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was no clear method to controlrecruitment, the MCP failed todifferentiate the “good guys” fromthe “bad guys”. There were alsomembers who believed womenwere manipulated as a tool tosabotage the MCP; these womenwere sent to create havoc by usingillicit love affairs to ensure thatleaders were engrossed in thisdistraction to the detriment of thepolitical struggle and ideologicalpurity (Ibrahim Chik, 2004: 202).Besides the issue of intimate relationship,MCP members hadalso claimed the enemy (Thaigovernment) had used women topoison their leaders through foodas women were in control of thekitchen. There were many casesof sabotage by poisoning whichwere highlighted in the memoirsof MCP leaders. 8Spies (including women spies) who had infiltrated theMCP had caused considerable chaos among party membersat the end of the 1960s. In its effort to eliminate sabotagethe MCP conducted a rectification campaign to identifyand capture spies. Orchestrating these efforts were afew leading figures of the North Malaya Bureau, including afemale leader by the name of Ah Yen who admitted to usingtorture to get the truth from those arrested. This campaignsaw many women caught and punished on suspicion ofbeing spies (Bei Ma Ju Po Huo Di Jian Zheng Xiang, 1999). InMembers of the 8 th Regiment. Photo courtesy of Mahani Awang.1968, the rectification campaign in the 12 th Regiment saw 35members massacred, 200 others “exposed and criticised” andanother 70 sacked from the party. The same drive was targeted atthe 8 th regiment.The drive to capture spies in the MCP created cracks in themovement as some camp leaders claimed many combatantshad become victims of unproven accusations. The rectificationcampaign, which affected every new recruit and later theveterans, brought about a major split in the MCP into factions,including the MCP central faction, 12 th Regiment breakawayfaction, the MCP (Marxist-Leninist)faction which was formed inAugust 1974 and the MCPrevolutionary faction (formerlythe 8 th Regiment).The author at the entrance of the Khao NamKhang Historical Tunnel Natawee District,Songkhla Province, which used to be thebase camp for the 8th Regiment.Photo courtesy of Mahani Awang.The stairs inside the Khao Nam Khangtunnel which was used as an escape route.Photo courtesy of Mahani Awang.CONCLUSIONFrom the discussion, womendo have their own “space” inwar history whether as fighters,spies, wives, daughters and warvictims.In the case of the guerillamovements in Malaya/Malaysiaand Singapore, while thewar broke down the boundariesbetween men and women asthey had to fight for survival andvictory, womanhood was nevertotally suppressed from the femalecomrades. To be in loveand to be loved that often endedin unwanted pregnancies, thesadness of being detached from16 biblioasia • April 2010