Life was idyllic as the young Ritchie Eurasian brothers romped the padi fields in the midst of the extended family of aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas. A little “tarzan” he fell when swinging from branch to branch, and was revived when he drank a cup on urine provided by a playmate—the liquid by-product being a well-known cure many human ills including trauma!

In the early days, a Thai troupe often visited his Northern Malaya bringing with them a puppet show called “wayang kulit” where old stories of Hanuman the monkey deity was acted out by its puppeteers. “We grew up speaking Thai ...we even had Thai names. My brother was known as Ah Dong while I was known as Ah Khlong…which refers to the nearby Kinta River.”

When my father was born, a Cantonese amah who took care of him often showed off her ward. “I was handsome and had curly and wavy hair (and) one amah remarked what a lovely girl I was. My amah said I was a boy and not a girl and there was a bet and I was stripped to decide the winner. “It was found I was very much a boy...and (even so) that may be the reason I was given the name Ah Mui--normally a girls’ name.”

As a youth my father understood the rituals of his Thai Buddhist ancestors, their superstitions and the practices of the monkhood. “We often visited the Thai Buddhist priests from the Thai temple at Tambun Road. As beggars (monks who devote themselves servility), they asked for rice…they always came for prayers when invited. “There was an occasion when prayers and chants were recited to keep evil spirits from visiting the house…a reed rope circled the house to prevent the evil spirits from entering.”

After their mother died, my father and his older brother Hector, was adopted by a Scottish miner Charles Ernest Cumming staying at Flora Villa, not far from Menglembu. His step-father bought the brothers a bicycle each to use to go to the Anglo Chinese Methodist School (ACS) three miles away. Describing his new home my father said: “The main bungalow was at one end of the garden. It consisted of three rooms upstairs and two rooms downstairs…it was mosquito proof with really large rooms with a bathroom attached.

My mother who was five came to live with the Cumming family and grew attached to Johnny who the 13 years old. Brought up by a Cantonese “amah”, my mother and all of us never knew our roots I first learnt about mum’s real identity when I was 10. As the story goes her biological father was Pahang PWD engineer James Harpur who had a Malay house helper named Meriam staying at their Kuantan residence.

Days before my mother was born, my biological father left on duty for Kuala Lumpur. But before leaving, he told Pierson to check on Meriam who was pregnant and asked him to visit his residence. I remember Grandpa Pierson telling me the story about the unique circumstances of my mother’s birth on that fateful day in March 1923—the year of the Pig.

Grandpa Piers said: “Harpur called to say that he was leaving for Kuala Lumpur on some official business and asked me to check on Meriam. “By coincidence, I visited Harpur’s place the very day your mother was born and found no one at home. “Meriam had left and I thought she had probably taken the baby with her. However, I routinely checked around the house and behind at clumps of banana trees heard a distinct mewing sound of a kitten.

“There I found your mother, with umbilical cord, covered with red Kerengga Red ants…she must have just been born hours earlier." Pierson quickly bundled the infant baby to get medical assistance from the Kuantan government clinic where she was registered at Lily Harpur Pierson—his daughter. My mother studied in Hong Kong before returning to Singapore as an 18-year-old nurse, to marry my father during the Japanese invasion.

After the War, only Pierson returned Malaya to work as a tin miner in Perak. My father who was a natural sportsman and as an Anglo-Chinese school student, became Perak “Victor Ludorum” State athletics champion in August 1934. Johnny Ritchie who was a temporary teacher, took part in the Perak athletic championship in Ipoh Club padang. Participating as a decathlete—the 100 yards, 200 yards hurdles, 400 yards quarter mile, shot-putt, discus, javelin and became champion.

To keep fit, he often rode joined his schoolmates to cycle from Ipoh to Penang-104 miles away, a journey which took 11 hours. However, when he was 20 and armed with Senior Cambridge certificate, he left by train for Singapore to seek employment. Renting a room at Geylang for $10, he lived off daily meals of roti canai at three cents a piece.

