Peranan Politik Akhbar Suara Rakyat 1945–48 (The Political Role of the Suara Rakyat Newspaper 1945–48)

Abstract

Era selepas Perang Dunia Kedua memperlihatkan beberapa orang anak muda Perak telah bertekad untuk menerbitkan akhbar tempatan di Perak. Mereka ialah Ahmad Boestamam, Abdul Samad Ahmad, Muhammad Hanif, Zulkifli Ownie, Dahari Ali, Musa Ahmad dan Haji Ramli Said. Dengan berbekalkan semangat untuk membela bangsa Melayu, mereka telah bertindak nekad merampas dan mengambil alih pejabat percetakan akhbar Perak Shimbun pada bulan Ogos 1945. Dengan tindakan itu, terbitlah akhbar Suara Rakyat bagi golongan radikal Melayu Perak pada 8 September 1945 di Ipoh, Perak. Akhbar Suara Rakyat merupakan akhbar yang memupuk kesedaran berpolitik dalam kalangan masyarakat Melayu di Tanah Melayu. Dengan berfokuskan matlamat perjuangan Melayu Raya, akhbar ini berperanan penting dalam melahirkan Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM). Walaupun tempoh usia akhbar ini tidak lama tetapi impaknya berjaya menyedarkan bangsa Melayu melalui penubuhan cawangan PKMM di seluruh Tanah Melayu dan menggugat penjajah serta pendukung-pendukungnya.

The era following the Second World War saw a number of Perak youths publish a local newspaper. They were Ahmad Boestamam, Abdul Samad Ahmad, Muhammad Hanif, Zulkifli Ownie, Dahari Ali, Musa Ahmad and Haji Ramli Said. In the spirit of defending the Malay race, they took drastic action by seizing and taking over the printing office of the Perak Shimbun in August 1945. With the takeover, the Suara Rakyat newspaper was established for the radical Malay group in Perak on 8 September 1945, in Ipoh, Perak. The newspaper advocated political awareness among the Malay community in the Malay Peninsula with its focus on 'Melayu Raya' and played an important role in setting up the Malay National Party (MNP). In spite of its short existence, it succeeded in raising the awareness of the Malays through the establishment of MNP branches throughout the Malay Peninsula and destabilized the colonial power as well as its supporters.