A contest for postwar Malaya : social conflict, August 1945-March 1946

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.