Initially he wanted to join the army but was advised against it by Singapore army chief British Brigadier General Shakespeare. However, through the recommendation of his foster father’s friend, a Singapore shipping dockyard proprietor Merton Brown he secured a job as a clerk with a salary of $35. Luck was on his side because the Methodist Reverend who would marry my father and more after the War broke out, helped Johnny Ritchie secured a job in the Chinese protectorate.

The starting salary was $75 so my father gave up is clerical job. As a “boarding officer” he had to board Chinese immigrant ships with health and immigration officers deal with about 6,000 deck passengers. He said: “It was the duty of the boarding officer to keep all women and girls on the ship. “The job of the Protector was to prevent girls being brought into the country for prostitution or for sale as mui tsai (slave girls).

One of the lady inspectors was Ivy Brown later the wife of police assistant commissioner Charles Brodie. Recalling an incident when he was on duty when a woman fell overboard. “On that day the sea was particularly choppy and the steps from the ship swayed putting the passengers using the gangway in a precarious and dangerous position of falling overboard. “I saw what had happened (when the woman fell) and rushed down to the gangway and jumped into the sea to save her.

The incident of the quick rescue passed without comment.” I recall a similar incident sometime in 1964 when I encountered a similar rescue incident when my family and that of DSP B. Munusamy, my father’s aid de camp, went for vacation at Songkhla in Southern Thailand.

My older Dicky brother and I were frolicking in the pool of a hotel when Munusamy’s 12-year-old son Suria Kumar (later a medical doctor) jumped into the deep end of the pool even though he didn’t know how to swim He leapt from the springboard of the pool directly on top of me and dragged me down with him in a life and death struggle.

To save myself I had to break free from Kumar and left him struggling on his own as there were no lifeguards. After swimming to safety, I turned back and realized that Kumar was drowning, and had to save him because I would be deep trouble with my parents. As Kumar thrashed in the pool, I managed to pull him to the bottom of the pool and pushed him to the ledge of where my brother Georgie was helplessly waiting.

Luckily, he was pulled out safely and the incident was quickly forgotten. It was a lucky escape that went without notice as our parents had gone out shopping. In retrospect, if my mother had found out I would have a good thrashing!

Roots 3

A Eurasian “Scotsman” who spoke and wrote MANDARIN ----------------------

On February 15, 1942 the Allied Command surrendered and days later the Japanese arrived in Singapore. My father recalls that he was saved because of his Anglo-Asian features when the Japanese segregated the European policemen from the Asian. He wrote: “The British were put on one side while the Asian officers (known as Asiatics) were gathered in another group.

“The Japanese were not sure which group I had to be placed. They did not know at that time what a Eurasian was, you were either Asian or British. “The Japanese settled the issued by asking me whether I had arrested any Japanese. I said I had not and that I was escorting Mrs Rowell (an English woman to Changi prison so I was not interned.”

” Lily and I continued to live at the Central Police Station. One day at Smith Street when some Japanese trucks turned up and arrested the Chinese who panicked and ran helter-skelter. The Japanese said they were taking these Chinese men away as to work as laborers but in reality, it was the beginning of the “Sook Ching” massacre. After the war the Japanese government said that "no more than 6,000 Chinese" had been killed but Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew it was at least 70,000.

Even though it was illegal to leave Singapore, my father obtained a permit to travel in a goods train wagon to Penang. Even though he was a trained police officer, he had to reapply to become a police officer to an old Singapore friend—Chief Inspector Abdul Rahman bin Embi. Even though his salary of $100 as an Inspector was insufficient, the depreciation of the Japanese “banana notes” forced my mother to raise extra money by cycling 30 miles a day to collect tapioca leaves, potato leaves and other greens.

Ritchie wrote: ““She also used to smuggle small fish into Penang by putting them inside hollowed out banana stalks and then selling them on the black market.” My father bought a goat for my sickly eldest brother Richard who was born in November 1942. Father added: “Every day I had to collect leaves and grass to feed the goat at night. This would enable it to have more milk.

The daily routine at the Police Headquarters at Penang Road, was facing East and bowing in obeisance to Tenno-Heika (the Japanese Emperor). On one occasion, my father forgot to salute a Japanese military policeman and he was summoned to the military police headquarters. In retribution for his "crime" he had to supply the names of people who listened to BBC broadcasts or spoke disparagingly of the Japanese.

