Voice of Malayan Democracy

The Voice of Malayan Democracy (VMD) was a clandestine radio station of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM); it broadcasted from 1981 to 1990. The VMD broadcasts provide a glimpse into the CPM's world view in the latter part of the so-called Second Emergency (1968-89) and the Cold War. Why did the CPM continue its armed struggle despite dwindling international and local support? This book presents a fuller picture of how the CPM perceived its armed struggle amidst the changing dynamics of the Cold War via the VMD - it tells a hitherto untold story of why and how the CPM persisted in its revolutionary path right to the very end.

The VMD was the successor to the Voice of Malayan Revolution (VMR) which ceased its broadcasts in 1981. After the closure of the VMR station in Hunan, China, the CPM set up a new radio station based on a mobile transmitter in the CPM's jungle stronghold in Southern Thailand. The signing of the Haadyai Peace Accords in 1989 marked the end of the CPM's armed revolution and the closure of the VMD broadcasts.