Japanese Occupation in Malaysia

The positive effects of the Japanese Occupation: Well, every dark cloud has its silver lining. Likewise, eventhough the Japanese tortured and tormented the people of our country, there’s still some good that had come out of it.
Basically, during the time of war, the British we looked upon as the supreme ruler because they seemed to be untouchable. However, when the Japanese came into the picture and defeated them, it showed the people of Malaya that the British were not the strongest power in the world.. This brought upon the foundation of nationalism in the hearts of the people. People began to question the rights of the British to rule upon us anymore. The locals were now aware of the weaknesses in British rule. British had been challenged and defeated by an Asian power(Japan) and this gave the locals even more confidence. The Japanese occupation brought about the political awareness to the local populace and made them want to achieve independence. This was caused by the Japanese propaganda slogan, “Asia for Asians”. The Malays were also given many chances to experience being in administrative posts and they were now confident they could rule their own country. This made them aware that they were the rightful owners and citizens of Malaya. The Malays then became eager to protect their rights and govern the country for themselves. The mistreating of locals added more fuel in building the spirit of nationalism amongst the local populace.

Economically, the occupation has created various new emerging industries in Malaya to cater the shortage of goods. For example, the fuel of consumption of the latex, the creation of the tire without a tube of solid rubber, thread and paper from pineapple leaves of bamboo, rubber leaves and weeds. In addition, traditional enterprises have expanded rapidly as oil from coconut, palm sugar and tobacco leaves.