Empire's Children

By JusMe

Time: 15:06 Date: Jul 18, 2010

I've just been watching Jenny Eclair on Empire's Children. Yes, a few years have passed, but it's a memorable series. However, I cannot believe the ignorance and arrogance shown by Jenny Eclair's comments and attitude. The British soldiers strip searching the Chinese women coming out of the camp was excusable simply because it needed to be done. Probably quite different, though, if it had been British women and Chinese soldiers! She (and the programme) have no idea of what those Chinese "communists" were fighting for. But did anyone else notice that they had turned against the British after the war against the Japanese, which was conducted in Malaya by the British and the Chinese communists. Notice - no Malay forces. Wonder why? They either acquiesced to the Japanese occupation, or actively collaborated. The only active jungle force against the Japanese was the communists, so many Chinese, after the massacres, particularly in Singapore, had no alternative than to join the guerrillas who happened to be communist. Many of those who joined had no interest whatsoever in being communist, but simply in fighting the Japanese. After the war, the British returned to rule, which the Malays gladly accepted, but the Chinese did not. After all, they had sacrificed for all the war years, fighting the Japanese in the jungles, and now wanted their independence. What choice did they have, other than now fighting the British? And yes, some were communists, but many were simply ethnic Chinese who had been hunted by the Japanese and were now asking the British for independence to control their own country. They were Malay born, not Chinese immigrants. Denied by the British, as the Malays were much more acquiescent of British rule. They'd shown their colours with the Japanese, after all. And Jenny Eclair, in her ignorance and arrogance, berates a Chinese historian over the grave of his father! She does say that those poor British soldiers didn't really have much choice in what they did, hunting the Chinese and decapitating them, or at least making use of the heads. Guess they were only following orders. Whoops, that argument's been used before. Great series, but unfortunate someone who should stick to slapstick had to be involved.

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By oldsweat

Time: 07:48 Date: Sep 06, 2007

I was a little surprised that Jenny (one of the original alternative comedians, and aging Channel 4 babe) should turn into a memsahib the moment she hit Malaysia. Or Malaya in her colonial parlance. Yet, there she was, berating a somewhat bemused Chinese Malaysian, over his father's grave, about what the Communists. Who had the cheek to fight against British Colonialism. Did. This was all to justify pictures of dead and beheaded Chinese Communist Insurgents that her father kept as souvenirs of his campaign days. Also to contextualise photographs in the Daily Worker circa 1948 showing smiling English Tommies holding the severed heads of executed Chinese Communists were in fact justified. "The native scouts did the actual beheading." Well that's alright then. This was no trip down memory lane, as when Jenny saw her parents old home, declared it tatty, took a photo of the outside and stomped off to her air conditioned hotel room. Malaysia, has fortunately survived two generations of the Eclairs, and continues to prosper. A little background. I'm also an empire's child. Born in Egypt in 1956 and brought up in Central Africa. I also had the misfortune to be conscripted into the Rhodesian Army in the late 70s. I have no photographs of this dirty little war but I still get nightmares 30 years later.

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By eddie

Time: 19:22 Date: Aug 02, 2007

mastergayles your comments at the start of your post indicate that you would not condemn the outright labelling of the British as "Baddies". I don't know where you get the notion that anyone was being portrayed in a good or bad light, indeed the program hardly touched on the terror inflicted on the malaysians by the communists. Mr. Ban was given every opportunity to speak on behalf of his fathers death unlike the children of malaysians murdered by the communists. One also cannot deny that all races have ignorant and shallow people.

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By mastergayles

Time: 21:47 Date: Jul 31, 2007

While it is fair to say that this program is about one's personal journey down memory lane in the former British Empire, but a little regard and appreciation of history as well as understanding of political philosophies are not something too much to ask for, especially why the British are in Malaya in the first place, to start with. I personally condemn the outright labelling of Communists as baddies and the British Army as the 'goodies'. Who is bad and who is good? I think this is rather subjective. It is a matter of perspectives and differences in political beliefs and inclination. It is only right that one remains objective while addressing issues as such, especially when one was not there to personally experience it. Not only that Jenny 'clair has been uptight and defensive having her little bubble burst finding skeletons in her father's closet, she has also been outright dismissive of the other side of the history. She rudely brushed aside anything that was not tune to her ears, as can be seen with the communist historian, Mr. Ban, whose father was killed by the British Army and paraded in the public. One cannot help but feeling that she dwelled too much into her personal feelings when faced with harsh realities of this ugly side of Malaysia's colonial past, with largely the involvement of the British, at the same time ignoring the bigger picture. Furthermore, Jenny Eclair is not even an Empire's children, so to speak. Malaysia is celebrating 50 years of independence this year and she was born in 1960. Channel 4 could have done better by looking for someone else to represent those who was born and lived in pre-independence Malaysia. To me, Jenny Eclair does not help in portraying the good image of the British especially when colonial pasts are revisited. It is quite the contrary, to be honest - ignorant, shallow and misinformed.

