The greatest threat to Britain’s continued presence in Malaya was the rising Malay nationalism during the several decades prior to Merdeka. To neutralize this threat, the British rulers chose to appease Malays with pro-Malay policies that protected the community while at the same time discriminating against Chinese and Indians – a strategy known as ‘divide … Read more
Introduction by CPI “But what began to aggravate and worsen ethnic relations in the early 1930s was a series of ‘pro-Malay’ policies, which the British initiated to help Malays cope with the economic depression and to meet the demands of rising Malay nationalism based on treaty obligations.??? This statement extracted from the article below should … Read more
Di Malaysia, perkataan ‘liberal’ sering dianggap sebagai satu fahaman menyimpang dari ajaran Islam – sehingga anggapan liberalisme itu seolah-olah sesat dari ajaran Islam. Liberal dianggap kehidupan hedonis yakni liar, suka berhibur, meminum arak serta mengamal budaya Barat yang dipandang sebagai kurang berakhlak. Pemikir dan pembawa idealisme itu pula dicemuh sebagai pembawa budaya pemikiran bebas dan … Read more
This was written as a commentary in response to an article by Shagul Hamid Abdullah, Director-General of Biro Tatanegara that recently appeared in a national daily. Since the paper has declined to publish it, we are making the commentary available to other media outlets in the hope that it will be widely read and the … Read more
There was the intention both in the Alliance and the Reid Commission that the provision in Article 153 on Malay special position should be transitional – i.e. reviewed 15 years after independence. Drafting the Malayan Constitution: Compromises and Consensus, 1956-57 The sequence of political events leading to independence, according to Donald Horowitz, was a factor … Read more
Why did Umno and MCA to work together? Why did Tan Cheng Lock break off with Onn Jaafar? Could the whole political scenario for the country have taken a different direction in the early 1950s? Local elections: The demise of the IMP and the emergence of the Alliance Party, 1952 In late 1951, local elections … Read more
Introduction by CPI Dr Lee Kam Hing’s essay is originally titled ‘Forging Inter-ethnic Cooperation: The Political and Constitutional Process towards Independence, 1951-1957’ and published in the book Multiethnic Malaysia — Past Present and Future (2009). CPI with permission from the author is reproducing his essay in three parts for online reading in our website. … Read more
Before 1750, the whole of Southeast Asia was sparsely populated; except for large trading cities and in pockets of settlement where intensive wet-rice cultivation was practised. Population growth was deterred by frequent warfare and raiding, resulting in movement and decimation of the population. The population of Melaka at its peak was estimated at between … Read more
The other day, as I brought a group of Indonesian friends to visit Kuala Lumpur by train, I explained to them that KTM stood for Keretapi Tanah Melayu. They were quite amused by the term Tanah Melayu, hearing it for the first time in their life. Tanah Melayu was the term Umno leaders insisted as … Read more
Media perdana di bawah kongkongan dan telunjuk parti politik selalunya mempunyai agenda tersendiri dalam menjalankan propaganda. Ada ketikanya, media-media ini digunakan untuk memutar-belit keadaan agar para pembaca mendapat gambaran yang berbeza. Baru-baru ini seorang penulis blog yang dikenali sebagai Aduka Taruna melalui blognya adukataruna.blogspot.com telah didakwa menghina Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Shah selepas pihak istana mengumumkan … Read more