a.k.a HiStory
Come here, child. It's so nice of you to drop by. Don't be afraid.
I can tell you lots about the Japanese Occupation, if you’re willing to sit and listen. It funny that you, a college student, are here asking me to tell you about history. Most of my grandchildren are in universities and never bother about history. And don’t ask if they ask anything about my life story!
Well, would you like to know my life story? After all, isn’t history sort of story too? These stories are important … to guide the younger generation, like you.
You are lucky. Malaysia is so peaceful now. All the major problems are over. But as I said, we should always learn from history. Do not let history repeat itself.
I remember when my father told me back in 1941 that the Japanese army occupied Manchuria in 1931. Then in 1937, war with China. Followed by war with Indochina in 1940. Pardon me if I get the dates wrongly. Have pity upon this old man, will you?
Let’s see … if I remember correctly, on 8 December 1941, they reached Kota Bharu and by 15 February 1942, Singapore fell to Japanese army.
Those short people with their “Asia for the Asians” slogan; how could we forget that? It managed to blind the Malays, at least for a little while, I would say. The Malays in Malaya welcomed the Japanese army because they were tricked by the Japanese slogan. They wanted to gain independence through Japanese army and they believed the Japanese would help them.
And do you know what the desperate British did? They released the Communists from prison. That shows how desperate the British were to fight the Japanese. If I remember correctly, the British said, “You may go out of prison as long as you fight the invading Japanese army.”
In the early days of the Japanese Occupation, many Chinese were treated with cruelty. Countless thousands were massacred in Singapore. All these was done by the Japanese to root out anti-Japanese groups, Kuomintang supporters and also Communist sympathizers.
How was Japanese policy towards the Indians during the occupation, you ask? Not cruel … not rude … no hate. Hmm, gentle, I’d say. They didn’t suffer much, those lucky good-for-nothing fellows!
Pardon me for being rude here.
The Japanese Occupation wasn’t all so bad, if you think about it. The occupation made the Malays realize that Japanese would not give independence to Malaya. Of course there were rumors that the Japanese would chase the Malays to Indonesia but it’s illogical. The fact is that Japanese Occupation gave a very good lesson to the Malays who expected the Japanese to take Malaya from the British and hand it over to them: the Malays. Gradually, the Malays realized that they have to unite to gain independence; not wait for others to do it for them.
But things were not so easy. Everyone suffered in one way or another. Even the Indians suffered, mind you, as they were sent to Burma to build the railroad there. Meanwhile, in August 1943, Japan restored Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu to Thailand. Why? Because the Siam king let the Japanese army through during the invasion in December 1941.
Wow! My memory is not that bad after all.
Let’s see … World War Two came to an end in August 1945 with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or was it Pearl Harbour and Hawaii? Prince of Wales and Repulse? No, that’s in 1941. Then, oh yes! Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Right. There are even movies about it. Tora Tora Tora. Did you watch it? Or try Hiroshima. I’m sure you can get the pirated VCD at any pasar malam, right?
Sir Harold MacMichael? What has he got to do with Malaya? I’m not sure. Sir Harold … No that name doesn’t seem to ring a bell. MacMicheal.
Hey wait! Was he the man assigned to draft the proposal of Malayan Union? Or to convince the Chinese and the Indians to accept Malayan Union? No, that’s wrong. Some even think that he was the Governor of Malayan Union. But no, his job was to get the Malay rulers sign the Malayan Union treaty.
Of course the Malays objected and rejected Malayan Union because it means the Sultans would have less power and the Malays would lose their special rights; not to mention that Malayan Union had liberal citizenship rules for immigrants.
Other than Malays – the Indians? Don’t ask – English people also objected to Malayan Union. I remember that some former Governors and European Malayan Civil Service officials protested strongly. They have worked in Malaya and they know the Malay sentiment. Frank Swettenham, George Maxwell and Cecil Clementi Smith were among them.
As for the Malays, they had a big meeting in Kuala Kangsar in March 1946 to protest against Malayan Union. Among the outcome, they decided to boycott the inauguration of the Malayan Union. They also realized the importance of unity among themselves. Japanese Occupation was enough to trigger it. After the gathering, the Malays formed United Malays National Organization, or UMNO as it’s widely known now. Dato Onn Jaafar was the man.
If you remember your history, you’d be aware that later, when the members objected Dato Onn’s idea to open UMNO to non-Malays, he quit and founded Independence of Malaya Party. And later, Parti Negara.
The British took the Malay power seriously after UMNO was founded. So, Malayan Union on 1 April 1946 was really an April Fools’ day!
Two years later, the Federation of Malaya was formed. What does Federation of Malaya have in common with Malayan Union? Well, think about it and you’ll know what it had in common. It has got to do with Singapore.
There’s so much more I can tell you. Things that I heard from my parents, what I read in books and what I saw myself.
I’m glad that you came to ask me about all this. Glad that youngsters like you are still interested in history; even though just for examination purpose.
