Of Patriots and Pretenders The Unofficial History of our Struggle for Independence

7/28/2019 Of Patriots and Pretenders The Unofficial History of our Struggle for Independence

1/9

1

Of Patriots and Pretenders: The Unofficial History of our Struggle forIndependence

Dr Kua Kia Soong

The National Professors Councils recent pronouncement that Malaya was never colonised by the British reminds me of the Ah Qs conception of history.

Ah Q was, of course, Chinas most famous modern writer Lu Xuns euphemism for self-deception. In Lu Xuns fable about the Chinese national character of his time, thefeckless Ah Q would put on a ludicrous front of self-deception even in the face of extreme defeat and humiliation; he was a bully to the underdog but sickeninglydeferential to the powerful mandarins.

Denying that we were ever colonised by the British is certainly a novel interpretation butintensely Ah Q if you ask me. I do believe our learned professors have got their

intellectual knickers in a knot simply because they wanted to show that our gallant men atBukit Kepong were not defending British colonialism, and thus chastise PAS deputy

president Mat Sabu in the process.

To think that all these 54 years of celebrating Merdeka was all an elaborate farce is asmuch a smack in the face for the Alliance and BN leaders who have ruled this countrysince 1957. Maybe that is why Umno and the BN leaders have not picked up the cue fromour learned professors.

If the learned professors had bothered toscrutinise the enabling document, in this

case the Federation of MalayaIndependence Act 1957, they wouldinstantly read in its preamble:

establishment of the Federation as anindependent sovereign country for thetermination of Her Majestyssovereignty and jurisdiction in respect of the said settlements, and of all other Her

power and jurisdiction in and in respect of the Malay states or the Federation as awhole.

Certainly any historian who obfuscates the fact that British colonisation of Malaya wasfor exploitation of our natural resources and cheap labour would be suffering a seriouscase of intellectual jaundice.

British historians Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper in their recent book ForgottenWars: The End of Britains Asian Empire have written:


2/9

2

(Southeast Asia) exported two-thirds of the worlds tin,and British Malaya alone provided half the worlds

production of rubber These industrial colonies were amajor buttress of the sterling area

Japans blitzkrieg to the south in 1941 had as its principaltarget the oilfields of British Borneo and Sumatra, and theiron and bauxite mines of Malaya The economic resources of Southeast Asia were seen

by Britain as so vital to its domestic recovery that it was willing to expend anunprecedented amount of blood and treasure in its reconquest. (Penguin, 2007: 11)

The history and analysis of the Malayan Emergency is necessarily a class analysis of thiscolonial exploitation and the classes which collaborated with the British colonialgovernment. At the same time, the anti-colonial struggle must acknowledge thecontributions of the patriotic class forces in all the ethnic communities to Independenceand nation building.

Divide-and-rule strategy was the corner stone of the British colonial power and thecommunal politics from the Malayan Union (1946) through the Federation of MalayaAgreement (1948) to the final Merdeka Agreement must be understood for us to realisethe status quo at Independence and the communalist politics since then.

The Alliance Formula was rife with contradictions from the start and we are still tryingto pick up the pieces today. The repression during the Emergency also enabled thecolonial power to exploit sectional interests and thereby isolate the working class fromthe peasantry.

The neo-colonial solution From the Colonial Office and Foreign Office documentsof the period uncovered from the Public Records Office inLondon (published in my latest book Patriots &Pretenders: The Malayan Peoples IndependenceStruggle , Suaram 2011), it has been possible to provideevidence of the thinking and calculation of Western (notonly British) imperialism with regard to Southeast Asia,

but especially the importance laid on securing Malaya for economic, political and military-strategic interests.

They show the priority accorded during the Emergency todefeating the anti-colonial forces spearheaded by theworkers. The post-war period was also one of re-dividingthe world by Western imperialism, which under thehegemony of the US, began to move toward an integrationrather than division of interests. These records reveal thearticulation of the whole Western, rather than solely British, interest in Malaya.


3/9

3

The atmosphere of repression during the Emergency provided the British colonial power with an opportunity todeflect the forces of revolt and effect the neo-colonialaccommodation. The entire colonial strategy especiallythe aftermath of the Malayan Union crisis had

convinced the British that the custodians of anIndependent Malaya would be the traditional Malay aristocracy.

This was in keeping with the communalist strategy of British rule throughout their colonisation of Malaya. At the same time, the neo-colonial arrangement had toaccommodate the upper strata of the non-Malay capitalist class who were a necessarylink in the colonial exploitation of the Malayan economy.

The vacillating politics of this class, reflecting its narrow and limited material interests,was harnessed by the colonial state. So much so that when Alliance leader Tunku AbdulRahman and the other coalition representatives went to London to demand independence,

their proposals were accepted on a platter by the British government.

The documents from the British archives also reveal that the Alliance Formula with allits contradictions was devised during the Emergency. The reform measures conceded bythe colonial power and grudgingly agreed to by the Malay aristocracy were in many waysnecessitated by the ferocity of the revolt.

Certainly, the Independence struggle and the Merdeka Agreement have to be understoodin class terms the ruling class in the making represented by Umno, MCA and MIC onthe one side, and the truly anti-colonial forces in the PMCJA-Putera coalitionrepresenting the workers, peasantry and disenchanted middle class on the other. Thus the

so-called Social Contract would have looked very different if the PeoplesConstitution of the AMCJA-Putera coalition had won the day.

The so-called Social Contract that has been bandied about by Umno politicians inrecent years claims that there was a trade-off at Independence between grantingcitizenship to the non-Malays while giving special privileges to the Malays.

In fact, this so-called Social Contract has undergone three transformations, so much sothat Malay special privileges in Malaysia today are a far cry from the status quo antefrom 1957 to 1971. The Constitution was amended in 1971 after the 1969 May 13

pogrom while the country was still in a state of emergency and the ascendant Malaycapitalist class was in total control of the Malaysian state.

Thus, I would urge our learned professors to keep their interesting views on never colonised Malaya to themselves and not to flaunt them in any respectable academic

journals.


4/9

4

COMMENT : More than 50 years after Independence, Malaysians are still frequentlyreminded by UMNO leaders of the so-called Social Contract that was supposed to have

been agreed upon by the three races whenever the non-bumiputeras demand civilliberties and the end to discrimination.

My new book Patriots & Pretenders aims to putthe historical facts in perspective so that the newgeneration of Malaysians understands the classforces that were arraigned during the anti-colonialstruggle and gets to know who the real anti-colonialfighters were.

The publication of this book coincides with therecent announcement by the Education Ministrythat history is to be a compulsory subject in theSPM. It led to vocal protest from several sectors

who find the official history in Malaysia rather suspect.

Ever since the May 13 Incident and the promulgation of the National Cultural Policy,Malaysian history has been written from the pointof view of the ruling party Umno in line with itsMalay-centric populist ideology.

It is an official history that is used to bolster one ethnic group at the expense of the other communities in an attempt to divide and rule. Consequently, whole categories of people

have been denied their rightful place in Malaysian history.Patriots & Pretenders tries to set the record straight by providing a class analysis of theanti-colonial struggle and acknowledging the contributions of the patriotic forces in allthe ethnic communities to Independence and nation building.

This Peoples History which is based on academic research by respected scholars, has been hidden from official Malaysian history and by studying it we can uncover the rootsof racial polarisation in Malaysia and lay the basis for a non-racial solution to our nations challenges.

The Neo-Colonial Solution From the Colonial Office and Foreign Office documents of the period uncovered fromthe Public Records Office in London, it has been possible to provide evidence of thethinking and calculation of Western interests with regard to Southeast Asia, butespecially the importance laid on securing Malaya for economic, political and military-strategic interests. They show the priority accorded to defeating the anti-colonial forcesspearheaded by the workers. The post-war period was also one of re-dividing the world


5/9

5

by the Western powers, which under the hegemony of the US, beganto move toward an integration rather than division of interests. Theserecords reveal the articulation of the whole Western, rather than solelyBritish, interest in Malaya.

The atmosphere of repression during the Emergency provided theBritish colonial power with an opportunity to deflect the forces of revolt and effect the neo-colonial accommodation. The entire colonialstrategy especially the aftermath of the Malayan Union crisis hadconvinced the British that the custodians of an Independent Malayawould be the traditional Malay elite.

This was in keeping with the communalist strategy of British rule throughout their colonisation of Malaya. At the same time, the neo-colonial arrangement had toaccommodate the upper strata of the non-Malay capitalist class who were a necessarylink in the foreign domination of the Malayan economy. The repression during the

Emergency enabled the colonial government to exploit sectional interests and therebyisolate the working class and the peasantry.

Thus, the Alliance Formula with all its contradictions was devised in IndependentMalaya. The reform measures conceded by the colonial power and grudgingly agreed to

by the Malay rulers were in many ways necessitated by the ferocity of the revolt.

Another myth that is purveyed during Merdeka Day every year is that it was UMNOwho won Independence for the country.

