to and I was not wearing a PJM, they would be very offended.

Let us ask the noble Lord the Minister to refuse the recommendation and look at this again. The HD Committee should not be too proud to change its mind. As the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, said, we are moving on and things are different from how they were in wartime and in the early days after World War II. The noble Lord the Minister wears his

4 Oct 2011 : Column 1071

general service medal bravely and proudly for his time as an excellent cavalry officer in Malaysia. I ask him to look again and not to let the civil servants rule him all the time.


The debate continues at the link http://www.publications.parliament.u...11100452000001

[1938 Observer]

Victory! You will be able to wear your PJM



I am delighted to report that the Fight4thePJM Campiagn has succeeded. Our Campaign Has Won Its Case!

Today, in the House of Lords, the British Government stated that the HD Committee will effectively be instructed to advise the Queen that the PJM will have Unrestricted Permission for wear on all occasions, effective from this Remembrance Day, 11th November 2011.

Furthermore, we have been promised that there will be a fundamental review of the HD Committee. That signals that it should never again be possible for ex-servicemen and women to be treated as shabbily as PJMers have been [url]treated.
This is a victory for common sense, for justice, for British ex-servicemen and women who served in Malaysia, and for Malaysia.

I cannot adequately express the deep sense of gratitude we at Fight4thePJM have for your unstinting support.

What a wonderful, historic, day.

We are now taking stock of the situation but would like to take this opportunity to thank all our thousands of supporters throughout the world. Meanwhile a pause for thought - for all those who fought with us but are no longer with us to witness this momentous occasion, men like my friends 'Jock' Fenton and Tony Davies.

From our Joint-Chairmen: John Feltham (Australia), Hamish Waters (Australia), Paul Alders (UK), John Cooper (UK), John Ireland (UK), Gerry Law (UK) ...

... and from me, Barry Fleming, it doesn't seem 61/2 years since I opened this website and wrote the first words which are still on our Home Page at www.fight4thePJM.org/home.htm. I cannot begin to tell you the humility I feel today. Our friends in Australia need not have fought this fight, but they did. I am not going to name names for specific lobbying work, but I have to mention that the support from Oz was fundamental to our achieving this outcome. I, for one, will never forget that support, nor the support from the leaders of the UK effort who stuck it out to the end. Without their dedication this campaign would never have survived.



Last edited by BarryF on Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:27 pm; edited 2 times in total
_________________
BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia



More comments are at the link--------- http://www.fight4thepjm.org/forum/vi...?p=20127#20127

[1938 Observer]

Fight4thePJM - Last Posts


Taken from the official PJM website


The Pingat Jasa Malaysia can now be worn on all occasions with HM the Queen's permission - as it was for the first time during the 2011 Remembrance Day Services and Parades. It is, therefore, with both joy and sadness that we announce that the Fight4thePJM website will soon be closing down. Joy because we've fought our fight and won - mission accomplished. Sadness because it's time to pack our kitbags - and move on from friendships newly made. But we've all been here before, packing our MFO boxes at the end of a tour of duty, leaving chums behind, moving on to the next posting wherever that may take us.

But we can also announce that we have arranged that this website will be not be stood down. It will continue to march (by the 'right', natch!) around the ethereal parade ground that is the world wide web. Fight4thePJM will be preserved (pickled?!) in time as a reminder to that group of civil servants who conjured up that first, shameful, PJM recommendation what the Military Covenant, and putting duty before self, is all about. But, above all, our time capsule will be a tribute to all those right-minded men and women around the world who supported us in our 7-year fight for a right that should never have been denied in the first place.

We thought that you might want to deposit in the Fight4thePJM time capsule one last message for your friends and comrades in arms - and for those that come after us researching our medal and wondering why the hell for seven years we had to confront and overcome so much unpleasantness to win an obvious justice.

If you have not already done so, you need to register and login to leave a message.

Pingat Kami - Hak Kami


_________________
BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia


It's been an Honour



I would just like to say this. We have won a memorable battle as a result of which the Pingat Jasa Malaysia can be worn on all official occasions by British citizens. Furthermore, the whole medals system will now undergo change so that what happened to us cannot happen again to those who follow us. We have changed the honours system – forever and for the better. Powerful civil servants have at last been brought to account. They thought they were responsible to no-one - invincible behind their walls of secrecy. They were not.

I would also like to acknowledge the fundamental role played by our ‘War Lords’ - those Peers who gave us a fair hearing, and a hearing that our elected representatives always wanted to deny us. Those Lords were not driven by packs of civil servants. They were their own men, some themselves distinguished warriors, and they carried out their own research. I have to name Lord Touhig who has supported us since 2006, and Lords Craig and Ramsbotham. They cornered HMG and made them face the facts – not the fiction emanating from inside Government departments.

My thoughts then turn, as ever, to our comrades in arms who did not live to hear that we had won our fight - 'Jock' Fenton and Tony Davies. Many more PJMers died while waiting to hear the news that they had The Queen’s permission to wear their medal. What is so tragic is that it was all so unnecessary.

Then there are those remaining members of the Fight4thePJM Committee who were on parade on the 10th October when the PJM Amendment defeated the Government and on the 26th October when the Government announced it would advise the HD Committee to recommend to The Queen that the PJM should receive Her permission for wear on all occasions. Nearly seven years’ continuous work had come to a head – the last six months were the most critical.

