Contestants and Contesting Visions

• Published in: Singapore pp. 51 - 98
• Main Author: Lee, Edwin Siew Cheng
• Format: Book Chapter Reference
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies 24.07.2008
• Subjects: History (general), world history; History - other areas; Singapore Bus Workers' Union; Independence of Malaya Party (IMP); education; Malayan nationalists; Chiang Kai Shek; China Democratic League Malayan branches; Lyttleton, Oliver; Nair, M.P.D; Chinese High School; labour unions; Marshall, David; Devaser, K.L; Kuomintang activists Malaya, in; Malayan Democratic Union (MDU); Alliance Party; People's Republic of China (PRC) inauguration of; Chinese Communist Party (CCP); Tan Cheng Lock; Burhanuddin Al-Hemy, Dr; Corridon, Richard; United Malays National Organization (UMNO); Eber, John; Malaya; Labour Front; radicals English educated; Rajaratnam, Sinnathamby; postmen's strike; Democratic Party; Thuraisingham, EEC; minority ethnic groups; Rendel Constitution; Thio Chan Bee; Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Tan Kah Kee; Yusof Ishak; Panglima Datuk Bukit Gantang; Clarke, Hilda Selwyn; English-educated radicals; Malayan identity; electorate federal election; Lim Chan Yong; Nair, C.V. Devan; language issues question of merger; Lee Kuan Yew; Malayan outlook; English-educated; Goh Keng Swee; Jones, Stanley; Labour Party Singapore; Josey, Alex; Chinese university proposal for; multiracial Malayan national identity British post-war policy; Conference of Malay Rulers; Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation; People's Liberation Army; Anti-British League; Malay Society of Great Britain; Hokkien prominent members of community; Laycock, John; Thomas, Francis; China-born; pro-KMT faction; Singapore Teachers' Union; Chinese-school students' protests; Mohamed Sopiee; Associated Chambers of Commerce Singapore and Malaya; Tan Lark Sye; Chinese schools; dialect associations; Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan; Malayan Union; Singapore Chinese Chamber; Williams, P.M; federal election; Malayan; Singapore Labour Party formation; Woodhull, Sandrasegeram; Baker, Maurice; Hang Tuah; Hokkien dialect group; nation-building; British policy; associations of minority groups reception of National Conference; Webb, G.W; Ng Aik Huan; Lee Kong Chian; progressives; Progressive Party proposal for a confederation; Mao Tse Tung; Lai Te; Malay rights Federation of Malaya Constitution; Party Negara; Tunku Abdul Rahman; de Cruz, Gerald; Gimson, Franklin; Sharkey, Lawrence; Toh Chin Chye; University of Malaya Students' Union; Tan Chin Tuan; multiracial society definition of; Fong Swee Suan; Puthucheary, James; Malayan Undergrad; Malayanization; Progressive Party; Mahathir Mohamad; Templer, Gerald; University of Malaya Socialist Club; Abdul Razak; Caine, Sydney; Malay Nationalist Party (MNP); Peking Drama Circle of Shanghai; Byrne, K.M; Communist Insurgency; Pusat Tenaga Ra'ayat (PUTERA); Malayan Chinese Association (MCA); Malayan nation definition; Eu Chooi Yip; Chung Cheng High School; Onn bin Jaafar; Chinese bicultural elites; Nicoll, John; Federation of Malaya; Pritt, D.N; Singapore; Singapore elites; Lim Yew Hock; A. Samad Ismail; returned students future of Singapore; Federation of Malaya Constitution reaction to; Tan, C.C; Anti-Federation Campaign; Sambanthan, V.T; Mallal, N.A; Kuomintang (KMT); Melayu national; Singapore Progressive Party; Han Suyin; Malayan Communist Party (MCP); Communities Liaison Committee; Lim Chin Siong; strikes; Aw Boon Haw; Sarma, P.V; British; Yap Pheng Geck; Malayan Indian Congress (MIC); citizenship; Lim Hong Bee; MacGillivray, Donald; Gurney, Henry; Chin Peng; Nanking capital of KMT Government; Singapore Factory and Shop Workers; Malays; Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce; Lim Kean Chye; Kuok Hock Leng, William; People's Action Party (PAP); Samad Ismail; Malayan Forum; Tan Kwang Meng, Joseph; MacDonald, Malcolm; University of Malaya; Secretary for Chinese Affairs in Singapore

The Trouble with the Term, “Malayan”After the war, the British returned with a plan to make Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians, and others equal citizens sharing a common Malayan identity. The plan involved, firstly, the political reconfiguration of the territories under British control. The British had three settlements on the Straits of Malacca and treaty arrangements to “advise” nine Malay states. Two settlements, Penang and Malacca, and the nine Malay states would be merged into a single unitary state. The sultans would be cajoled into transferring their sovereignty to the British monarch, thereby placing their states under direct rule by the British, which was a radical change from the previous status of indirect rule. The whole Malay peninsula thus became a crown colony, under the name Malayan Union, which was inaugurated on 1 April 1946. Singapore was reconstituted as a separate crown colony until the proper time for another imperial design to be worked out.The nation-building aspect of the Malayan Union is seen in its provision, for the first time in Malaya, of a common citizenship for Malays and non- Malays alike. Citizenship would be granted to all who were local-born, and to immigrants who had stayed for ten years. Newcomers would need only five years’ residence to qualify.The Malays feared that as a consequence of the Malayan Union they would become a dispossessed people in their own country. They rallied to protest under the leadership of a Johore aristocrat, Datuk Onn bin Jaafar, and the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) founded with him as president.The British caved in and reached a compromise with the Malay rulers and UMNO on an alternative plan. There would still be a centralized state but under a federal arrangement. The governor of Malayan Union, the deputy of the British monarch, would be substituted by a British high commissioner for what would become the Federation of Malaya. The sultans would be restored to sovereignty, but as constitutional rulers. In the prewar era, the Malays, based on a certain interpretation of the treaties concluded between the sultans and Britain, had laid claim to a special position and special rights. These would be honoured in the new federation.