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Abstract
In the now burgeoning scholarship on memory, there is a discernible shift from considering the politics of dominant public memory towards sites of counter-memories where vernacular forms of memory activism take place. This paper contributes to this by focusing its attention on plans to preserve Green Ridge in Kampar, Malaysia, a tract of forested hill that was the location of a fierce battle fought between the Japanese and Allied forces in the Asia-Pacific theatre of the Second World War. Specifically, it details the rescaling strategies of one particular individual to enhance the reach and relevance of the site for Malaysians writ large, primarily aimed at lobbying for Green Ridge to be officially marked as local and national heritage. This paper then interrogates issues that have hindered this process with the potential to ultimately thwart the preservation of the site for posterity. In doing so, the paper exemplifies memory activism as ‘work’, where local actors–through the mobilisation of scale politics–represent proactive agents in effecting change in public memory from below. Second, it highlights the fragmented nature of vernacular remembering and how this can impede memory work as much as champion memory formally obscured.
La politique de la redimensionnement, la mémoire vernaculaire, et la sauvegarde du champ de bataille de Green Ridge à Kampar, Malaisie.Dans la littérature traitant la mémoire qui est en ce moment en plein essor, il y a un déplacement perceptible depuis une considération de la politique de la mémoire dominante publique vers des sites de la contre-mémoire où ont lieu des formes vernaculaires du militantisme de la mémoire. Cet article contribue à ce déplacement en prêtant attention à un projet de sauvegarde de Green Ridge à Kampar, Malaisie, une étendue de colline boisée qui fut l'endroit d'une bataille acharnée entre les forces japonaises et Alliées dans le théâtre de l'Asie-Pacifique de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. En particulière, l'article expose en détail les stratégies de redimensionnement d'un individu spécifique pour améliorer l'amplitude et la relevance du site pour le peuple malaisien, ces stratégies ayant eu comme but primaire de faire pression pour que Green Ridge soit désigné officiellement comme site de patrimoine local et national. L'article interroge ensuite les polémiques qui ont empêché ce processus jusqu'au point de bloquer en fin de compte la sauvegarde de ce site pour la postérité. En faisant ainsi, l'article est une illustration du militantisme de la mémoire comme du « travail », dans lequel des acteurs locaux – à travers la mobilisation de la politique de la redimensionnement – représentent des acteurs proactifs qui déclenchent changement qui vient d'en-bas dans la mémoire publique. Deuxièmement, il souligne la nature fragmentée du souvenir vernaculaire ainsi que la potentielle pour ce dernier d'empêcher le travail de mémoire aussi bien que devenir les champions de la mémoire formellement dissimulée.
Políticas de Escala, Memoria Vernácula y Preservación del Campo de Batalla Green Ridge en Kampar, Malasia.En la creciente literatura académica sobre la memoria se observa un claro desplazamiento. De trabajar las políticas de la memoria pública dominante se ha pasado a estudiar los sitios de contra-memoria en donde tienen lugar formas vernáculas de activismo de la memoria. Este artículo contribuye a este desplazamiento a partir de centrar su atención en los planes para la preservación del Green Ridge en Kampar, Malasia. El Green Ridge está conformado por una porción de una colina boscosa que fue el escenario de una feroz batalla entre los japoneses y las fuerzas aliadas durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial en lo que se conoce como el teatro de operaciones de Asia y el Pacífico. En particular el artículo detalla las estrategias de reescalamiento de un individuo en particular, poniendo de relieve el alcance y la importancia evidente que este sitio tiene para los malayos. Dichas estrategias apuntan a generar presión para que el Green Ridge sea declarado oficialmente patrimonio local y nacional. A continuación, este trabajo se pregunta por los conflictos que han entorpecido este proceso y que podrían, en última instancia, frustrar la preservación del sitio para la posteridad. Para ello, en primer lugar se presenta un ejemplo de activismo de la memoria como ‘trabajo’. A través de la movilización de las políticas de escala – actores locales se presentan como agentes proactivos en la puesta en práctica del cambio de la memoria pública desde abajo. En segundo lugar, se destaca la naturaleza fragmentada del recuerdo vernáculo, y cómo estos actores pueden, tanto dificultar el trabajo sobre la memoria, como convertirse en los adalides de la memoria formalmente oscurecida.
Notes
1. While ‘memorial entrepreneur’ here may infer someone benefitting financially from the past, it is applied here more in the context of the ways in which Chye has sought to ‘promote’ the site and ‘sell’ narratives of the Battle to the state as well as the local population.
2. These include those who are involved in the land conflict issue in a direct manner, as well as those whose views may land them in trouble with the authorities (e.g. those who still have ties with former communist movement in Malaysia).
3. ‘Vernacular memory-making’ is conceptualised here as popular and informal forms of remembering, including private and individual recollections of the past in domestic, communal and everyday settings (Maddrell Citation2012), to be contrasted with the more officialised and generally encompassing scaffolding of public memory usually spearheaded by the state.
4. Consider Pudu Goal, home to Allied prisoners during the war, and Bok House, used as a Japanese bank during the occupation, both in Kuala Lumpur. Despite resistance, both were destroyed in 2010 and 2006, respectively (New Straits Times Citation12 May 2010; Wong Citation2006).
5. It is noteworthy that the book was published in Leicester as ‘no local publisher was interested in the book then and I was told there was no sales value for war history books in Malaysia’ (Chye cited in Citation The Star 10 December 2002), a sign of diminished sense of national importance accorded to the war.
6. Adnan Saidi was an officer with the Malay Regiment and an important local figure in the national story of the Second World War as it was fought in Malaya specifically for his exemplary heroism, bravery and leadership during the Battle for Pasir Panjang in Singapore.
7. Ironically, it seems to have escaped many of my respondents that even if the museum is not established, the land may still be developed to cater to other uses–such as housing units, offices and shops–which would still impact upon their current uses of Green Ridge.
8. While there are sites (e.g. Matang Historical Complex) and practices (e.g. the annual Remembrance Ceremony at the Ipoh Cenotaph) in Perak that commemorate local stories of the war, these often involve very little participation by the people or criticised for not having done enough to ensure local war experiences are satisfactorily represented.