The evidence presented in Patriots & Pretenders will show who the main opponents of

the British colonial power were and who put up a protracted struggle to end theexploitation of the countrys natural and human resources while forging a truly multi-ethnic peoples united front.

The Independence struggle and the Merdeka Agreement have to be understood in classterms the ruling class in the making represented by UMNO, MCA and MIC on the oneside, and the truly anti-colonial forces in the PMCJA-Putera coalition representing theworkers, peasantry and disenchanted middle class on the other.

The Struggle for Independence

The UMNO leadership after the Second World War represented the interests of theMalay aristocracy. They were by no means anti-colonial and did not challenge Britishinterests. Malaya was still very much dependent on export commodities, largely rubber and tin. The industrial base was narrow and based on these two commodities, while the

problem of the peasantry since colonial times was still unresolved.

The mass-based anti-colonial movement, on the other hand, had very clear policies basedon self-determination, civil liberties and equality. The workers movement was the main


6/9

6

threat to colonial interests and the Federation of Malaya proposals culminating in the Merdeka Agreement wereintended to deflect the working class revolt by introducingcommunalism in the Independence package.

The Emergency (1948-60) was as much a crackdown on theworkers movement as it was a war against the anti-colonialinsurrection. The subsequent Alliance Formula comprising the Malay aristocratic classand non-Malay capitalist class was designed to deal with the workers revolt and put in

place a neo-colonial solution.

The colonial Malayan economy saw a neglected peasantry while the crucial questions of exploitation by foreign capital, land ownership and size of landholdings of the Malay

peasantry (for which the Malay aristocracy was responsible) were deflected intogrievances against the non-Malay middlemen.

The Malayan Union (MU) proposal by the British in 1946 was opposed by the politicalleft and right in Malaya for different reasons. Basically, the post-war Labour governmentin Britain had to grant civil rights including citizenship for the non-Malays as inelsewhere in the post-war world, but the Malay elite were opposed to this.

The latter also opposed the MU because it proposed to transfer the sultans jurisdiction tothe British and abolish the need for royal assent to legislation. On the other hand, the

peoples anti-colonial forces opposed it because it did not propose self-rule and noelections were contemplated. They were also against the exclusion of Singapore from thefederation.

In their demonstrations against the Malayan Union, UMNO carried banners calling for,among other things, denial of citizenship rights for the non-Malays but they did notoppose British colonial rule per se. UMNOs opposition to the Union had been mainly

provoked by the brusque manner in which the British had forced the sultans to sign thetreaties.

By contrast, the Malay Nationalist Party (MNP) called for, among other things:

the right to self-determination of the Malayan people; equal rights for all races; freedom of speech, press, meeting, religion; improving standard of living of all the people; improving farming conditions and abolishing land tax; improving labour conditions; education reform on democratic lines; fostering friendly inter-racial relations.

On Oct 20, 1947, the AMCJA-Putera coalition launched a general strike and economic boycott or hartal to protest against the constitutional proposals. It brought the country to


7/9

7

a complete standstill. It also called on all parties to boycott thefederal legislative and state councils.

Realising the different class forces opposing the Malayan Union,the British did a volte face and began to consult only with the

Malay elite to the exclusion of all the other interest groups.

The colonial power again used its divide-and-rule strategy to put the anti-colonial forceson the defensive by tightening up citizenship rules from five to 15 years residence under the Federation of Malaya proposals of 1948; Singapore was to be excluded from thefederation and no representative democracy was considered.

The constitutional crisis and labour unrest led to the Emergency being declared on June17, 1948. During the period from 1948 to 1960, thousands were deported to China whilesome 500,000 were relocated to new villages.

In looking at the citizenship issue, it is worth noting that by 1947, three-fifths of Chineseand one-half of Indians in Malaya were local born but in 1950, only 500,000 Chinese(one-fifth of the total) and 230,000 Indians had Malayan citizenship.

The 1952 Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council elections, which saw the successfulapplication of the Alliance formula, gave the British colonial power an indication of the

political forces to back for the neo-colonial solution.

The 1955 federal legislative council elections confirmed their choice of the Alliance andwhen the Alliance reneged on its amnesty proposals for the guerrillas at the Baling talksin 1955, the British were assured of the Alliance reliability as the custodians of British

interests.When the Constitutional (Reid) Commission was considering the provision for Malayspecial position, it made the following comments:

Our recommendations are made on the footing that the Malays should be assured thatthe present position will continue for a substantial period, but that in due course the

present preferences should be reduced and should ultimately cease so that there should beno discrimination between races or communities.