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By Expatboy

Time: 11:27 Date: Jul 31, 2007

Well I must admit I was poised to give you a good roasting as I was prepared for another Empire bashing Liberal bleeding sob story. This one was of particular interest to me to me, as like you I was a nipper in Malaya then up at Butterworth camp near Penang with the old man, RSM Bradford now gone and the old girl now down with full dementia (isn-t it strange how we treat our elderly here-?..(another story-!!) Well in a nut shell I think you got it about right, I have memories of those times too, my father's worries, and of course my mothers too, our concern for the people who worked for us and their anxieties. My father was a professional soldier, not a mercenary or a troop pension waiter like some of the latter who -stayed on to collect. My vivid recollection of that time was when we were 'quickly' evacuated as the communists shelled and broke into the camp murdering who they could find, I like the rest of the little nippers at the school where literally thrown into the back of a 3 tonne truck and whisked off, me clutching my Fred Flintstone lunch box. (I still to this day shiver when I hear yabba dabba do) later when things got back to 'normal' I remember my mother telling me I could not play with such and such as they have gone to heaven, that was logged then but the full inpact hit me a long way down the road of life, Lucky eh-!? Peter Bradford

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By DAW

Time: 11:04 Date: Jul 31, 2007

I understane some people's misgivings but I think many have missed the point - this was never an objective historical documentary, this was a personal voyage by somebody rediscovering their own history, a process that is by definition less objective. Lets not forget that Britain has many darker moments in history, we saw Jenny discovering a personal connection with one of them - I thought her struggle to reconcile the fact that bad things happened was quite moving and a fascinating insight into how attitudes are so different. Jenny couldn't deny the irrefutable evidence of questionable practices by some British personnel but found it hard to believe that all brits at the time acted that way - her father amongst them. I thought it was a delightful piece of TV and I applaud Jenny's emotional response to the situation.

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By heavmus

Time: 10:28 Date: Jul 31, 2007

I am in absolute agreement with CB. I couldn't help but feel that Jenny was a little uptight. I think Jenny has failed in evaluating the situation in an objective way. Point to remember, in every situation there is always two sides to a coin, and one should consider both sides of the factions when researching history. I felt that Jenny's approach in this documentary, noble as it is has tarnished her good intentions and will only spark skewed perspective of the situation.

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By CB

Time: 09:57 Date: Jul 31, 2007

I was amazed at how uptight and angry Jenny was about a period in which she was not personally involved. I lived in Johore and then moved to Singapore in the 50's and spent most of my childhood there, so did not know too much about the emergency, but was aware of continued fighting against the bandits "up country". She seemed obsessed about the "poor" communists that were beheaded, but did not fully address why these people were being hunted and killed. They were responsible for killing far more of the innocent malayan population who were just trying to survive and carry on their work under the protection of the British. History is history, things happened everywhere that perhaps were not right, but you can't change that, only move forward, which the chinese and malayan people did with the help of the British at that time. I was looking forward to seeing the programme, but ended up feeling that Jenny just wanted to vent her uptight angry emotions on the wrong people and did not fully explore the circumstances of the emergency in a rational manner. What a shame!

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By jgd

Time: 00:10 Date: Jul 31, 2007

i have just finished watching your programme and I enjoyed it very much and found it very informative, and although i was not born in Malaya as a 16 year old i did spend some time in KL in the late fifties staying with relations who were working and living there, as you can imagine i found it a very exciting experience but not truly aware of the possible dangers, a long way from the safety of London at that time, however i would like just to say that my Uncle and Aunt lived at Ampang Road in KL a couple of Houses away from jenny,s parents. Like Jenny i went back to KL for the first time 3yrs ago in order to find the old address, it was still there, formally the French attache's residence, but at that time they let out the lower floor to my relatives, but although it was still there in all its grandeur it is now a Hyundi car showroom. i thought Jenny might like to know that we were almost neigbours at some stage. And the programme brought back fond memories.

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By ST

Time: 23:00 Date: Jul 30, 2007

I agree with the comments made by Ian and feel that only those who were born in Malaya before its independance can be considered an Empires child. I think that the content relating to the history of the Emergency was interesting but thought that too much time was wasted on the grim details on why a few CT's were decapatated. No questions were asked about the killing done by the CT's to both the local Malayan popluation and those permanent residents of other nationalities working on rubber estates and on tin mines all over the country. There were many killed just for their weapon that they might have been carrying for self protection. It would have been interesting to have heard more about their side of the story. My family arrived in Malaya in the late 1800's both my grandfather, my mother and myself were born there. My family were both planters and miners right up until the late 1950's. They suffered through the Japanese occupation and were interned. They returned to their places of work as soon as possible and helped to rebuild the Malayan economy. Malaysia has to be one of the few countries that have emerged as a well rounded country where several nationalities and religions live side by side in peace and harmony. The British couldn't have done that bad a job.

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By malady

Time: 22:40 Date: Jul 30, 2007

Although I enjoyed the programme it did leave me sad and confused about my roots! I guess I'm classed as an "Empires child" as I'm of Chinese/Malay origin, born in 1957 (a foundling) Was adopted out while the country was still in a state of emergency eighteen months later. Not knowing anything about my roots kind of confused now as to where my loyalities should lie! The good thing though is I'm going back next month especially for the anniversary of 50 years independence to be in the country I was born and to join in the celebrations and pagentries

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By Ian

Time: 22:30 Date: Jul 30, 2007

Jenny can hardly be classified as a child of the empire. Being born in Malaya but leaving by 2 years old in an army family which only spent a very little time there does not compare with those whose families were permanent residents like my own (Born Malaya 1941, finally left in 1950.) My family lived & worked there from 1928 to 1957, with an interval in Japanese "hospitality". I recommend you to visit- www.cofepow.org.uk and the section of the Malayan Volunteers Group with members who are now mostly the children of the residents in Malaya who were in the local volunteers who fought the Japanese, were prisoners of the Japanese & who were important to the intelligence war on the CTs.

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By Gillian

Time: 22:13 Date: Jul 30, 2007

I thoroughly enjoyed Jenny's programme this evening. Mat father served in Malaysia in the late 40's and we were privileged to visit in 2005. We found the people very friendly and they showed a great deal of respect and love for my father who had come to visit his old haunts! Thank you for giving me a chance to have insight into my father's experiences!

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