Image of the PJM Medal
Banner Text = Fight For the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal
Reply to topic Page 1 of 1
Pre and Post 1957 - Why is the PJM only for 1957 and after?
Author Message
Reply with quote
Post Pre and Post 1957 - Why is the PJM only for 1957 and after? 
I am new at this and so please tell me if I am out of order. But I want to raise a question that has been put to me. Why is the PJM only for service after 31st August 1957?

The answer I have given is that Malaysia only came into being as an independent nation on that date and therefore they have no jurisdiction to present a medal for anything that happened before. Am I right?

Then there is another point that concerns me which I think also underlines the two periods of service. Service between 1948 and 1957 was in respect of service for the British Colonial power protecting its interests and, towards the end of that time when the UK could no longer afford 'Malaya', that service was in respect of supporting the Colonial power's exit strategy so that in 1957 it could exit on its terms and not those of others.

Surely that service was specifically for Britain in protecting British colonial interests.

As I understand it, the Pingat Jasa Malaysia is quite different. I thought it was for protecting the independence of the newly independent state of Malaysia. It has nothoing whatsoever to do with Britain.

For me, therefore, there is not a subtle difference between pre-August 1957 and post-August 1957, it is fundamental. The PJM is a medal specifically for service in protecting the newly independent Malaysia (as defined on the Citation) and so all that crap from the HD Committee and the Ministerial Statement about double-medalling is exactly that - crap designed to stop ordinary people like me wearing a medal I earned.

It's typical of certain elements in Britain (those who still refer to 'Imperial' and an Imperial Honours System) to assume that everything in this world revolves around them - even to the extent that an independent Nation's medal cannot be unique, it just has to be something that simply duplicates something the British have already done. What utter rubbish.

Keep up the good fight. You can count on my support (I'm British, I'm ashamed to say).

Ian

PS And as for that other piece of crap, the objection about 5 years, where did they dream that one up? I have it from a very reliable source that it was never a rule and was only supposed to limit campaign medals immediately after a global conflict (1945) when it was anticiapted that many requests for campaign medals would come in from all over teh world where fighting had gone on. I know the defenders of the Imperial system tried to make it look legit in the mid-1990's but I thought that was for Suez ... a BRITISH Campaign medal which is now a real medal that can be worn.

View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post  
Ian...you have it absolutely right, on all counts...what more can I say?

Welcome to the site, thank you for the post and for your valuable support.


_________________
...................'Jock'
Paroi...Rasah...Batu Signals Troop.
View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post  
'Jock' Fenton wrote:
you have it absolutely right, on all counts....


Thanks for the confirmation, Jock.

In passing, I am actually quite happy to be British. The bit I am ashamed about is being called 'British' in the same breath as those civil servants who are anything but 'British'.

They have never fought for the freedom of a country. If they had done so, they would not be "perpetuating the myth" (words used in a BBC Panorama program on the 16th July about how the Government condones Local Authorities who "steal" - yes, "steal" was the word used, money from vulnerable old age pensioners who need medical care in a nursing home to make them pay for care the State is legally obliged to pay for) in order to stop us wearing a medal we have earned.

The PJM fight is less critical, of course, but it is also more simple. It doesn't involve money from the State. It wouldn't take any money to rectify the lies and deceit used to "perpetuate the myth" that depives another set of pensioners (mostly) of their rights (where is the legaility of all this?). All that those civil servants have done is to on sit their arses at their desks writing the spin that they hand to Ministers to "perpetuate" a discredited honours system that is based on lies. I heard somewhere that it is now a game they are playing - how to find the spin to ensure that the recommendation is never reversed. Any fair minded person would already have seen the unique qualities (scope, I think you call it) of the PJM and would have realised by now that a 'mistake' (let's be charitable) had been made.

Another thing I find amazing is that the Queen allows all this to happen in her name!



Last edited by Ian Wallace on Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:07 am; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post  
Ian,
Thanks for you support and yes you are right, but to make it clear Malaysia cannot even if it wanted too make awards before it existed. Before the 31st Aug 1957 all awards are down to the British Govenment.
I hope this makes it clear for everyone.

View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post Re: Pre and Post 1957 - Why is the PJM only for 1957 and aft 
Ian Wallace wrote:
Why is the PJM only for service after 31st August 1957?


I heard that some crusty NMBVA-UK members are not willing to support the campaign for the right to wear the PJM becuase they were pre-1957 and are not eligible for the Malaysian medal.

I have also been told that civil servants have got hold of this and are taking the proverbial because there is dissention in our ranks.

This very small clique of NMBVA-UK members may well be causing a rift, but they are wrong to do that. They must remember why the NMBVA was formed in the first. It was to get a medal! To get a medal for service in Malaya, at that!

You would have thought that those older members (and there are just a few) would be supporting you. If they don't, they should resign on principle. They should resign now so that the NMBVA can be 100% behind your fight for us to wear the Pingat Jasa Malasyia.

I look forward to reading about the resignations or about the change of heart that is happening as that small number of NMBVA members realise that the only honourable course of action is to support a fight that they started in the first place.

This rift should be out in the open so that it can be mended before we see more of what is happening in Scotland where they've set up there own organisation. It is playing into the hands of the civil servants. So should this question be raised by an NMBVA member so that the Association can know which members and which officers support what?

View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post .. 
..



Last edited by ro5=6372 on Sun Dec 03, 2006 12:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post Re: Pre and Post 1957 - Why is the PJM only for 1957 and aft 
ro5=6372 wrote:
IF IT WASN'T SO SERIOUS I'D BE FALLING ABOUT AT THE STATE OF OUR ,IMMIGRATION ,ASYLUM,DEPORTINGS, FOREIGN CRIMINALS, TERRORISTS ON BENEFITS,COPS KILLING INNOCENTS SCENARIO.
,


Did You forget to mention the games that pollies play with their secretaries?


_________________
Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka,
from the HD Committee and its decision.
View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post  
Thank you for explaining this because I too was confuse. It makes perfect sense to me now.
Both my parents served 1948-1960 in Malaysia, then served in Germany for four years and then went back to Singapore 1964-1969. Father qualifies for the Pingat Jasa but mother had given up her nursing career by then to bring up her young family.
She worked still as a volunteer in a welfare clinic within Nee Soon looking after Malay and Nepalese families.
Both my parents have their service medals for serving in Malaya for the period prior to independence in 1957.

View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:
Reply to topic Page 1 of 1
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum