malaya union
THE Malayan Union, which the British Labour Government inaugurated in post-war Malaya on April 1, 1945, lasted slightly more than two years. Although it was a shortlived constitutional experiment, it led to dramatic political developments.
In present-day Malaysian history textbooks, the Malayan Union is regarded as having awakened political activity, and heightened ethnic consciousness and nationalism among the peninsula’s different ethnic groups.
For the Malays, their opposition to the Malayan Union led to the birth of the United Malays National Organisation or Umno – which was inaugurated on May 11, 1946 in Johor Baru – and the emergence of Datuk Onn Jaafar as its first president.
Umno obtained support from all strata of Malay society in opposing the Malayan Union – the aristocrats, the radical Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (Malay Nationalist Party or MNP), Islamic groups, civil servants, rural leaders like the penghulus (village heads), and even the police and ex-service personnel.
Umno opposed the Malayan Union because it restricted the Malay rulers’ powers and Malay special privileges, and granted citizenship and equal rights to non-Malays who qualified on birth, residential and other terms.
Umno founder Datuk Onn Jaafar was a keen writer.Umno demanded a return to the prewar political structures, set up in the Malay states according to treaties signed with the Malay rulers under which the British “protected” the Malay states and advised the rulers in all matters except Islam and Malay customs.
The protests and demonstrations against the Malayan Union saw Malay women breaking tradition by joining marches and carrying placards. Many Malays wrapped white cloth around their songkok (cap) as a symbol of mourning. Umno urged Malay civil servants to boycott the Malayan Union government by refusing to carry out any work. Also at Umno’s urging, the Malay rulers boycotted Sir Edward Gent’s inauguration as Malayan Union governor.
Non-Malays were
In present-day Malaysian history textbooks, the Malayan Union is regarded as having awakened political activity, and heightened ethnic consciousness and nationalism among the peninsula’s different ethnic groups.
For the Malays, their opposition to the Malayan Union led to the birth of the United Malays National Organisation or Umno – which was inaugurated on May 11, 1946 in Johor Baru – and the emergence of Datuk Onn Jaafar as its first president.
Umno obtained support from all strata of Malay society in opposing the Malayan Union – the aristocrats, the radical Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (Malay Nationalist Party or MNP), Islamic groups, civil servants, rural leaders like the penghulus (village heads), and even the police and ex-service personnel.
Umno opposed the Malayan Union because it restricted the Malay rulers’ powers and Malay special privileges, and granted citizenship and equal rights to non-Malays who qualified on birth, residential and other terms.
Umno founder Datuk Onn Jaafar was a keen writer.Umno demanded a return to the prewar political structures, set up in the Malay states according to treaties signed with the Malay rulers under which the British “protected” the Malay states and advised the rulers in all matters except Islam and Malay customs.
The protests and demonstrations against the Malayan Union saw Malay women breaking tradition by joining marches and carrying placards. Many Malays wrapped white cloth around their songkok (cap) as a symbol of mourning. Umno urged Malay civil servants to boycott the Malayan Union government by refusing to carry out any work. Also at Umno’s urging, the Malay rulers boycotted Sir Edward Gent’s inauguration as Malayan Union governor.
Non-Malays were