Malaya

MALAYA - SUMMARY 

British Policies in Malaya 

• Key feature of Malayan history in the immediate post-war period was not so much the struggle for independence but rather the ethnically mixed population 

• Chinese & Indians were brought to Malaya to work in the rubber plantations and tin mines – some became very successful in trade and business; some demanded equal citizenship rights but not granted them due to pre-war British rule favoured the indigenous Malays 

• British protected the impoverished Muslim Malay Peasantry 

• Many Chinese joined the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) - dominated by the predominantly Chinese Malayan Communist Party (MCP) est. In 1930 

• British gave MPAJA military support during the war - in 1945 the MPAJA didn't oppose the British return 

British Military Administration (1945-6) 

• BMA was established in order to facilitate the return of civilian rule  

• British soldiers were engaging in plunder and ****, and were ineffective in handling economic problems and communal violence 

The Malayan Union (1946-8) 

• Britain proposed a Malayan Union consisting of the Malay Peninsula states in which non-Malays would have equal citizenship – keen to restore civilian rule and: a more centralized government would help revitalize the economy & prepare for Malayan independence; Britain appreciated Chinese opposition to Japanese occupation, feared without full citizenship the Chinese might transfer their loyalty to China 

• Malayan Union came into being on April 1st 1946 – but most Malays opposed it due to the fact it removed the powers of their traditional rulers 

• British then dropped this idea due to: mass peaceful Malay protests against it & anxiety lest the Malays turn anti-British; the unenthusiastic Indian and Chinese response to the Union 

• British replaced the Malayan Union with the Federation of Malaya Agreement 

The Federation of…