to continue with his education in Chinese. He left the school "for fear of British harassment" after just 6 months. He was now focused fully on his political activities and became, from that point on, a full-time revolutionary. In January 1940 he was put in charge of three anti-Japanese organisations that were targeting students, teachers, members of cultural activities, and general labourers. At the end of January 1940, he was admitted to the Malayan Communist Party as a member. Harassment by the authorities led him to leave his home town for Kuala Kangsar in July 1940. (This may be at the time when he left his school, refer to above). Later he spent a month in Taiping. In September 1940 the party posted him to Ipoh as a Standing committee member for Perak. In December he attained full Party membership. In early 1941 AEBUS was dissolved. Chin Peng became Ipoh District committee member of the Party. "He led student underground cells of three Chinese secondary schools and the Party's organisations of the shop assistants, domestic servants of European families, workers at brick kilns and barbers." In June 1941 he became a member of the Perak State Committee. Rise to prominence Chin Peng rose to prominence during World War II when many Chinese Malayans took to the jungle to fight a guerrilla war against the Japanese. These fighters, inspired by the example of the Communist Party of China, became known as the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Chin Peng became the liaison officer between the MPAJA and the British military in South-East Asia. The Japanese invasion of Malaya began in December 1941. In 1942 Chin was the youngest of three members of the Secretariat of the Perak State Committee: Su Yew Meng was secretary and Chang Meng Ching was the other member. In early 1943 the two senior members were captured by the Japanese, which left Chin Peng in charge. Contact with the Party's Central Committee had been lost; he attempted to re-establish it, travelling to Kuala Lumpur and meeting Chai Ker Meng. Later, party leader Lai Tek sent another Central Committee member, Lee Siow Peng (Siao Ping), to replace Chin as State Secretary. However, Lee Siow Peng was captured not long after while travelling to a meeting that was to be held in Singapore. Thus the job of establishing contact with the British commando Force 136 fell to Chin Peng.