Malaya: The Making of a Neo-colony

266 Pages·1977·41.068 MB·English

by  Mohamed Amin, Malcolm Caldwell eds.

:ALMA
THE MAKING OF
A NEO-COLONY
Edited by
Mohamed Amin and Malcolm Caldwell
Spokesman
First Published in 1977
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. All rights are
reserved. Apart from any fair dealings for the purpose of private study,
research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act,
1956, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo-copying, record-
ing or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.
Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers.
ISBN G 85124 190 5
Paper
ISBN 0 85124 189 I
Cloth
Copyright © Spokesman Books 1977
Published by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Bertrand Russell
House, Gamble Street, Nottingham NG'1 4ET, for Spokesman Books.
Printed by the Russell Press Ltd., Nottingham (TU)
"The function of the white man in a tropical country is not to labour
with his hands, but to direct and control a plentiful and efficient supply
of native labour, to assist in the Government of the country, or to en-
gage in opportunities offered for trade and commerce, from an office
desk in a bank or mercantile firm." (British Malaya, May 1926, p.6)
"It should be made clear that the Authorities will not tolerate anything
that savours of organised agitation. This is British territory, and the
men concerned in the strikes are aliens. They come here because the
inducements held out appeared good to them, and once here they have
to conduct themseIveat* Eircumspection expected of any alien
in a foreign country." (Malaya Tribune, September 21, 1936)
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Contents
Page
Foreword 9
Note on Terminology 1 1
l. The British "Forward Movement", 1874-1914 13
Malcolm Caldwell
2. War, Boom and Depression 38
Malcolm Caldwell
Appendix: British "Intervention" and
Malay Resistance 64
Mohamed Amid
3. Contradictions in Pre-War Colonialism, 1930-41 73
Drud Laz'rlff
4. Japanese Invasion and Occupation, 1942-45 85
Daud Larffff
5. The MPAJA and the Revolutionary Struggle, 1939-45 95
Lee Tong Foong
6. The British Military Administration,
September 1945 to April 1946 120
Dead Latfff
7. The Rise and Fall of Malayan Trade
Unionism, 1945-50 150
Michael Morgan
8. Singapore, 1945-57 199
George Sweeney
9. From "Emergency" to "Independence", 1948-57 216
Malcolm Caldwell

Foreword
Events in Malaya* have moved with great rapidity since we embarked
upon this volume. Their direction -- towards more severe repression of
the people and growing inequalities in wealth between the people and
the elite -- imparts, we believe, great topicality to the volume which
follows. It should be clear from its general theme and argument that the
disarray and feelings of insecurity now so palpable in Malayan ruling
circles have not appeared inexplicably, out of the blue, but are the
logical consequence of their own historical origins in the colonial
period. In a second volume we will take the story from 1957 to the
present, in the process amplifying the thesis and buttressing it with
detailed illustration and substantiation.
Some of our colleagues who originally agreed to contribute to this
volume are now themselves in detention in mainland Malaya or in
Singapore. The volume is the poorer for the loss oltheir intended con-
tributions to it, but we hope nonetheless that it speaks for them while
they are silenced.
While this is a quite independent radical study, we make no apology
.
for dedicating it to all political prisoners in Malaya, to all those martyred
and abused during the long struggle against colonialism and neo-colonial~
ism, to all those now in struggle, and to the masses of the Malayan
people .
The last chapter of the long march to liberation remains to be writ-
ten. When it is, our own work must be superceded. But in the interim
we trust that it will help counter the countless volumes by, or closely
reflecting the views of, the British colonialists and their neo-colonial
heirs.
Mohamed Amin
Malcolm Caldwell
London, March J977
*For an explanation of usage in this book, please see the Note which follows.
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A
Note on Terminology
It is essential to explain the usage of words employed in this book, for
terminology is particularly complicated when dealing with Malaya.
Once Britain had acquired the island of Penang (1786), the island of
Singapore (1819), and the city of Malacca (1824), the three became
known as the Straits Settlements (SS). After conclusion of the Pangkor
engagement in 1874, Britain began to advance into the mainland
Malay states. Four of these -- Pahang, Perak, Negri Sembilan, and
Selangor - were brought together as the Federated Malay States (FMS)
in 1896- The other states - Kelantan, Trengganu, Ked ah, Perlis, and
-
_lohore constituted the Unfederated Malay States (UMS).
After W second world war, peninsular (mainland) Malaya and
Singapore were separated by the British. The former Straits Settlements
(minus Singapore) was joined with the FMS and the UMS to form a
Federation of Malaya in 1948, the Federation of Malaya achieved inde-
pendence in 1957. In 1963, an independent Singapore merged with the
Federation of Malaya, Evo other British-controlled territories (Sarawak
and Sabah in northern Borneo) joined them, and the new grouping
became known as Federation of Malaysia. In 1965, however,
Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia (which retained the name)
and became an independent state in its own right.
In this volume, we endorse the usage employed by Malayan radicals
and use the word "Malaya" (except where otherwise made explicitly
clear) to mean mainland Malaya (currently known as Peninsular or West
Malaysia) and Singapore, and the words "North Kalimantan" to mean
Sarawak, Sabah and the British protectorate of Brunei. Sarawak and
Sabah are currently known as East Malaysia.
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