THE QUEST FOR NATIONHOOD
This section explores the dawn of political consciousness in Malaysia and the struggle for independence. Malaysia is racially diverse, and each ethnic group demanded self-government in different terms.
A constant issue in Malayan, and later Malaysian, politics has been the rights of the indigenous Malays. The massive influx of migrant workers in the 19th and 20th centuries had threatened the status quo. Britain was not wholly responsible for this. Even before the British arrived, large numbers of Chinese workers had already been attracted by the Malay Peninsula's abundant natural resources. Their presence and its consequences were among the factors that led to British intervention in the Peninsula.
Nationalism among the Malays first emerged with the advent of large-scale education (see ‘Nationalism: The Malay struggle'). The experience and aftermath of World War II intensified this desire for self-determination. When Britain decided to create the Malayan Union after the war, it unwittingly unleashed even more powerful forces for change (see ‘The Malayan Union'). The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), created in response to this, remains Malaysia's dominant political force until today (see ‘Dato' Onn bin Jaafar').
As for the non-Malay population, descendants of migrant workers or traders who had settled in the Peninsula years earlier wanted citizenship rights, equality and a voice in government (see ‘Nationalism: non-Malays in the Peninsula'). While the Peranakan had become naturalized and adapted to local customs and languages, many other descendants of migrants had maintained their cultural practices and allegiance to their country of origin. This raised fear and suspicion among the Malays. World War II, followed by the communist insurgency (see ‘The Emergency'), widened the rift. A certain distrust was slow to die away, and one of Malaysia's great achievements is that all the major races were able to strike a workable compromise as a basis for Independence (see ‘Merdeka! Attaining Independence' and ‘A constitutional state').
Nationalism in Sabah and Sarawak took a different path to that of the Peninsula (see ‘Precursors to nationalism: The armed resistance' and ‘Nationalism in northern Borneo'). Political awareness in these states began to develop only when Britain announced plans to grant self-government to its colonies.
Having achieved Independence for Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra decided to form a larger federation, Malaysia (see ‘The idea of Malaysia'), despite fierce reactions from several quarters (see ‘External opposition to Malaysia'). However, a number of unresolved issues eventually led to Singapore's separation from Malaysia (see ‘The formation of Malaysia').
