I have sent the following letter to my MP which is self explanatory:-

"Dear Mr Bayley,

Further to my e-mail to you of the 20th of September (to which I await a reply) in which I copied links to the Rebuttal Statement that has been presented to Her Majesty the Queen and to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mrs Margaret Beckett, you may be interested to know that this was the subject of a written question in the House on the 17th of October as follows:-

"17 Oct 2006 : Column 1179W
Malaysia
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will outline the latest situation regarding British veterans who have been awarded the Malaysian confrontation medal by the Malaysian Government; whether she expects British veterans will be allowed to wear the medal at commemorations and official events; and if she will make a statement on the status of the medal. [92671]

Margaret Beckett: The current situation on the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) is set out in the written ministerial statement made by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Ian Pearson) on 31 January 2006, Official Report, columns 10-11WS.
Those seeking permission to wear the PJM, have made a number of points which will be considered by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals. I hope that the results will be known by the end of November".

You will know from my previous correspondence that the award of this medal by the Malaysian Agong and his Government covers the periods of both the Confrontation and Emergency, not just the former as stated in the above written question. The Malaysian High Commission has already held presentation ceremonies to present medals to a few Veterans and the importance the Malaysian Government put on this is shown by the fact that medals were presented by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Malaysian Defence Minister, amongst others.

I note that in March this year, you expressed your concerns to the Leader of the House, about the awarding of honours and your view that public confidence in the honours system was "draining away" and that it should be a system that is "transparent and accountable". You may find from the Rebuttal Statement that thousands of veterans have similar concerns.

It is expected that in the period before any results are announced, and one would urge an answer before Remembrance Day, further questions may be tabled and/or asked on the floor of the House,as may an Early Day Motion be made on this subject. I believe at least 117 Members of Parliament now support the case for Veterans being given formal permission to wear the PJM. This will simply give us the same rights as all the other members of the Commonwealth Forces we served alongside.

That is what we ask. It is all we ask. Nothing more, nothing less.

The following link is evidence of the support we have in the House. I am more than happy to meet you in York at your earliest convenience if I can clarify or further inform on these matters.

http://www.fight4thepjm.org/lobby_mp_support.htm

May I count upon your support in this matter?

Thank you for your time in this matter,

Yours Faithfully,
Your constituent,

(address attached to original)


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Pingat Kami - Hak Kami
651 Signal Troop,
Semengo Camp,
Kuching.