Malayan Union
Malayan Union Kesatuan Malaya (Malay) | |||||||||
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1946–1948 | |||||||||
King | |||||||||
• 1946–1948 | George VI | ||||||||
Sir Edward Gent | |||||||||
Historical era | Decolonisation | ||||||||
• Established | 1 April 1946 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 31 January 1948 | ||||||||
Currency | Malayan dollar | ||||||||
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Today part of | Malaysia |
History of Malaysia |
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Malaysia portal |
Part of the Independence of Malaya | ||||||||||
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Malaysia portal | ||||||||||
The Malayan Union (
Formation of the Malayan Union
Prior to World War II, British Malaya consisted of three groups of polities: the protectorate of the Federated Malay States, five protected Unfederated Malay States and the crown colony of the Straits Settlements.
On 1 April 1946, the Malayan Union officially came into existence with Sir Edward Gent as its governor, combining the Federated Malay States, Unfederated Malay States and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca under one administration. The capital of the Union was Kuala Lumpur. The former Straits Settlement of Singapore was administered as a separate crown colony.
The idea of the Union was first expressed by the British in October 1945 (plans had been presented to the War Cabinet as early as May 1944)
When it was unveiled, the Malayan Union gave equal rights to people who wished to apply for citizenship. It was automatically granted to people who were born in any state in British Malaya or Singapore and were living there before 15 February 1942, born outside British Malaya or the Straits Settlements only if their fathers were citizens of the Malayan Union and those who reached 18 years old and who had lived in British Malaya or Singapore "10 out of 15 years before 15 February 1942". The group of people eligible for application of citizenship had to live in Singapore or British Malaya "for 5 out of 8 years preceding the application", had to be of good character, understand and speak the English or Malay language and "had to take an oath of allegiance to the Malayan Union". However, the citizenship proposal was never actually implemented. Due to opposition to the citizenship proposal, it was postponed then modified, which made it harder for many Chinese and Indian residents to obtain Malayan citizenship.[3]
The
A Supreme Court was established in 1946 of which Harold Curwen Willan was the only
Opposition, dissolution of the Malayan Union and the creation of the Federation of Malaya
The Malays generally opposed the creation of the Union. The opposition was due to the methods Sir Harold MacMichael used to acquire the Sultans' approval, the reduction of the Sultans' powers, and easy granting of citizenship to immigrants. The United Malays National Organisation or UMNO, a Malay political association formed by Dato' Onn bin Ja'afar on 10 May 1946, led the opposition against the Malayan Union. Malays also wore white bands around their heads, signifying their mourning for the loss of the Sultans' political rights.
After the inauguration of the Malayan Union, the Malays, under UMNO continued opposing the Malayan Union. They utilised civil disobedience as a means of protest by refusing to attend the installation ceremonies of the British governors. They had also refused to participate in the meetings of the Advisory Councils, hence Malay participation in the government bureaucracy and the political process had totally stopped. The British had recognised this problem and took measures to consider the opinions of the major races in Malaya before making amendments to the constitution. The Malayan Union was dissolved and replaced by the Federation of Malaya on 1 February 1948.
List of member states
Evolution towards Malaysia
See also
References
- ^ CAB 66/50 'Policy in Regard to Malaya and Borneo'
- ^ Ariffin Omar, Bangsa Melayu: Malay Concepts of Democracy and Community, 1945–1950 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 46. Cited in Ken'ichi Goto, Tensions of Empire: Japan and Southeast Asia in the Colonial and Postcolonial World (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2003), p. 222
- ^ Carnell, Malayan Citizenship Legislation, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 1952
- ^ Lee Kam Hing. "Road to Independence (1): Birth of Umno and Malayan Union". CPI. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ Ming Ho, Tak. Generations: The Story of Batu Gajah. p. 165.
- Zakaria Haji Ahmad. Government and Politics (1940–2006). p.p 30–21. ISBN 981-3018-55-0.
- Marissa Champion. Odyssey: Perspectives on Southeast Asia – Malaysia and Singapore 1870–1971. ISBN 9971-0-7213-0
- Sejarah Malaysia [1]