“Kesedaran tentang perjuangan nasionalisme demi menuntut Kemerdekaan Tanah Air turut menyedarkan aku tentang penindasan terhadap wanita. Tidak ada perjuangan untuk kebebasan laki-laki, melainkan hanya ada perjuangan untuk kebebasan wanita.” – Shamsiah Fakeh
Shamsiah Fakeh was a prominent freedom fighter and advocate for women’s rights, integrating the fight for women’s liberation with the broader struggle against colonial oppression. As an early feminist in Malaya, Shamsiah’s life experiences highlighted the dual struggle against gender oppression and colonial injustices.
Born in Kampung Gemuruh, Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan in 1924, Shamsiah was the second of eight children in a poor family. Despite financial constraints and the social norms at the time, Shamsiah’s parents valued education and enrolled her in the Malay school. In 1938, at age 13, Shamsiah continued her education in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, at the Dinniyah Puteri School.
Her education at Dinniyah Puteri was cut short by the onset of war, leading to her return to Malaya in 1940. Shamsiah then attended Madrasah Aliyah Islamiah in Kuala Pilah, where she was encouraged by the founder of the school to marry a classmate. Despite this marriage intended to aid her family, Shamsiah suffered immense hardship, including the tragic loss of two children due to malnutrition, and the marriage ended in divorce.
Following Japanese occupation, Shamsiah joined the PKMM (Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya) and became an active member. By mid-1946, at age 21, she was appointed head of the PKMM women’s division in Kuala Lumpur. At the 1946 PKMM Congress in Malacca, Shamsiah was elected to the Central Committee. AWAS (Angkatan Wanita Sedar), initially a PKMM wing, became an independent organization under Shamsiah’s leadership. It organized its own activities and held its first Congress in Kajang in 1947. AWAS was part of the PUTERA-AMCJA coalition leading the Hartal movement of 1947.
As a well-educated, charismatic, and eloquent leader of AWAS, Shamsiah served as a role model for many women of her time. She emphasized the importance of women’s involvement in the independence struggle, encouraging them to become leaders and prioritize education. Shamsiah advocated for mothers to ensure their daughters attended school and organized awareness programs in villages to expose women to the wider world. She believed women’s roles should extend beyond the kitchen, recognizing their potential to contribute to the nation. Shamsiah and AWAS organized reading, writing, and skill classes for women, and encouraged them to stay informed by reading newspapers. AWAS members played a crucial role in fundraising for PKMM’s struggle, donating their earnings and rice from their fields. Some women even contributed their gold jewelry to support the cause. As part of PKMM, AWAS successfully channeled significant funds for PKMM’s activities, highlighting the essential contributions of women’s labor and financial support in the fight for independence.
In 1948, upon the disbandment of PKMM, Shamsiah joined the Malayan Communist Party (PKM) as an alternative space to continue fighting for the country’s independence. Shamsiah took up arms as a guerrilla fighter, organizing mass support in villages and enduring challenging conditions in the jungle. By 1953, she was based on the Malaya-Thailand border, working in PKM’s communications department and married Ibrahim Mohamad in 1956.
Shamsiah and her husband, Ibrahim, were sent to China to continue their studies on communist ideology, arriving in Beijing in 1957 as guests of the Chinese Communist Party. They worked with Radio Peking and represented PKM internationally. After a period of imprisonment in Indonesia during anti-communist actions, they returned to China in 1967 but were later expelled from PKM. They lived in Xiang Tan, Hunan, working as factory laborers, and raised three sons.
After numerous attempts, Shamsiah and her family were allowed to return to Malaysia in 1994. Shamsiah Fakeh passed away on October 20, 2008, remembered as a revolutionary fighter for independence and women’s emancipation.
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For more information on Shamsiah Fakeh, read her autobiography “Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari AWAS Ke Rejimen Ke-10” published by SIRD/ Gerakbudaya: http://bit.ly/1prrIyX (English version: http://bit.ly/1ohnnz6) . Go to this link for a song tribute to this revolutionary independence fighter: http://bit.ly/ZJoYrC