He was given one week in which to produce the names or be sacked or reprimanded. “I told Lily what had happened and asked her if she could manage on her own if I were to leave Penang and disappear into the jungle. “Lily said she could manage but told me not to tell her of my escape plans because if the Japanese were to torture her for information she would not be able to give them any information.”

Fortunately, after a week the Japanese he had "insulted" was transferred to a different town and the entire incident was immediately forgotten. Another close call was in an inter-departmental athletics competition where my father score most of the point for his winning the 100 yards, 220 yards, the high jump and 120-yards hurdles.

But in the last event was the 4x100 yards relay which would decide on the champion department, disaster struck. He reminisced: “I was the last runner and was expected to win. But lo and behold, as I got the baton, my fingers got caught in my shorts (we ran in our uniform shorts) and, as a result, we lost the championship as the baton fell. “I was really in hot soup.

I was berated by my Japanese boss who was very angry at what had taken place.” On that fateful day the Japanese boss said Ritchie was a British spy and was only waiting for the return of the white men. My father said: “I was asked who recruited me into the Police. I pointed at Abdul Rahman, my superior officer.

The Japanese boss then got up from his chair, walked round the table up to Abdul Rahman and slapped him three times. “The boss continued to berate me and was in a fearful rage. I was told that I was dismissed and to take off my badges of rank.” Just before lunch a message came that I was to report to the Headquarters. “With trepidation, I returned to the office. I saw the boss and was told that through the intervention of Ogawa-san, the Secretary of the Japanese Club in Singapore, I was spared and so I kept my job.”

In another incident a Taiwanese officer under the payroll of the Japanese accused him of stopping a propaganda show and slapped him. Having been a boxer, Ritchie reacted by slapping him back and stunned the Taiwanese who then assaulted my father with a series of punches. The next day my father was called up by the Special Branch head Hashimoto who asked why he had slapped a Japanese officer.

My father said he thought the man who slapped him a local Chinese and countered with a slap. “I was not going to run away…he could have been a communist.” His reply won praise from Hashimoto who said my father had the bushido spirit---the Japanese spirit of valor. Hashimoto reprimanded the Taiwanese by a barrage of kicks, slaps and punches thus the honor of the bunshocho was restored On Armistice Day born on November 11, 1942, my oldest sibling Richard “Dicky” was born followed by Cynthia a year later on December 28, 1943 .

However, March 24, 1945 the Allied forces were gaining ground and my family were interned at the Sime Road civilians camp in Singapore. During this time Cynthia and father contracted dysentery but miraculously survived; my father’s weight dropped from 150 lbs to 108 lbs. On September 15, 1945 when Singapore was liberated the British troops and by December, the family had returned to Penang.

Roots 4

Post-War Years and Malayan Insurgency

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In January 1946 my father was reinstated by the British Military Administration (BMA) and sent back to Penang in charge of the Crime Branch. At this time, the crime rate in Penang, and other parts of Malaya was very high as pro-communist supporters took the law into their own hands. In 1948 Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) under Chin People war of terror instigated the declaration of the Malayan Emergency. My father wrote:

“At this time the communist elements within the MPAJA were going all out to topple the British civil administration. “They were also spreading a lot of anti-British propaganda and this included telling the people that it was they, the communists and not the British, who had defeated the Japanese and liberated Malaya.”

After the War Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) organized a protest group of about 10,000 people in Macalister Road. My father and ten policemen who were sent to disperse the group warned the protesters if they did not break up, he would call for more policemen to enforce the law. By this time, a fire brigade unit had arrived and my father ordered the officer in charge to turn their hoses on the speakers.

He said: “The firemen did this knocking the speakers off the benches. I then moved in and arrested three of them.” On June 17, 1948 the communists went on a killing spree of British planters, forcing the government to declare an emergency rebranded MPAJA who were now called MPABA or Malayan Peoples' Anti-British Army.

