Malaya Independence

Malayan Struggle for Independence and British Colonial Rule

Malayans formed a coalition between 1947 and 1957 that was aimed at replacing their British colonial masters. A coalition was formed by the Malayans to ensure that they escaped British rule, and this was documented through interracial solidarity, cooperation, cohesion, and harmony. The Malayans felt a great need for improvement and thus demanded independence. There was a fight for independence, according to (Cheah, 2003), and in the year 1957, the nation achieved independence. In Malaysia, the second colonial occupation was after the Second World War. The British had returned in the bid to claim the colonial possession in the southeastern part of Asia after the United States had bombed Japan and the British proposed that the Malayan Union plan to be consolidated further in the power of Malaya. The idea could not succeed because most of the Malayan native demanded a fair deal because they perceived that they had a say in their native land (Ismall, 2011). The United States gave Britain a hand in recovering Malaya as is assisted Britain to deal with communists.

Significance of the Years 1945-1957

The period between 1945 and the year 1957 is a very significant time in the Malayan history because it marked a twelve year period of rule that British exercised colonization in Malaya. After the duration of the twelve years of struggle for independence, the period was marked as the last time that the British colonial masters had colonized the southeastern part of Asia. British rulers at this time were forced to surrender a lot of their control across Asia as many other nations were busy struggling for independence. There were a series of the main events that that transpired the political movements in the Malayan leadership. The British rulers had a wish of ascertaining that their influence and other interests could be kept intact before they could release the Malayan Peninsula right from their grasp. A good formula was used in the bid to consolidate all the British interests before the Malayans were given independence (Arfin, 2014). The amicable solution was the British rule to remain as the guide in the Malayan leadership.

Elections and the Path to Independence

The path to the independency of Malaya was followed by an early election that took place in the December of the year 1951, then was followed by the next election that took place in the February of the year 1952 and then there was a Federal legislative council in the year 1955 (Fernando, 2009 55). The Malayan politics was greatly influenced by the past election, whether the elections were local elections or the parliamentary elections. Around the year 1947, elections had started to be the subject of discussion in Malaya since people wanted to see a change in their way of living having been submitted to the British colonial rules for some time. There was the pre-war administration that was placed in the year 1946 in the Malayan Peninsula (Hing 2011). In the year 14948, the British were forced to hold talks with the Malayans, and the Malayan Union was now replaced by the federal Malayan Union Scheme.

Reference

Arifin, A. (2014). LOCAL HISTORIANS AND THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF MALAYNATIONALISM 1945–57: THE BRITISH, THE UNITED MALAYS NATIONAL ORGANIZATION (UMNO) AND THE MALAY LEFT. Kajian Malaysia: Journal Of Malaysian Studies, 32(1), 1-35.

Cheah, B. K. (2003). Malaysia: The making of a nation. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Fernando, J. (2009). The alliance road to independence (1st ed.). Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.

Hing, L. (2011). Path to independence. Malaysiahistory.net. http://www.malaysiahistory.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28:path-to-independence&catid=39:road-to-independence&Itemid=114

Ismall, S. (2011). ‘Second Colonial Occupation’: The United States and British Malaya 1945-1949. Asian Culture And History, 4(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ach.v4n1p29