What problems were germane to the decolonization process in the Malay Peninsula? (GS 1 - MAINS 2017)
Malay Peninsula was under the British influence since they first came in the late 18th century looking towards Southeast Asia for new resources. Since then the British East India Company traded and partly controlled the region. The growth of their China trade further increased the company’s desire for bases in the region near it.
The decolonization of Malaya Peninsula was an extension of the series of decolonization movements going across the Asia and Africa and was influenced from this process which speeded-up after the World War-II.
- Malay Peninsula was a multi-racial, multi-cultural society with Malay Chinese and Indians forming major ethnic and interest groups which was a suitable condition for colonial powers to consolidate their regime.
- Fall of Singapore and Japanese advances in Malay Peninsula during the World War–II forced the British to consider reassessment of its non-interventionist policies in favour of ethnic cooperation and multiracial government in this region. But with the presence of diverse interest of different groups reaching to a consensus was a tough task.
- Cold War ideological rivalry was prevalent in Malayan Peninsula too where with the rise of commintern aligned communist parties like Malayan Communist Party and Chinese Communist Organization, the fear of Malayan Peninsula falling to the Communists emerged. It was a nightmare for the liberal democracies/ colonial powers (i.e. British) which ensured transfer of power to ideologically friendly regimes.
The decolonization of Malayan Peninsula was largely a result of long reconciliation process between the Malayan nationalist and the European colonial powers. Their mutual compromise gave the British the confidence to speed up the process of decolonization through a smooth decolonization process.
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