The Turbulent Years in Perak – A Memoir
Jerry Francis is a former Journalist with the New Straits Times and was Regional Editor based in Ipoh for a good many years. Travelling with his photographer Thomas Wong Tuck Keong they were known as ‘Tom and Jerry’ by everyone. They as a press team had gone to a great extent and as well as high personal risk to cover the actions against the communist terrorists from 1973 to well after the Peace Accord in 1989. They were in fact at almost every flashpoint and security operations in Perak and South Thailand to file in reports to the group of newspapers they represented. There is no need for elaboration on the security situation during the turbulent years in Perak. Those, who had resided and served in Perak in those years, would remember how dangerous the situation was in the State and in South Thailand. Ambushes, assassinations, sabotages and terrorist activities frequently occurred at the height of the second wave of terror launched by the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), Communist Party of Malaya-Marxist-Leninst (CPM-ML) and their splinter groups in their bid to make a come back from 1969 to 1989. Though, many years have passed, those incidents and experiences are still vividly in their minds because of the impact they had in their lives. This book is a compilation of some of the events and action, involving the members of security force, civilians and communist terrorists encountered by the press team through the passage of the Turbulent Years in Perak.