Well, this is all I can tell you for time being. Come again another day and I just might be around to tell you more. I’ll tell you more about my story.
If you have come to ask me all this history matters because of some school project or some tests, well, then I wish you all the best!
31 August 2001
Who the BEEP is Uthaya Sankar SB?
Below
are notes taken from http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/index.htm
The Second
World War began in Europe on 3rd September 1939. By June 1940 Norway, Holland,
Belgium Luxembourg and France were occupied by German troops and Britain was
left alone to hold back the military forces of Germany. Japan had long desired
to control the rich lands of South-East Asia, and on 8th December 1941 she
seized an opportunity to enter the war on the side of the Germans. Malaya had
not much opposition to offer to the Japanese navy or to their air Force as the
British were fully engaged in the West.
By 13th
December 1941 Japanese troops were in Kedah and had started their big push
towards Singapore. The Japanese forces landed in Singapore on the 8th February
and Singapore surrendered to the Japanese forces on the 15th February 1942.
The Japanese
set up a military administration for Malaya, which lasted for forty two months.
The occupation was a great hardship for most of the people. The Japanese
occupation in Malaya ended when they surrendered in August 1945. British forces
under Lord Louis Mountbatten reoccupied Malaya on 5th September 1945 and a
British Military Administration was set up to run the country.
On 14th August
1945 Japan surrendered and the Japanese military occupation of Malaya ended. The
Japanese Occupation led to the loss or at least lowering of the prestige of the
western powers. The defeat of the British in Malaya, the Dutch in Indonesia, and
the Americans in the Philippines brought this result. The British government was
supposed to protect Malaya. It had concluded agreements with the various Malay
rulers in which an undertaking was given by the British to protect the Malay
states in return for the many privileges and rights it enjoyed. Yet, when the
Japanese came, the British had not provided an adequate defence arrangement for
this country, hence the speedy surrender. Nonetheless, the Japanese Occupation
had aroused the political consciousness of the people and when the British
returned to Malaya, a new situation had emerged.
On October
1945, The British announced a bold decision to end indirect rule in the Malay
States by uniting all the states into a Malayan Union under a Governor with
executive powers. It proposed to initiate a Malayan form of citizenship which
would give equal rights to those who claim Malaya as their homeland.
Pulau Pinang
and Melaka although parts of the proposed Malayan Union would remained British
Settlements. Singapore would remained as a separate colony. The Malayan Union
and Singapore would have separate Governors and their individual Executive and
Legislative Councils.
In the Malayan
Union, the Malay Sultans would be Presidents in his own State, of a Malay
Advisory Council which would be mainly concerned with religious matters. The
Malay Sultans would be asked to sign new treaties which would give the British
Government jurisdiction in their states. These constitutional proposals actually
represented a complete change of policy by the British Government. The Malay
States had never been British territories. They were and always have been
protected Malay States.
On October
1945, Sir Harold MacMichael, special envoy to the British Government arrived in
Kuala Lumpur to negotiate the new treaties with the Sultans of the Malay States.
The Sultans signed under protest and abdicated their sovereign rights and powers
to the British Crown.
Political
parties and associations were formed all over the country to fight the Malayan
Union proposals which were to come into effect on 1 April 1946 when civil
government were to be restored.
On 1st
March 1946, representatives from the 41 Malay associations and organizations
formed the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO). Dato’ Onn Jaafar was
elected as the first President and the Malays at that time could be said to be
more united over a single purpose than they were ever before. UMNO provided the
spearhead for the deep and spreading Malay opposition to the Malayan Union. The
Malay Unity was a new force to the British and also to the Chinese. UMNO passed
a resolution declaring that the agreement signed by the Sultans to be null and
void. On 31st March 1945, British Military Administration terminated officially.
On 1st
April 1946, the Malayan Union came into being and Sir Edward was installed as
the Governor of the Malayan Union in Kuala Lumpur. However, UMNO called for the
abolishment of the Malayan Union and be replaced by the Federation of Malaya The
proposed Federation of Malaya consisting of the nine Malay states and two
British settlements would replace the Malayan Union. It was also proposed that a
High Commissioner and not a Governor would be the representative of the British
crown.
The proposal
also stated that apart from Malays, only second generation Chinese, Indians and
other races would automatically qualify for the federal citizenship. Thus the
Malayan Union was officially terminated on the 31st January, 1948.
The Federation
of Malaya was established in place of the Malayan Union after protracted
negotiations with the malay Rulers, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
and other parties concerned. The new Federation consisted of all the nine Malay
states of the Peninsula, along with Melaka and Pulau Pinang. The federation of
Malaya was under the administration of a federal government in Kuala Lumpur
headed by a British High Commissioner.
