Rt. Hon Gordon Brown MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London SW1A 2HQ
UNITED KINGDOM
17th February 2006
Dear Chancellor
The Malaysian Service Medal 'Pingat Jasa Malaysia' (PJM)
I think your idea to have a day to honour UK veterans is a good way in which the people of Great Britain can show their appreciation for the service and sacrifice of former members of HM forces. I am though very disappointed at the recent Ministerial Statement by Mr Ian Pearson accepting the award of the PJM medal but denying the recipients the right to wear the medal. The medal is to be awarded to British and Commonwealth service personnel for their service in Malaysia between 1957 and 1966 and is graciously given to us by the King and Government of Malaysia. The Queen of Australia and New Zealand has accepted the wearing of this medal without restriction.
The Ministerial Statement was made following the advice of the Committee of the Grants of Honours , Decorations and Medals. I believe they made a grave error of judgement in placing a restriction on the wearing of a medal from a fellow Commonwealth country which we fought alongside in a protracted counter insurgency campaign over many years. As a fellow Scot who served in Borneo you may be interested to know that veterans from the following Scottish regiments are amongst the 35,000 eligible recipients for the PJM medal:
4th Royal Tank regiment
1st Bn Scots Guards
1st Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers
1st Bn Queen's Own Highlanders
1st Bn Gordon Highlanders
1st Bn Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
1st Bn Black Watch
Sadly most of the above regiments no longer exist. Further information as to why the Honours Directorate made an incorrect decision to restrict the wearing of the medal can be obtained from the following web site:
http://www.fight4thepjm.org
This site has been established by veterans to lobby for the lifting of restrictions on wearing this medal. The Honours Directorate is an unelected body of men. Any veterans I know will be ignoring their directive and will wear the medal with pride on appropriate occasions. The Government is left with egg on their face over an issue which has been handled badly from the start and has been handled in such a way as to insult the King and Government of Malaysia. Veterans from this period may be a bunch of old men and women but we will fight on with resolve and tenacity until restrictions on wearing the medal are lifted. I urge you Chancellor to use your influence as a senior member of Government to rectify this matter, otherwise this issue will be a thorn in the side of government for many years to come.
Enclosed please find a letter I have recently written to HRH The Prince of Wales which more fully explains my position on this matter.
I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.
Yours sincerely
Hamish Waters
Borneo Veteran