A contest for postwar Malaya : social conflict, August 1945-March 1946
Date
1978
Authors
Cheah, Boon Kheng
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Abstract
The Japanese occupation dramatically altered Malaya’s prewar pattern
of race relations and politics. Relations between Malays and Chinese,
which previously had been civil , broke down and led lo the two races
fighting one another. The Japanese occupation also gave certain
political groups an opportunity to come to the forefront. Due to
the growing strength of its resistance movement the Malayan Communist
Party became a major political force. Japanese plans to grant
Indonesia independence raised the hopes of the Kesatuan Melayu Muda
to try to achieve its goal of Malay independence within Indonesia
Raya (Creater.Indonesia). But the Japanese surrender once again
dramatically altered the situation in Malaya. For nineteen days or
more, depending on the location, neither the Japanese, the British,
nor any Chinese or Malay oriented group could be said to control
events. Instead, local resistance units, religious mystics, vengeful
and fear-ridden citizens roamed the countryside, swept into the towns
and took the law into their own hands. While the arrival of British
troops may have brought outward order, the fabric of society had been
rent, attitudes permanently altered. This study concentrates on the
causes of wartime inter-racial conflicts between Malays and Chinese,
the breakdown of authority during the post-surrender interregnum
and the confrontation between the Malayan Communist Party, the Malay
population and the British during the period of the British Military
Administration.
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