Historical
Federation of Malaya
In 1948 the Federation
of Malaya comprised nine States(Johor, Negri
Sembilan,Pahang,Perak,Kedah,Kelantan,Selangor,Trengganu
& Perlis) governed by hereditary Sultans, and two
Settlements(Malacca & Penang) governed by Govenors
appointed by the British Government. Each Sultan had a
British Adviser appointed by the British Government to
advise him on matters of Defence,Security,Trade etc.,such
advice did not extend to religious matters.During the
occupation of Malaya by the Japanese(1941-45) the main
organised opposition to the occupiers was by the Malayan
Peoples Anti Japanese Army,a communist organisation
comprising,mostly, Malayan Chinese. The MPAJA was
supported by the British Govt.who provided arms and
supplies plus British Army personnel for training
purposes. Upon the defeat of the Japanese the MPAJA was
disbanded and members were paid a small gratuity,arms
were supposed to be handed in but not all were.Thereafter
the aim of the Communist Party of Malaya was to gain
control of the Malayan Govt. by destabilising it through
establishment and control of Trade Unions and in this it
had some success but was never able to achieve official
recognition and become a legitimate political party. The
CPM decided to attempt to attain their aims by armed
insurrection and formed the Malayan Peoples Anti British
Army with some three thousand members,again mainly
Chinese although there were some Malay and Indian
recruits. The insurrection started with the killing of
three Chinese members of the Kuo Min Tang ( Chinese
Nationalist party of General Chiang Kai Shek ) in the
State of Johor and,shortly afterwards in the State
of Perak, with the execution of three European rubber
planters on 16th.June,1948. A State of Emergency was
declared in both States but other killings soon followed
in other States and the State of Emergency was extended
to cover the whole of Malaya. The reign of terror was
mainly confined to the rural areas by way of road
ambushes and assasinations,however,as the Malayan
Government built up it's security forces and took
administrative measures to restrict supplies to the
terrorists the tide started to turn.This process was
given extra momentum in 1951 when the High Commissioner was killed in a road
ambush and General Templer was appointed as his successor
with the additional powers as Commander of all security
forces and overall control of all security operations.In
mid 1955 the Government received a letter from"
Supreme Command Headquarters of the Malayan Racial
Liberation Army" offering to negotiate an end to the
Emergency. This offer was rejected and in September a
general amnesty was declared by Government: To all who have
taken up arms against the Government of the Federaton of
Malaya and those who have consorted with them.
1. The
Government,representing the people of Malaya,make a
declaration of amnesty on the following terms. 2.Those
of you who come in and surrender will not be prosecuted
for any offence connected with the Emergency which you
have committed under communist direction,either before
this date or in ignorance of ths declaration 3.
You may surrender how and to whom you like including to
members of the public. 4. There will
be no general "ceasefire"but the Security
Forces will be on alert to help those who wish to accept
this offer and for this purpose local
"ceasefire" will be arranged. 5. The
Government will conduct investigation on those who
surrender. Those who show that they genuinely intend to
be loyal to the Government of Malaya and to give up their
communist activities will be helped to regain their
normal position in society and be reunited with their
families. As regards the remainder,restrictions will have
to be placed on their liberty but if any of them wish to
go to China their request will be given due
consideration. Kuala Lumpur 9th.September,1955
Amnesty leaflets in
Malay,Indian,English and various Chinese dialects were
distributed widely in the Towns and Villages and air
dropped over jungle areas.This led to a meeting in
December,1955 between the Chief Ministers of Malaya and
Singapore and Chin Peng,Secretary General of the Malayan
Communist Party. Talks were held over two days but no
agreement could be reached; see 'Baling Peace Talks' in
True Tales. General belief is that
the "Emergency" was so called to avoid
insurance complications should the word "War"
be used, this may be so but in actual fact the entire
campaign by the Government was conducted at all levels by
what were designated "War Executive
Committees". Every administrative District within
the State had a District War Executive Committee (DWEC)
and each State had a State War Executive Committee
(SWEC). DWEC's were chaired by the District Officer with
permanent members being the senior Police and Military
officer in the District whilst SWEC was chaired by the
British Adviser with permanent members being the senior
Police and Military Officer in the State who were usually
accompanied by their Special Branch Officer,Police, and
Intelligence Officer,Military. Depending on subjects
under discussion,heads of other Govt.Depts.could be
called.
Indonesian Confrontation(Konfrontasi)
Prior to the Pacific War the island of Borneo was under
the control of two colonial powers,Holland and Britain,
Sabah,Sarawak and Brunei were under British rule,the
remainder of Borneo under Dutch.With the advent of the
Indonesian Republic in 1949 the Dutch part of Borneo
passed to Indonesia. In 1963 Brunei was granted
independence and Sarawak and Sabah were encouraged to
join with Singapore and Malaya in the creation of the
Federation of Malaysia,Indonesia objected to this and
mounted armed opposition.The Indonesian campaign opened
in April,1963 when "Volunteers" crossed the
Sarawak border and attacked a Police Station,however the
opening moves were made several months earlier in Brunei
when on December 8th.1962 at the instigation of a local
politican with pro Sukarno views some 4000 rebels led by
Yassin Effendi tried to takeover the Sultanate. Initially
they had some success capturing the Brunei Power Station
and taking over several small towns and detaining some
Govt.officials but the authorities reacted swiftly by
airlifting several Coys.of Gurkhas from Singapore
followed by other British units by air and sea, by
December 20th.,under the overall command of Brigadier
Glennie,the rebellion was, to all intents and purposes ,
over. Many of the rebels tried to escape to the
Indonesian border but the indigenous tribesmen were
hostile and many were captured or killed. Mopping-up
operations continued for some time, In May,1963 Yassin
Effendi and some of his followers were discovered in a
secret hideout,all were killed or captured. During the
Confrontation Indonesian incursions were confined to
Borneo except for the landing of two small Indonesian
Army parties on the west coast of the Malayan
peninsular,these were soon rounded up.Initially,forces
opposing the Indonesians were Malaysian,Brunei and
British,later on Australian and New Zealand forces were
also employed. Major General Walker,Officer Commanding
British Forces Borneo was faced with the formidable task
of defending a border some 900 miles long mostly in heavy
jungle plus the sea approaches. His answer was to
establish fortified posts along the border as bases for
patrols and sites for field artillery and 105mm mortars
capable of shelling known crossing points and providing
support for infantry units on patrol,helicopters played a
major role in maintaining these outposts. Indigenous
tribes were encouraged to supply information on enemy
movements and some 1500 were recruited as Border Scouts.
Towards the end of 1963 it was clear that the Indonesian
'Volunteers'had been contained and could not achieve
their objective so the Indonesian Army was employed but
by this time the British forces were of sufficent
strength* to counter this escalation and prevent any
major incursions.This stalemate continued throughout
1964/65 and it was not until Sukarno was deposed by
General Suharto in March 1966 that peace became a
possibility and a reality in August
. *see British
Commonwealth Forces
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