That night, raids were carried out throughout in the country; in Penang State - both the island and Province Wellesley on the mainland - about 200 communist sympathizers were rounded up. Six months after the state of Emergency had been declared the communists stepped up its activities. The first activities undertaken by the communists in Penang were mainly of a "nuisance" as they put up communist flags and painted slogans on the walls.

This created the impression among the general population that the communists were a strong and powerful force. Soon the communists became bolder in their approach and began to burn down telephone boxes on various parts of the island. In order to prevent the communists from gaining psychological victories policemen kept a watch over all telephone boxes in Penang.

On one occasion, three CTs turned up at a telephone box and started a fire inside it. The policemen who were hiding and nearby, promptly rushed out from their ambush positions and fired several shots at three CTs who got away. Within the town, several murders were committed and this created a great deal of alarm among the population.

During the Emergency the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) devised various means of obtaining firearms to strengthen their armaments. In his memoir my father said: “The communist party also formed the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) – and began attacking rubber plantations, mines and police stations, derailing trains and burning workers' houses.

“The armed wing of the MCP, the MNLA were jungle based and supported by the impoverished Chinese population.” Although many Chinese lived in the cities, others - known as 'squatters' - lived at the fringes of the jungle and could aid the guerrillas. To further frustrate the police, the CTs singled out lone policemen on foot patrol to rob them of their revolvers.

Their modus operandi was as such; two communists on bicycles would wait in ambush for the patrolman while two others would follow from behind. Once the policeman was isolated by the group, the four men rob him of his revolve at gunpoint. To prevent such incidents, the CID put more men on foot patrols was thus frustrating the CTs “hit and run” Scheme.

In one incident, a Pathan policeman who was alone the center of Penang as suddenly confronted by three armed men. Ritchie said: “One of the three pulled out a revolver and, pointing it at the policeman, ordered him to hand over his revolver. “The policeman dismounted from his bicycle, took out his gun and promptly opened fire at them.

During the gunfight all three men panicked and fled. Other policemen in the vicinity rushed to the scene to assist their colleague. They cornered one gunman who ran into a primary school on the first floor of the building, ready to shoot the first policeman to appear in his sight. Just as the police were about to charge up the stairs, a school teacher calmly walked out of a classroom and told both parties to stop shooting as he had a classroom full of young children.

Recalling the incident, my father said: “Strange as it may seem, both the armed youth and the police party agreed to a cease-fire until the children could be evacuated from the building. “The school teacher then returned to his classroom and calmly herded his pupils out of the building and sent home.” At this very time, my father was on his way to Court to prosecute a case, but on hearing the commotion went to the scene to give any assistance.

He added: “When I arrived the gunman fire a warning shot. I crept into the building and was about to crawl up the stairs while the other policemen were waiting below of the policemen below. “Several policemen then joined my father as they burst and found the gunman lying dead on the floor. “Finding his position hopeless he had shot himself in the head.”

The gunman was a member of a communist killer squad operating in Penang. The conduct of the school teacher, who had so bravely led his pupils from the school, earned him a great deal of praise and he was presented with a letter of appreciation by the police. The Pathan policeman who had refused to surrender his gun also received a letter of appreciation for his fearless reaction.

Roots 5

Cat and Mouse game of Survival

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The Communist violence reached its the height with the assassination of Malayan High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney on October 6, 1951. He was replaced by British army chief Sir Gerald Templer who continued to implement a 'hearts and minds' strategy to win over the people. But the communists knew it was a ploy to watch monitor the movements of their sympathisers.

Known as the “smiling Tiger”, Templer continued building “new villages” which in effect were Chinese internment camps of almost one million people in 500 locations. This represented a third of the 3.1 million Chinese population of Malaya. By then Chin Peng had formed assassination squads using elements from the jungle-based MLNA (Malayan Liberation National Army) to form assassination squads.

During the Emergency from 1948-1960, the CTs killed 500 British planters and miners and 1,200 policemen, a large number from the Special Branch. In Penang they killed one my father’s loyal officers who did not heed my father’s advice. Ritchie added: “There was one incident in which one of my detectives, a man of whom I was particularly fond, was murdered in cold blood.