The termination
of the Malayan Union in 1948 had made the British to commit themselves to
prepare the way fro the Federation’s independence. Under the twin pressure of
the Emergency and the development of a strong Malay nationalist movement, that
is UMNO, the British introduced elections in 1951 at the local level. The
problem of obtaining political coopertaion among the main ethnic groups in the
country to fight for independence was resolved by the successful establishment
of an alliance between UMNO and the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), the two
principal communal parties and later joined by the Malayan Indian Congress
(MIC). When the first federal elections were held in 1955, the UMNO-MCA-MIC
Alliance, which was headed by Tunku Abdul Rahman, won an overwhelming vistory,
that is 51 out of the 52 seats contested. Tunku Abdul Rahman was appointed the
Federation of Malaya’s first Chief Minister. The Alliance was successful in
pressuring the British to relinquisht heir sovereignty and the Federation of
Malaya achieved its independence on the 31st August 1957.
In 1955
Singapore was granted internal autonomy under the Rendel Constitution and David
Marshall was appointed the first Chief Minister. By 1959, Singapore had achived
full interbal self government and was led by the Peoples’ Action Party (PAP)
under Lee Kuan Yew. In sarawak, local elections were introduced in 1959.
The first move
towards the formation of Malaysia came in 1961 when the idea for the formation
of a wider federation comprising the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak,
Sabah and Brunei was mooted by Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tunku’s proposal was
generally accepted by the people of malaya and Singapore but raised doubts in
Sabah and Sarawak.
However, the
proposal was oppossed by the Philippines as they asserted a claim over Sabah.
The proposal also received oppositon from Indonesia where it was vieved as a
“neo-colonialist’ plot by Sukarno and the powerful Indonesian Communist
Party.
The proposal
also had an immediate effect of accelaerating constitutional development in
Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Elections were held for the first time in Brunei and
in Sabah in 1962. A joint- Anglo-Malayan commission headed by a former of the
bank of England, Lord Cobbold, visited sabah and Sarawakin 1962 and reported
that the majority of the states favoured the formation of Malaysia.
However,
continued Philippine and Indonesian opposition led to the sending of a United
nations mission to Borneo in 1963, which also reported that the public opinion
was in favour of joining Malaysia.
Thus on 16
September 1963, the formation of Malaysia which consisted of the Federation of
Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singaore was formally promulgated. However, Brunei
declined to join Malaysia. However, in 1965 Singapore ceased to be a member of
the Federation of Malaya and became an independent state.
The years after
the formation of Malaysia saw confrontation from Indonesia which took the form
of armed attacks on the Peninsula and across the land fromtiers of Sabah and
Sarawak. The confrontation came to an end in 1966 by an agreement signed in
Bangkok, Thailand.
Malaysia’s
political system is based on the conscept of parliamentary constitutional
monarchy with a federal government which is based on the British Westminister
model.The British laid the foundation for the federal government in Malaya in
1885 when they successfully introduced the concept of federation by joining the
administration of the four Malay states, that is Negri Sembilan, Perak, Selangor
and Pahangunder the Federated Malay States.Thus the Malaysian Constitution is
based on the constitution of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957.
When Malaysia
was formed on 16 September 1963, the existing Federation of Malaya Constitution
was retained but amended and adjusted so as to permit the admission of Sabah and
Sarawak.
Since
independence, Malaysia was ruled by Alliance which later became Barisan Nasional
in in 1971. The Barisan Nasional or National Front is a coalition of political
parties. The party has easily retained its majority in Parliament throughout the
nine elections held since the nation attained its independence.
However, in
1969, for the first and up till now the only time the coalition lost its overall
two-thirds majority. Communal tensions resulted in the racial riots in Kuala
Lumpur on 13 May 1969. The incident lead to the establishment of an emergency
government, that is the National Operations Council. Tun Razak was appointed the
Director of Operations under the Proclamation of Emergency for 22 months until
Emergency was lifted and Parliament resumed on 22 September 1970. Since then the
broad aim of the administration has been the fulfilment of the New Economic
Policy which is designed to eradicate poverty regardless of race, and to
eliminate the identification of occupation with race.
Tun Abdul Razak
took over as Prime Minister upon the retirement of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra
Alhaj on the 22 September 1970. The economic prosperity achieved in the 1970s
enabled the administration of Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Hussein Onn who took over
on thhe death of Tun Razak in 1976 to make considerable progress towards these
ends. Malaysia also established a more independent foreign policy which lead to
the founding of ASEAN in 1967. Malaysia also recognised Communist China in 1974
and identifying the nation with non-aligned countries of the third world.
The New
Economic Policy was given a fresh impetus under the premiership of Tun Hussein
Onn. The National Unit Trust or Amanah Saham Nasional was was introduced to
allow bumiputera to invest in shares. This Unit Trust was controlled by National
Equity Corporation or Permodalan Nasional Berhad.
The 1980s
brought new political directions and economic challenges. Dato’Seri Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad who took over the premeiership from Tun Hussein Onn on 17th
July 1981 initiated a bold policy of heavy industrialization such as the
national car project, oil refineries and a steel industry.
Notes taken from http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/index.htm
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