The Formation of the Malayan Union

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

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

MALAYAN INDEPENDENCE

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.

PENUBUHAN MALAYSIA &KONFRONTASI DENGAN INDONESIA

In 1955 Singapore was granted internal autonomy under the Rendel Constitution and David Marshall was appointed the first Chief Minister. By 1959, Singapore had achived full interbal self government and was led by the Peoples’ Action Party (PAP) under Lee Kuan Yew. In sarawak, local elections were introduced in 1959.

The first move towards the formation of Malaysia came in 1961 when the idea for the formation of a wider federation comprising the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei was mooted by Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tunku’s proposal was generally accepted by the people of malaya and Singapore but raised doubts in Sabah and Sarawak.

However, the proposal was oppossed by the Philippines as they asserted a claim over Sabah. The proposal also received oppositon from Indonesia where it was vieved as a “neo-colonialist’ plot by Sukarno and the powerful Indonesian Communist Party.

The proposal also had an immediate effect of accelaerating constitutional development in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Elections were held for the first time in Brunei and in Sabah in 1962. A joint- Anglo-Malayan commission headed by a former of the bank of England, Lord Cobbold, visited sabah and Sarawakin 1962 and reported that the majority of the states favoured the formation of Malaysia.

However, continued Philippine and Indonesian opposition led to the sending of a United nations mission to Borneo in 1963, which also reported that the public opinion was in favour of joining Malaysia.

Thus on 16 September 1963, the formation of Malaysia which consisted of the Federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singaore was formally promulgated.

However, Brunei declined to join Malaysia. However, in 1965 Singapore ceased to be a member of the Federation of Malaya and became an independent state.

The years after the formation of Malaysia saw confrontation from Indonesia which took the form of armed attacks on the Peninsula and across the land fromtiers of Sabah and Sarawak. The confrontation came to an end in 1966 by an agreement signed in Bangkok, Thailand.

1970-anTun Abdul Razak took over as Prime Minister upon the retirement of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Alhaj on the 22 September 1970. The economic prosperity achieved in the 1970s enabled the administration of Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Hussein Onn who took over on thhe death of Tun Razak in 1976 to make considerable progress towards these ends. Malaysia also established a more independent foreign policy which lead to the founding of ASEAN in 1967. Malaysia also recognised Communist China in 1974 and identifying the nation with non-aligned countries of the third world.

The New Economic Policy was given a fresh impetus under the premiership of Tun Hussein Onn. The National Unit Trust or Amanah Saham Nasional was was introduced to allow bumiputera to invest in shares. This Unit Trust was controlled by National Equity Corporation or Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

1980-anThe 1980s brought new political directions and economic challenges. Dato’Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who took over the premeiership from Tun Hussein Onn on 17th July 1981 initiated a bold policy of heavy industrialization such as the national car project, oil refineries and a steel industry. The national car project first started as a joint venture between

Perusahaan Otomobil National Berhad(PROTON), HICOM berhad, Mitsubushi Motor Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation. On 9th July 1985, the first Proton

saga was manufactured. The Proton car became the best selling car in the local passenger car for both the Malaysian and overseas markets since 1990

1990-anSeveral projects were initiated during the 1990s and among them were the Petronas Twin Towers, Menara Kuala Lumpur and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)

The Petronas Twin Towers project was launched on 15 September 1992 together with Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Project. The twin Towers have 88 floors in each of the of the towers and full height 0f 451.9 m above ground level. Thus it had been aknowledged by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban habitat as the second tallest building in the world, making them a new world landmark right in Kuala Lumpur.

Menara Kuala lumpur which stand at 94 m above sea level and 421 meters high has been recognised as the third tallest communication tower in the world and the tallest in Asia. Menara Kuala Lumpur is a communications tower for Malaysia and is equipped with new technology to meet the requirements of increasing technology demands in the country. Menara Kuala Lumpur has become a major tourist attraction as it is truly an outstanding landmark and ambassador for the city of Kuala Lumpur and the nation. The tower is a new source of pride for Malaysians and a measure of the nation’s progress towards vision 2020.

Kuala Lumpur Internatiomnal Airport (KLIA) is located 75 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur at sepang. It started operating in June 1988 and is Asia largest airport occupying a full 100 square kilometers. The KLIA is build to cater for up to 125 million passengers in the next 100 years

Another milestone in the march of Malaysia towards becoming a high technology and industrial society by 2020 is the establishment of the Multimedia super Corridor (MSC). It is established to fulfill the need for incubating young entreprenuers, new start-ups and fledgling companies that need further nuturing and support. The MSC incubator set on a 7.65 acre is situated within the

campus of the Multimedia University. The MSC Central Incubator, within the Cyberjaya, Malaysia’s premier intelligent cityl inks with Government’s new administrative centre at Putrajaya.