“One morning, I led a group of policemen to a squatter area in Perak Road to make some enquiries. We stopped to have coffee at a shop within the squatter area. “I sat with my back towards a window but almost immediately, I began to feel very uncomfortable. “The feeling was so strong inside me that I told my detective to make a check around the outside of the building to make sure there was no one hanging around outside.” “But the man replied there was nothing to fear, as he was born in the area and all the people there were his friends.”

Ritchie warned the Chinese detective he should not allow himself to be lulled by complacency because the enemy could be anywhere. However, the detective continued visited a shop where regularly played billiards “I told the detective it was best to avoid the place because the enemy could be anywhere and waiting to strike.

But took no notice of what my father said and continued to visit the shop. “One day, as he was stooping over the billiards table and about to play a shot, when he was shot in the back and killed,” my father added. My father who spoke several Chinese dialects, was continually threatened by members of the Secret Society (triads or Chinese -based organized) although he was well-known gentleman Eurasian officer.

One of his favorite recreational spots was Tanjong Bungah where he used to go with my family every weekend. However, one weekend six men visited Tanjung Bunga and were determined to eliminate him My father said: “The men approached one of my aunts asked her if I was in her house and she said I wasn’t.

“Fortunately, I had gone to a different beach and after waiting for about four hours the men left.” The next weekend, Ritchie returned to Tanjong Bungah but this time with a squad of policemen. He wanted to set myself up as "bait" for the six men hoping the show up. But lucky for both parties, the men did not turn up because there could have been a major confrontation.

Johnny Ritchie was popular with people of all races because he was friendly, generous and mingled freely with people of all races. On one occasion an Indian hawker and where he often had his breakfast, saved his life. Reminiscing Inspector Johnny Ritchie said: “One night, the stall owner Indian came to my house panting for breath after running distance of two miles to warn me that several strangers who had coffee shop near his stall had asked for me.

“I immediately took a party of policemen and went to the coffee shop in search of the men but they had already left. “However, I was touched by stall owner’s concern the hawker had shown for my safety and I was grateful to him.” This little episode showed that sometimes the life of the policemen is in the hands of pubic and good heartedness of ordinary folk. Although the police often took precaution against danger, we could never make ourselves completely immune to attacks on our lives.

Imagine his surprise when he later found that a band of five assassins that had been assigned to kill him were responsible for four murders, four robberies of firearms from policemen and three cases of attempted murder. It was discovered he group which was also involved in violent crimes in Penang the CT’s "Killer Corps."

Among the four murders was one of a prominent popular and well -respected headmaster of a Chinese school. The anti-communist headmaster had exerted a strong influence over the schoolboys and discouraged in subversive activities. His murder created a sensation and many outstanding citizens condemned his killing. One day in February 1952, the headmaster, accompanied by a school teacher, left in his car to attend a Teachers' Association meeting.

When they arrived at the location of the meeting, the headmaster’s companion got out from the car and began walking towards the building. Suddenly he heard an explosion and thinking the car types had punctured so he and turned back and noticed the headmaster slumped at the wheel. The shooting had occurred in broad quite a number of people in the vicinity, including customers in a nearby coffee shop. But nobody came forward as witnesses.

Roots 6

Double agents and Assassins

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At the height of the Malayan Emergency, Penang’s secret societies ruled supreme. In the olden days China-based Secret Societies were organized socio-economic groups with noble ideals and were protectors of the ordinary folk. But it was a matter of time before the Secret Societies came under the influence of the criminal elements “Triads”. A great influx of “Nanyang” Chinese to the Malayan peninsula came in the 19th century when business was booming in the Straits settlements of Singapore and Penang.

However, during the Japanese occupation the Society’s activities were almost wiped; the Japanese launched an anti-Chinese putsch which included that the infamous Sook Ching massacres of 80,000 (Feb 18-March 4 1942) in Singapore. After the war it was “business usual” where Penang boasted of 22 secret societies. Its “mafia” was controlled by underworld chief Ooi Ah Sow who was a legendary Robin Hood.

