Yuen Yuet Leng, man behind Haadyai peace accord, dies

Police officer extraordinaire, Yuen Yuet Leng, who played an instrumental role in the historic 1989 Haadyai peace accord that witnessed the end of communist insurgency in Malaysia, passed away this morning, due to heart failure.

He was 88 years old.

The former Special Branch officer who spent most of his life being hunted down by the communists during and after the Emergency years, was also the former Sarawak commissioner of police from 1981 till his retirement in 1984 and Perak chief police officer in 1975.

His widow, Linda Yuen, 68, when contacted by Bernama, said Yuen who had been unwell for the past few days after being discharged from hospital, breathed his last at their daughter’s residence at The Mines, Seri Kembangan.

She said Yuen’s remains would be sent to the Xiao En Centre at Cheras for the vigil service beginning this evening.

Born in Larut Matang, Perak, Yuen joined the police force in 1950 at the age of 23, and spent most his career as a special branch officer combating the communist resurgency in the country.

He is best known for his role as one of the key negotiators in the historic ‘Rundingan Damai Haadyai’ where together with former inspector-general of police Rahim Noor went to China to meet Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leaders Chin Peng, Abdullah CD and Rashid Maidin.

Their meeting successfully led to the signing of a peace treaty between the communists and the Malaysian and Thai governments in Haadyai, Thailand on Dec 2, 1989, where the communists agreed to lay down arms and disband the CPM, bringing to an end insurgency activities in the country after almost 50 years.

During his illustrious 34 years’ career as a police officer, Yuen had also served as Special Branch deputy director at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, and later promoted as Perak chief police officer.

He also wrote two books, ‘Operasi Ginger’ in 1998 and ‘Nation Before Self’ in 2008.

Yuen also left behind two daughters and two grandchildren.

- Bernama