The Malays have a saying, ‘Di mana bumi di pijak, di situ langit dijunjung’ (You are loyal to the land on which you tread). It reflects the aspirations, mentality, and the love for their homeland.
And like any other race in their respective countries, the Malays will protect it to the last drop of their blood.
For this land, the Old Malay World (the Malay Archipelago), has been home of the Malays since time immemorial.
The Malays established empires and kingdoms throughout this Malay World, the likes of Sri Vijaya, Majapahit, Funan, Melaka, and Riau, and have fought and traded among themselves. They have proven to be expert seafarers with exceptional navigational skills, sailing to China and other countries outside of the Malay Archipelago.
They defended their lands against foreign colonial conquerors like the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the Siamese – powers that fragmented this region, squandered the resources, and enslaved the indigenous people. Indonesia was colonised by the Dutch, Tanah Melayu by the British, while Spain conquered the Philippines.
For almost three hundred years, from the time they set foot on Pulau Pinang, which they then commandeered and renamed it Prince of Wales Island, the British arrogated unto themselves the position of lord and master of Tanah Melayu, subduing the sultans and rajas of the various states, and taking over all aspects of governance in the name of the British Crown.
The British brought in Chinese and Indian immigrants to exploit the country’s resources for their economic needs. The Chinese worked in tin mines and became shopkeepers, while the Indians worked in the plantations.
The emigration of especially the Chinese unsettled the previously existing political and demographic balance. However, at that time, they had no allegiance to the land or the rulers, but leaned more towards the British who organised and facilitated their emigration.
In his book, ‘Southeast Asia: An Introductory History’, Milton Osborne states that the Japanese occupation of Malaya differed from the occupation of other countries in Southeast Asia in that no effort was made to promote even the most circumscribed form of ‘independence’.
Malaya, just like Singapore, was seen as a means of providing valuable resources for the Japanese war effort during the Second World War. Osborne wrote that in a society made up of the Malays, Chinese, and Indians, in which there was little shared interest between the various ethnic groups, the Japanese saw no point in trying to advance their aims by fostering independence movements.
Unlike the Malays, at that time, the Chinese and Indians never had any shared interests with the Malays, or loyalty to the Tanah Melayu as a place of ‘Dimana bumi di pijak di situ langit dijunjung’.
This lack of shared interest and loyalty to Tanah Melayu was evident when certain groups waged a guerrilla war against the Japanese in the name of the Malayan people, and carried out an armed insurrection against the post-war Malayan Government.
It exploded into a full-blown armed confrontation, referred to as the Emergency, between 1948 and 1960.
With the Japanese surrender in 1945 and the return of the British to Malaya, the British government set out to re-establish its colonial presence. Sir Harold McMichael, an envoy of the British Crown, arrived in Malaya on Oct 11, 1945, bringing a proposal to establish a Malayan Union that would comprise the Federated and Unfederated Malay States, as well as the British Straits Settlements of Penang and Melaka.
He was tasked with getting the approval of the Malay rulers for the formation of the Malayan Union. They reluctantly agreed because they were threatened with dethronement, since McMichael was authorised by the British government to replace any ruler who was against the proposal.
As documented, then Johor ruler (Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar) was the first to sign the McMichael agreement, ceding the state to the British on Oct 20, 1945. This was followed by Sultan Hishammudin Alam Shah of Selangor on Oct 24, 1945, and Sultan Abu Bakar of Pahang on Nov 2, 1945. The other Malay rulers were at first against McMichael, but they later relented and gave in.
The Malayan Union would confer full citizenships to the Chinese and Indians, and equal status with the Malay indigenous population. And the rulers had to relinquish all their powers, except for religious matters, and be answerable to the British Governor General.
The Malays from all states opposed the Malayan Union when they realised that it would adversely affect their birth rights and the sovereignty of Tanah Melayu. Pursuant to the protests from the Malays, the Malay rulers rescinded their stand.
The United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which was formed by Datuk Onn Jaafar on May 10, 1946, was the standard bearer that opposed the formation of the Malayan Union, through protests, and boycotts of all British government political and administrative activities.
As a result, the Malayan Union was dropped and replaced with the Federation of Malaya on Feb 1, 1948.
Pursuant to the formation of the Federation of Malaya, the Malays acknowledged and accepted the rulers, but their position changed from absolute, to constitutional monarchs who are subservient to the tenets of the Constitution, which restricts them from being involved in politics or exercising executive powers.
If the Malayan Union had gone through, Tanah Melayu would have been re-colonised and made subservient to the British Crown, which would reign supreme over the fate of the Malays and their land. The Malay rulers would have also been negatively impacted.
The rulers would be reduced to mere figureheads, whose existence would be at the behest of the British Governor General.
The Malays opposed the Malayan Union to safeguard the sovereignty of Tanah Melayu and the dignity of the rulers who initially succumbed to McMichael’s trickery and threats to their positions.
The people realised that they could not count on anyone else but themselves, to chart their own path and destiny.
After reclaiming the sovereignty of Tanah Melayu and the dignity of the Malay rulers by rejecting the Malayan Union, the Malays were once again subjected to another form of trickery, this time by the political elites, and the privileged feudal class.
Since Independence, the Malay polity had been fragmented into various political and religious factions by the Malay leaders, elites, and politicians, who adopted the colonial strategy of divide and rule, keeping the Malays at each other’s throats to serve their agenda.
The culture of corruption, and moral and ethical degradation, were fermented into the Malay psyche by the elites who went on a rampage in squandering the peoples’ wealth, leaving the Malay masses destitute. They became greedy and morally corrupt.
This squandering and mismanagement of the country’s wealth resulted in several financial scandals, government bailouts, and court cases over the years.
The Malays have been short-changed by the political leaders and the feudal lords over the years. It is time for them to look beyond the divisive political, religious, and feudalistic imbroglio and reassert their rights. It is time to free themselves from the shackles of political and feudal subservience and exploitation.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