Dato Sri John Ritchie who was a young officer at that time said: “We received information that Ooi was hiding in one of the squatter huts and guarded by armed terrorists and sten-guns and grenades. He joked: “But it was a botched operation because instead of confronting Ooi in a gunfight, we ran into a cow shed.

“It was pitch dark and their sudden appearance of policemen in uniforms and weapons frightened the cattle causing a stampede. “Next thing we knew was our leading party running out at breakneck speed with a herd of cows behind. “Those of us providing backup had difficulty in suppressing our laughter in the presence of our boss the head of CID.”

Ooi who lived in the Penang hills was fled to a secret society enclave of Semeling in Sungei Petani in Kedah where he was arrested. After a banishment enquiry, my father was tasked to escort him to Singapore before he was banished to China. Another interesting incident was the “body in a sack” murder where a taxi driver with arms tied behind his back was shot in the head, put in a sack, and thrown in the river.

Known as “death by submarine ride” he was involved in a love affair with a secret society “double” agent. Initially, there were no clues as to the killer except for a photograph of an attractive woman in my father’s possession. Interrogating the suspect, Ritchie wanted to catch the double-agent by surprise when he suddenly produced the woman’s picture.

“When I whipped out the photo and thrust it before the eyes of the informer and asked him who she was, he promptly (not suspecting he was incriminating himself) answered “My wife.” Further investigating led to the man’s confession! In the meantime, my father had to deal with increasing influence of the communists on the Penang Chinese.

In his memoir “The Adventures of Johnny Ritchie (1999)” published by Pelanduk Publications, he said a group of about 60 communist terrorists were operating in the Penang hills. “When the Emergency started in 1948, the government did not have a jungle force such as the Police Field Force of Sarawak and we had no real effective group to fight these terrorists.

“To counter this situation, I formed the first ten-man police units comprising police regulars and detectives, to comb, control and dominate the hills as much as possible.” As soon as the terrorists heard of these jungle police squads, they took immediate counter-measures and seized a number of shot guns from the civilian population, protect their interests.

Consequently, these jungle squads, commanded by British police lieutenants began to curb the activities of the terrorists. But they were ineffective because the CTs initiated a “reign of terror” with the murdered two informers at the village market at Balik Pulau about 20 miles from Georgetown. Once my father’s jungle squads were fully operational, they went on long missions in the jungle.

On one strange occasion, a squad of men spend the night in the remote jungle were sleeping when there apparently translocated by “spirits”. “Next morning when the men woke up, they found were no longer in their hammocks. Some were lying in bushes while others found sleeping on the surroundings valleys. “None of the men were able to explain what had happened so they decided it could have been a supernatural experience.”

Later the police learnt that the communist had also avoided visiting this particular haunted location. As the Penang jungle squad became more experienced, they were able to curb CT activities. Constantly on the run and always short of food supplies, they found supporters deserting the societies. In another episode, Inspector Johnny Ritchie was told of that the secret society “boss” wanted to meet him on his own.

As a rule, Ritchie always refused to meet the enemy alone but since this was urgent had another police office to replace him. Fortunately, my father did not turn up; the “mafia” boss had set up a trap to kill two people at one go—Ritchie and a suspected double agent named “Ah Lee” working as with the police. Unfortunately, “Ah Lee” turned up at the scene thinking he was meeting Ritchie, was detained and taken to Penang Hills and buried alive.

In the 1950s murder, robbery and burnings in Penang continued to give the impression that police were ineffective, incompetent and weak. There was the sensational murder of prominent Chinese school headmaster creating fear because it was carried out in broad daylight. As it transpired, two gunmen on bicycles had waited at a coffee shop for the headmaster to arrive in his car at a meeting.

As soon as the car pulled up at a kerb, one of the gunmen calmly walked across the road to the car and shot him in the head. The case remained unsolved because there wasn’t a scrap of information on the killers! However, a "breakthrough came when a CT surrendered and was questioned about the shooting of the headmaster.

Slim as the information was, it gave the police something to work on. In December 1952, one of the suspects we were looking for, and who turned out to be one of the murderers, was arrested at his house and from information gleaned from him another arrest was made in Bukit Mertajam.