Ipoh War Memorial was built in 1927 and unveiled on Remembrance Day, originally to commemorate the soldiers from Perak State who had died in World War I. The original plaque on the War Memorial listed 91 names of British citizens living in Perak state who died in war. This plaque was reinstalled with additional references to ‘The Malayan Emergency of 1948 – 1960’, the ‘Indonesian Confrontation of 1962 -1965’, and the ‘The Re-Insurgency Period of 1972 – 1990’. Something about the mention of these other three conflicts, which involved Malaysian people being killed, seems to have offended local sensibilities and the new plaque was vandalised very shortly after being installed. This may be connected to the ‘Malayan Emergency’ having started in Perak State, near Ipoh, with the killing of three European plantation owners and the subsequent reprisals. It is easy to understand how a Malaysian living in Perak might be offended by a plaque commemorating soldiers from a foreign country involved in armed conflict with other Malaysians from Perak half a century ago. Inscription on Ipoh War Memorial