In those last few months your Committee had to make difficult decisions which would result in casualties. But the under-mentioned men stood firm and, despite what was at stake, they did not lose their nerve. They did not waver. And I salute them:

Paul Alders
John Cooper
John Feltham (Australia)
John Ireland
Gerry Law
Hamish Waters (Australia)

Without them, Fight4thePJM would not have won the case for the medal. Without them standing together, following the course they did in those last few months, we may have failed. It is as simple as that.

In closing, I would also like to express my deep gratitude to all our supporters throughout the world. You gave us the inspiration to keep going through the many dark days.

I wish you all well. Have a good run ...

Barry


_________________
BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

************************************************** ********************

With thanks to the Fight4thePJM Website.

http://www.fight4thepjm.org/forum/vi...354&highlight=

[1938 Observer]

Christmas Card from fight4thepjm


http://www.fight4thepjm.org/Happy_Christmas_2012.htm

[1938 Observer]

Triumph from the sick bed

StarMetro, Thursday 17 November 2011 NEWS -MALAYSIA.

By CHOI TUCK WO
twchoi@thestar.com.my

ailing war veteran joins ex-comrades across the globe in wearing the PJmto rejoice campaign success


DESPITE his ailing health, David
Dilley remains a hardened
soldier at heart, displaying
true grit and determination.
Proudly showing his Pingat Jasa
Malaysia (PJM), the 75-year-old
British war veteran was overjoyed
when he learnt that he could finally
wear the medal alongside two others
for long service and good conduct.
There’s a hitch though. The spirit
may be willing but the body is
weak.
In his present condition, he could
hardly walk, let alone march with
his fellow comrades proudly donning
his PJM at Remembrance Day
ceremonies in London and elsewhere
on Sunday.
But the gutsy old man was not
about to let the chance slip by.
He promptly asked his daughter
to take a photograph of him with his
PJM and send it to Fight4thePJM
campaign chairman Barry Fleming,
so that he could say ‘Thank you’ to
Malaysia and to his fellow colleagues.
That photograph is, perhaps, one
of the most lasting evocative images
now.
“This special photograph epitomises
our campaign — back then in
Malaysia and more recently in the
UK,” said Fleming, referring to
Dilley’s involvement in their sixyear
struggle to wear the PJM.
In fact, Dilley has served not only
his country for many years but also
servicemen and women who hit
hard times.
His charitable work includes 29
years with Britain’s Soldiers, Sailors,
Airmen, and Families Association as
well as the Royal Army Service Corps
& Royal Corps of Transport
Association and the Royal British
Legion.
Indeed, he is a remarkable man
who had given his time for others —
as he did in Malaysia.
Dilley, who lives in Leicestershire
and had served in Borneo for many
years, is very ill now.
Still in hospital, he is, however,
determined to be around to wear his
PJM at Remembrance Day events.
Fleming referred to remarks by
one of his colleagues when he saw
the veteran’s photograph with his
three medals and a red poppy pinned
on his hospital suit.
“Way back in the 1950s-60s, our
servicemen and women serving in
Malaysia needed guts, determination,
strength, cunning, discipline
and ingenuity.
“Above all, they required teamwork
to achieve what most would
recall as one of Britain’s military success
stories.
“Fast forward to modern times
and these same virtues have succeeded
again,” said Fleming when
quoting his colleague.
Yesterday, The Star reported that
67-year-old birthday boy Gerald Law
was among British war veterans
across the Commonwealth who
proudly displayed their PJM for the
first time in Remembrance Day
parades and ceremonies.
It was earlier reported that some
35,000 ex-servicemen could finally
wear the PJM following a six-year
relentless campaign to overturn the
Honours and Decorations
Committee’s “accept but not formally
wear” ruling.
The decision was announced in
theHouseof LordsbyUndersecretary
of State for Defence Lord Astor of
Hever, who is himself a recipient of
the PJM.
Defence Secretary Philip
Hammond had said the war veterans
had been given permission by
Queen Elizabeth II to formally wear
the PJM for the first time during
Remembrance Day events

Fleming also recounted fond
memories of his experience during
the war, where he is based largely at
the 28th Commonwealth Brigade
headquarters in Terendak Garrison,
Malacca, from 1965-68.
Serving in intelligence and security,
both military and civil, he had
the opportunity to work with the
locals in kampungs and towns
where he learnt to speak Malay in
his daily work.
As a result, he felt much closer to
Malaysians and grew to respect
them very much after developing a
lasting admiration for them.
“I am most proud of the fact that,
working with the locals, we were
able to help defend Malaysia not so
much through bombs and bullets
but through peaceful means.
“We were able to demonstrate
that peace was a better way than
violence which the terrorists and
external incursionists were trying to
impose,” said the 67-year-old from
Berkshire, south England.
For Fleming, the PJM was important
to him as it was about something
much greater and more lasting
than his brief service.
“It is about those critical nine
years when Commonwealth forces
helped build a strong and successful
independent nation that is admired
for its achievements around the
world,” he added.
And it was also in Malacca that he
married his wife Jane in 1967.
Nearly 45 years later, the couple
together with their three children
and six grandchildren would gather
at a Malaysian restaurant in their
hometown to celebrate Malaysia’s
National Day on Aug 31 and their
wedding anniversary in January.
For them, it is not just a celebration
of their wonderful memories of
Malaysia and its people but also
their happiness today that has its
roots in the country — their unforgettable
yesterday.

To see the photographs just go to the link----it's worth a look.




http://www.fight4thepjm.org/images/D..._171111_p2.pdf