Rashid Maidin

Rashid Maidin (10 October 1917 – 1 September 2006), sometimes given as Rashid Mahideen, was a senior leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). He was born on the same month and year as the October Revolution in Russian Empire.

He was born in Kampung Gunung Mesah, Gopeng, Perak. He is the eldest brother of 7 brothers and 1 sister. He received his early education at the Gunung Panjang Malay School and the Kampung Gunung Mesah Madrasah, which were both in Gopeng. He graduated at standard 5 in a Malay school. However, due to poverty Rashid dropped out of school in 1929.

After leaving school, Rashid travelled and sought employment, ending up in Cameron Highlands, Pahang. While working odd jobs there, he befriended a Christian missionary who taught him to speak basic English. He furthered his proficiency in the language via correspondence courses. Later, Rashid returned to Gopeng and worked at a French-owned power station. While employed at the power station, he studied basic electrics and eventually obtained a first-class electrical chargeman certificate.

He started a family with Hamidah binti Abdul Rashid, a village girl in 1938. They have 4 children, 3 sons and a daughter. The second marriage was in 1959, a comrade and a party cadet named Selamah binti Abdullah. They were gifted another daughter.

Rashid was also active in the trade unions, which led him to join the CPM as the party's first Malay member. In his memoir, Memoir Rashid Maidin: Daripada perjuangan bersenjata kepada perdamaian (The Memoirs of Rashid Maidin: From Armed Struggle to Peace), Rashid justified his decision to join the CPM due to the party's strong anti-imperialist stance. CPM was among the first anti-colonial movements in Malaya. Since young Rashid was inspired by the story of Maharajalela's war against the British in Perak. In 1939. he started to get involved in the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and in 1941, he officially became a member of MCP. He was the first Malay joining MCP.

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