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REPLY TO DENIS BRENNAN'S LETTER 11/4/06
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Here is my 'nice' version, I can get VERY angry at times

Mr Denis Brennan

Cabinet Office

London



Dear Mr Brennan

Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal

Can you please explain to me why I have been discriminated against in wearing the PJM Medal OFFICIALLY, what document does the HD Committee hold from Her Majesty The Queen where she has refused me the OFFICIAL right to wear the PJM, further what documentation exists under The Freedom of Information Act advising The Queen to advise against me wearing this medal OFFICIALLY when my colleagues in Australia and New Zealand who served alongside me in Malaysia can wear the same medal.

So please explain why the HD Committee are taking this ludicrous decision on board, in your reply I do not wish to receive a 'spin' reply, I wish for you to fire straight from the hip as some of us did 48 years ago!

Yours sincerely

John Cooper


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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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John Cooper wrote:
Here is my 'nice' version, I can get VERY angry at times


Sometimes, John, as in this message of yours to DB, the 'nice' approach can be devastatingly to the point and is probably just as likely to get a result. 'Nice' one. Barry

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John Cooper wrote:
Here is my 'nice' version, I can get VERY angry at times

Mr Denis Brennan

Cabinet Office

London



Dear Mr Brennan

Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal

Can you please explain to me why I have been discriminated against in wearing the PJM Medal OFFICIALLY, what document does the HD Committee hold from Her Majesty The Queen where she has refused me the OFFICIAL right to wear the PJM, further what documentation exists under The Freedom of Information Act advising The Queen to advise against me wearing this medal OFFICIALLY when my colleagues in Australia and New Zealand who served alongside me in Malaysia can wear the same medal.

So please explain why the HD Committee are taking this ludicrous decision on board, in your reply I do not wish to receive a 'spin' reply, I wish for you to fire straight from the hip as some of us did 48 years ago!

Yours sincerely

John Cooper


Had this back via email today (YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THEY CAN'T SPELL PINGAT CORRECTLY CAN YOU CABINET SECRETARYS OFFICE, DON'T KEEP TAKING THE PI$$, I'M STILL BEING POLITE)

Dear Mr Cooper

Thank you for you request for information regarding the Pignat Jasa Malaysia Medal. Your request was received on 12/04/2006 and it is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications

Yours sincerely

Andrew Collingwood
MST
Private Office Group
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
Tel: 020 7276 0528
Fax: 020 72760080


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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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A follow up letter to the Cabinet Officer by myself

Mr Andrew Collingwood

Thank you for your email ref FOI241996 may I firstly correct you on the spelling of the PIGNAT JASA MALAYSIA MEDAL, on the first word it should read PINGAT that is the 'N' before the 'G', we do not want to upset our Malaysian friends do we via the The Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Secondly re the (possible) charge of cost for a document that I didn't ask anyone to write, do me a favour and lets do things the easy way, I have had to take this Government to the Govt Ombudsman in the past, I don't really want to go along that road again nor do I expect you. Because on a point of principle I would ask the press to follow this up and you would not want to wallow in the PIGNAT mire there surely.

So let us be reasonable about this as I am quite a polite person until someone waves the red flag at me so being a good Civil SERVANT can we start again and answer my initial enquiry re the PJM Medal and ask why I am being singled out against other overseas comrades for being discriminated against

Thank you

Yours sincerely

John Cooper

Address as previously transmitted


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Post FEEs FOR FOI 
John,

I haven't checked it thoroughly but what I remember is fees of £465 and £600 are quoted in the Freedom of Information Act, and it looks like they have got their heads together to try and stuff us from asking MP's ordinary questions. Let the fight continue and stuff it up them.

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Well you do get apologies and here is the first in response to my letter, now let us see by May 12th if they wish to charge me under the FOI for access to information they have instigated in the first place!!!!!!!

Dear Mr Cooper

I sincerely apologise for the typo my acknowledgement of your FOI request. Your request is being handled by our officials and we hope to have a response for you by 12/5/2006

Kind Regards

Andrew Collingwood
Ministerial Support Officer
MST
Room 313
70 Whitehall
SW1A 2AS
020 72760528



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Post Dennis Brennan 
I have just sent this snail mail to Dennis Brennan.


Pingat Jasa Malaysia

Dear Mr Brennan

I am writing to you as I understand that it is only through your office that the general public (taxpayers and Electorate) can contact the Honours and Decorations Committee.

The decision to permit acceptance of the PJM but to withhold permission to wear it has to defy all standards of logic and also of fair-minded reason. Even Mr Ian Pearson, whose Ministerial Statement of 31 January 2006 made this decision public, admits that the ruling has no legal standing and cannot be policed. It is more about protocol than rea-son, and protocol had no useful purpose in the jungles of Malaysia half a century ago.

The PJM has been awarded by a grateful Agong, government and people of Ma-laysia for service between Merdeka (Malaysian Independence) in 1957 and the end of Confrontation (1966). As such its qualification criteria differ in many ways from any of the British GSM’s that were awarded to some, but not all, who served in Malaysia during that time.

The HD Committee showed wisdom and understanding in making exceptions to the double medal and 5 year rules in order to recommend acceptance but then appeared to re-invoke the 5 year rule in order to forbid it from being worn. This has caused confusion and dismay amongst the 35 000 veterans, who only wish to be allowed to wear the PJM with pride as they advance towards their twilight years. We are all in our 60’s and 70’s and so pose no threat to anyone by wearing this medal. Had we still been serving, then perhaps there is another argument to be made, but that is not the case.

I therefore wish to propose a solution, which if implemented, will solve the prob-lem at a stroke with no loss of dignity, integrity or honour on the part of the HD Commit-tee. It is this.

June 27 this year sees the first of what has been mooted as an Annual Veteran’s Day. On 12 August 2006 we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the end of the Borneo Confrontation, and with it an end to the hostilities. August 31 of 2007 sees the 50th An-niversary of Merdeka (Malaysian Independence).

Now would be an ideal time for the HD Committee to announce that it has re-viewed the situation and in the light of the special circumstances that exist at this spe-cific time, the PJM will be granted unrestricted approval for acceptance and wear. This is not to say that a precedent has been set. Such a decision would be viewed as sensible, de-cent and honourable by all concerned.

I remind you of something said by Winston Churchill:
'A medal glitters, but it also casts a shadow. The task of drawing up regulations for such awards is one which does not admit of a perfect solution. It is not possi-ble to satisfy everybody without running the risk of satisfying nobody. All that is possible is to give the greatest satisfaction to the greatest number and to hurt the feelings of the fewest.' WS Churchill, House of Commons, 22 August 1944.

I would suggest that the sentiments quoted here are as valid today as they were in 1944. By approving unrestricted acceptance and wearing of the PJM, the Committee stand to give the greatest satisfaction to upwards of 35 000 veterans and their next of kin, whilst the feelings of very few, if any, will be hurt.
Conversely, the current situation satisfies nobody but hurts the feelings of those 35 000 and the widows of those who did not return.
I’m sure that nobody, in Government or the Civil Service, wishes to see this matter drag on. We veterans would dearly love to return to our natural habitat – the bars of our respective Associations – where we can reflect on the days of our youth serving Her Majesty in far-off lands. To do so with out PJM’s worn alongside any British medals that we may have received would enhance the pride we feel in having rendered that service.
I have offered a solution in sincerity and with good intent. All that I ask in re-turn is that the HD Committee accepts that solution with equal sincerity and good in-tent and comes to a satisfactory decision as soon as is possible.
Yours Sincerely


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Gerald Law (ex RAF Borneo Veteran)
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