The proposal to review Malay special position after 15 years by the legislature was

opposed by UMNO and they got their way. The Alliance formula of three racially-based parties made up of the Malay ruling class and the non-Malay capitalist class was plainlythe neo-colonialist alternative to the truly Malayan nationalist movement grounded in theworkers movement.

The Alliance won the upper hand mainly through the help of British colonial repressionof the mass-based nationalist movement and the failure of the latter to mobilise the Malay

peasantry.


8/9

8

Lessons from the Past

Frantz Fanon has commented that decolonisation isinvariably a violent phenomenon. The Emergency in Malayafrom 1948 to 1960 was certainly a violent chapter in Malayan

history and predated the Vietnam War in its scale andintensity of repression.

Many lost their lives and freedoms, thousands were banished from our shores and some,such as the families who lost their loved ones in the Batang Kali massacre during theEmergency are still seeking justice and closure.

The restrictions on workers organisation and activities were initiated during theEmergency repression and the labour movement has scarcely recovered since.

The Malayan peoples independence struggle is an inspiring story of patriots who were

prepared to give their lives and freedoms to rid the country of colonial exploitation andrepression. The anti-colonial movement demanded self-government and their AMCJA-Putera coalition put forward their Peoples Constitutional Proposals. Imagine what our nation would have become had this Peoples Constitution been the federal constitutionat Independence.

This coalition encapsulated a more genuine multi-ethnic approach compared to thecommunal formula of the Alliance that was made up of racially-based parties andfraught with contradictions from the start.

The component parties in the Alliance (now BN) were unashamedly racial and have been

dominated by UMNO from the start. They would find it difficult to justify themselves if there was a Race Relations Act or if Malaysia ratified the Convention on the Eradicationof Racial Discrimination.

The Malayan workers movement and radical intelligentsia in the anti-colonial coalitionof AMCJA-Putera displayed strong organisation, solidarity and inter-ethnic unity and thishistory is a source of inspiration and a model of genuine multiethnic cooperation for Malaysians today. Through this struggle, they developed an awareness of nationalism andanti-imperialism and the socialist road to egalitarian development.

The British colonial power used its communalist strategy to divide this anti-colonial

movement by raising the issue of citizenship for the non-Malays and reneging on the promises of civil equality for all. What would it have been like if all Malayans had beengranted genuine civil liberties and political equality?

The anti-colonial movement was defeated largely because the Malay peasantry had beenisolated from the movement, buffered from capitalist exploitation in the estates, factoriesand other urban industries. The colonial state did not hesitate to use crude racial andreligious propaganda against the movement.


9/9

9

But despite the compromises made to civil rights by theBritish colonial power under the 1957 Federal Constitution, itseems logical for us to abide by that IndependenceAgreement rather than its subsequent amendments. Our fundamental liberties are inscribed in that Federal

Constitution which confers upon every citizen basic rights weall enjoy as citizens. The status quo today is a far cry fromwhat it was in 1957. May 13, 1969 changed all that.

The May 13 incident in 1969 and the ascendance of the Malay capitalist class hasenabled the total dominance and hegemony by this ruling class in UMNO.

The fait accompli presented to the country during the Emergency decree proclaimed after the 1969 riots and the creation of a broader BN has led to the notion of Malaydominance being bandied around with impunity by UMNO leaders and far-right Malayextremists.

The amendment to Article 153 has transformed completely the so-called social contractof 1957. Following the amendment, the so-called quota system which has led to grossracial discrimination has been laid down as a fait accompli up to the present day.

Pointers to the Future

Today, the Malay masses are no longer isolated in the rural sector but they have become part of the capitalist economy since the industrialisation of the 60s. Nevertheless, thestate has relied on its populist bumiputera policy with the implementation of the NewEconomic Policy in an effort to win their electoral support.

With growing intra-ethnic inequality within the Malay community and exposures of corruption and crony capitalism by UMNO leaders, the opposition has been steadilyattracting Malay support away from UMNO.

If Malaysia is to have a viable future and a new agenda for change involving allMalaysians, we must demand a fair, socially just, equal and democratic country thatrespects human rights as laid out in the conclusion of Patriots & Pretenders.

Dr. Kua Kia Soong, a former MP, was principal of New Era College, Kajang. He isalso a director of human rights group Suaram. His latest book, Patriots &Pretenders is sold in bookshops nationwide.

Documents

Of Patriots and Pretenders The Unofficial History of our Struggle for Independence