2.2 THE ERA OF THE EMERGENCY
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2.2 THE ERA OF THE EMERGENCY
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2.2 THE ERA OF THE EMERGENCY. Communist Party of Malaya (MCP). 1920s – Communism crept into Malaya through a branch of Kuomintang Party (communists in China). Objective – to overthrow the British government and establish the Communist Republic of Malaya. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of 2.2 THE ERA OF THE EMERGENCY
2.2 THE ERA OF THE
EMERGENCY
1920s – Communism crept into Malaya through a branch of Kuomintang Party (communists in China).
Objective – to overthrow the British government and establish the Communist Republic of Malaya.
MCP (Malayan Communist Party) had been an underground movement except during the years 1945 to 1948.
The MCP formed the Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA), better known as the Three Stars (symbolizing the three main races in Malaya).
MRLA fight for the establishment of the Communist Republic of Malaya.
MCP set up a supply and public spy unit known as Min Yuen.
Functions of Min Yuen; to get food and medical supplies for guerrillas in the jungle and to obtain information on British activities.
Malays did not support the communist ideology because it against Islamic teaching.
Indians and most Chinese also were not interested in joining MCP because they were more interested in economics.
Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) was established to safe-guard the interest of the Chinese People and at that time most Malayan citizens were against the violent tactics of the MCP.
Police and soldiers have powers to arrest and detain communist suspects without trial.
The military force imposed roadblocks and curfews( perintah berkurung) in areas where communist activities were rife(merebak).
Citizens aged 12 years and above must register and own an identification card (identity card).
Sir Harold Briggs introduced the Briggs Plan.
Objective – to eradicate communist activities through a strategy to relocate the squatter areas from the edge of the forest to a new village and to launch starvation movement.
1 June 1950, Johore – the relocation plan was started.
February 1952 – more than 400,000 Chinese squatters were relocated to approximately 400 new villages.
Aimed – restricting the Chinese from supplying food, medicine and information to the communist guerrillas who were hiding in the jungle.
This plan weakened Min Yuen activities and forced the communist out of the jungles.
1952 - Sir Gerald Templer replaced Sir Henry Gurney as the High Commissioner of Malaya/military general.
He used firm military force to fight the communists and the military tactics included the use of: 13 battalions of English soldiers, Gurkhas and
Malays. Training 67,000 special Malay soldiers. 1953 - Forming home guards systems with
210,000 of them. Recruiting assistance from the Commonwealth
military such as from Australia, New Zealand and Rhodesia.
Sir Gerald Templer launched the physical warfare by:Making conditions easier for non-Malays to
obtain citizenship.Pardoning in large numbers of the MCP
members who surrendered.Rewarding people who provided information
on the communist terrorists.Giving out pamphlets calling the communist
terrorists to give up their fight.
Introduced the system of “white and black areas”.
Introduced curfews in areas where the soldier were hunting for the communists.
The psychological warfare encouraged the people of Malaya to work together with the government to eliminate the communist terrorists.
I was held at Baling, Kedah
Date : 28 and 29 December 1955
The MCP requested to be legally recognized but the request was turned down.
Representatives Government Tunku Abdul
Rahman David Marshall Tan Cheng Lock The MCP Chin Peng Chen Tien Rashid Maidin
On 31 July 1960 – Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaimed the end of the emergency.
Failure of the MCP: The MCP’s offensive acts against the Malayan
Union Government. The lack of support from Malayan citizens. The lack of protection from other communist
countries, such as Russia and China.
The number of people killed included 9,581 MCP members, 2,461 ordinary citizens and 1,851 members of the Security Force.
1,383 peoples were injured while 807 were missing.
Properties were destroyed and the economy was crippled.
The development of new village with public facilities widened the social gap with the people in traditional Malay villages.
The racial issues getting worse when the communists movements mainly Chinese while the police and army forces were Malays
Challenge the people in the country to work together to defeat the communist terrorist.
The British took immediate action to grant independence for the country
