Chinese reaction against the MCP was
shown by the formation of the Malayan
Chinese Association (MCA) in 1949 as a vehicle for moderate Chinese political opinion.
Its leader Tan Cheng Lock favoured a
policy of collaboration with UMNO to win Malayan independence on a policy of
equal citizenship, but with sufficient concessions to Malay sensitivities to
ease nationalist fears. Tan formed a close collaboration with Tunku
(Prince) Abdul Rahman, the Chief
Minister of Kedah and from 1951
successor to Datuk Onn as leader of UMNO. Since the British had announced in
1949 that Malaya would soon become independent whether the Malayans liked it or
not, both leaders were determined to forge an agreement their communities could
live with as a basis for a stable independent state. The UMNO-MCA Alliance,
which was later joined by the Malayan
Indian Congress (MIC), won convincing victories in local and state elections in
both Malay and Chinese areas between 1952 and 1955.
The introduction of elected local
government was another important step in defeating the Communists. After Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, there was a split
in the MCP leadership over the wisdom of continuing the armed struggle. Many
MCP militants lost heart and went home, and by the time Templer left Malaya in
1954 the Emergency was over, although Chin Peng led a diehard group that lurked
in the inaccessible country along the Thai border for many years.
During 1955 and 1956 UMNO, the MCA
and the British hammered out a constitutional settlement for a principle of
equal citizenship for all races. In exchange, the MCA agreed that Malaya’s head of state would be
drawn from the ranks of the Malay Sultans, that Malay would be the official language,
and that Malay education and economic developmentwould be promoted
and subsidised. In effect this meant that Malaya would be run by the Malays,
particularly since they continued to dominate the civil service, the army and
the police, but that the Chinese and Indians would have proportionate
representation in the Cabinet and the parliament, would run those states where
they were the majority, and would have their economic position protected. The
difficult issue of who would control the education system was deferred until after
independence. This came on 31 August 1957, when Tunku Abdul Rahman became the first Prime
Minister of independent Malaya.
This left the unfinished business of
the other British-ruled territories in the region. After the Japanese surrender the Brooke family and the British North Borneo
Company gave up their control of Sarawak and North Borneo respectively, and
these became British Crown Colonies. They were much less economically developed
than Malaya, and their local political leaderships were too weak to demand
independence. Singapore, with its large Chinese majority, achieved autonomy in
1955, and in 1959 the young socialist leader Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister.
The Sultan of Brunei remained as a
British client in his oil-rich enclave. Between 1959 and 1962 the British
government orchestrated complex negotiations between these local leaders and
the Malayan government.
On 24 April 1961, Lee Kuan Yew first proposed to Tunku Abdul Rahman about idea of the
formation of Malaysia. At the end of the meeting, Tunku invited Lee to prepare
a paper to elaborate this idea. On 9 May, Lee sent the final version of the
paper to Tunku and Abdul Razak in Kuala
Lumpur. There were doubts about the practicality of the idea but Lee assured
the Malayan government of continued Malay political dominance in the new
federation. On 16 May 1961, Razak was found in convincing Tunku for the need of
a merger to form the federation.On 27 May 1961, Abdul Rahman
proposed the idea of forming "Malaysia", which would consist of Brunei, Malaya, North
Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore,
all of which had been British colonies. The reasoning behind this was
that this would allow the central government to control and combat communist
activities, especially in Singapore. It was also feared that if Singapore
achieved independence, it would become a base for Chinese chauvinists to threaten
Malayan sovereignty. To balance out the ethnic composition of the new nation,
the other states, whose Malay and indigenous populations would cancel out
the Singaporean Chinese majority,
were also included.
Although Lee Kuan Yew supported the
proposal, his opponents from the Singaporean Socialist Front resisted, arguing
that this was a ploy for the British to continue controlling the region. Most
political parties in Sarawak were also against the merger, and in North Borneo,
where there were no political parties, community representatives also stated
their opposition. Although the Sultan of Brunei supported the merger, the Parti Rakyat Brunei opposed it as well. At
the Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference in 1961, Abdul Rahman explained
his proposal further to its opponents. In October, he obtained agreement from
the British government to the plan, provided that feedback be obtained from the
communities involved in the merger.
The Cobbold Commission, named after its head, Lord
Cobbold, conducted a study in the Borneo territories and approved a
merger with North Borneo and Sarawak; however, it was found that a substantial
number of Bruneians opposed merger. North Borneo drew up a list of points,
referred to as the 20-point agreement, proposing terms
for its inclusion in the new federation. Sarawak prepared a similar memorandum,
known as the 18-point agreement. Some of the
points in these agreements were incorporated into the eventual constitution,
some were instead accepted orally. These memoranda are often cited by those who
believe that Sarawak's and North Borneo's rights have been eroded over time.
A referendum was conducted
in Singapore to gauge opinion, and 70% supported merger with substantial
autonomy given to the state government.The Sultanate of Bruneiwithdrew
from the planned merger due to opposition from certain segments of its
population as well as arguments over the payment of oil royalties and the status
of the Sultan in the planned merger Additionally, the
Bruneian Parti Rakyat Brunei staged an armed
revolt, which, though it was put down, was viewed as potentially destabilising
to the new nation.
After reviewing the Cobbold
Commission's findings, the British government appointed the Landsdowne Commission to
draft a constitution for Malaysia. The eventual constitution was essentially
the same as the 1957 constitution, albeit with some rewording. For instance,
giving recognition to the special position of the natives of the Borneo States.
North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore were also granted some autonomy unavailable
to the states of Malaya. After negotiations in July 1963, it was agreed that
Malaysia would come into being on 31 August 1963, consisting of Malaya, North
Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. The date was to coincide with the independence
day of Malaya and the British giving self-rule to Sarawak and North Borneo.
However, the Philippines and Indonesia strenuously objected to this
development, with Indonesia claiming Malaysia represented a form of "neocolonialism"
and the Philippines claiming North Borneo as its territory. The opposition from
the Indonesian government
led by Sukarno and attempts
by the Sarawak
United People's Party delayed the formation of Malaysia. Due to these factors, an
eight-member UN team had to be formed to re-ascertain whether North Borneo and
Sarawak truly wanted to join Malaysia.Malaysia formally came into
being on 16 September 1963, consisting of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and
Singapore. In 1963 the total population of Malaysia was about 10 million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malaysia#Towards_Malaysia