Copy of my letter to Hugh Bayley MP (York Central)


Dear Mr Bayley,

I assume that you will now be aware that Her Majesty the Queen, on the 3rd of November 2011, signed the approval for the PJM medal to be worn without restriction.

Our six year battle to right, what we always truly believed was a wrong, unfair and unsupportable decision by the Honours and Decorations Committee, is over.

I am very grateful for your unstinting support for our cause and for the numerous letters you have written to myself and to Ministers on my/our behalf.

My sincere thanks,


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

Herewith the Ministerial Statement that promulgates the amendment to the original, flawed, statement:

http://www.fight4thepjm.org/documents/Ministerial_Statement_PJM_Amended_081111.pdf

It's still begrudging ... and it's still historically incorrect. Those civil servants do not understand the difference between Merdeka Day (31 Aug - from 1957) and Malaysia Day (16 Sep - from 1963).

Given a map of the 13 States of Malaysia (no pink bits), I bet they couldn't stick a pin in the 48,000 square miles that is the land mass of Sarawak, the largest State in the Federation of Malaysia.


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

Just posted in the britishmedals forum where the release was also posted, quotes no other posts, I'm sure they won't mind me reproducing under parallel circumstances:

Yes, well, let's hope "the King and Government of Malaysia" (and the people thereof) are thick-skinned. For almost half of the qualifying period it was Malaysia, not Malaya and as a mere colonial myself I sort of rankle at the description of fellow Commonwealth countries awards being characterised/lumped together as "foreign". Let's see:

"ORDERS OF WEAR
...
Other Commonwealth Members' Orders, Decorations and Medals xiv
...
14. Instituted since 1949, otherwise than by The Sovereign, and awards by the States of Malaysia and the State of Brunei, worn in date of award. These awards may only be worn when The Sovereign's permission has been given."

"Other Commonwealth where The Sovereign is not Head of State" is a bit of a mouthful admittedly.

So, the precedence would seem to be above that of non-commonwealth awards, as a fraternal salute (like the NZ precedence but not that of Oz, unhappily), and would have been nice to include in some fashion. The skip in the footnotes of the "Orders of Wear" from Roman to Arabic numerals seems to be something of a shibboleth which has, sadly, eluded the MOD flack-catcher(s) and boss responsible for the release. Or maybe I'm reading it wrongly?

The point of precedence, apart from perhaps demonstrating that the award is more than "foreign": I'm sure there's still a few on the retired list or honorary Colonels, Yeoman Warders, Cheslsea Pensioners, whatever, who would have occasion to wear their updated groups on uniform (and even veterans in their lounge-suits and blazers like to "get it right" or this contretemps would never have happened in the first place). Medals aren't all about collectors.

Steve


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Former 'nasho', RAE Borneo (Confrontation)

Thank you to JohnF for sending this one, copyright Townsville Bulletin, Queensland, Australia, nice one John:-)




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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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Received this to-day >>>>>

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2011-11-08a.11WS.4&s=pjm#g11WS.5

Fred

John Feltham gave a great interview to ABC Townsville, Australia, yesterday, listen to it here, the link is under John's photo and lasts approx 5 minutes


http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/11/10/3361470.htm?site=northqld


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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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A special competition has been launched to celebrate our victory.

It is our Last Competition.

Read all about it at:

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

Go on ... have a go. It's only open until the 14th November.


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

Having sent Dame Vera the news of our victory, I have just received a message from her.

You can read it at:

http://www.fight4thepjm.org/

Wonderful!

Makes it all worthwhile.

Barry


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

Great stuff with Dame Vera, Barry


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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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BarryF wrote:

A special competition has been launched to celebrate our victory.

It is our Last Competition.

Read all about it at:

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

Go on ... have a go. It's only open until the 14th November.

Now more important than ever, this competition is important because it will be the only way I'll see any PJMs on parade tomorrow. At the eleventh hour, literally almost, I have been hijacked by the day job and cannot go to the NMA. As you can imagine, I am very, very disappointed. So I appeal to all on parade tomorrow - please send in those images.


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BarryF, who fought for the Right to Wear the Pingat Jasa Malaysia

Had an interview on BBC Radio Suffolk this afternoon with Lesley Dolphin, JohnF recorded it before going off to bed in Oz, thanks John

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12851525/JohnCooper20111111.mp3.zip


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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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Phredd nice meeting you today at the service of rememberance held at the National Memorial Arboretum. Thanks for the photo.

mel harris wrote:

Phredd nice meeting you today at the service of rememberance held at the National Memorial Arboretum. Thanks for the photo.

It was a pleasure Mel. Thanks for being there.
Fred

It was nice to meet up with other PJMers at the NMA plus have a cuppa with Fred.
I look forward to seeing the photos.
Paul

Paul Alders wrote:

It was nice to meet up with other PJMers at the NMA plus have a cuppa with Fred.
I look forward to seeing the photos.
Paul

By now you should have the pics I sent this morning.

Fred