tanah melayu1946 - 1957

1946 - 1957

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 Gent was installed 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.