Part I: The Making Of A Nation
Ten years after giving up power from its biggest colony on the Indian sub-continent, Britain was getting tired of administering the last few remaining colonies in its far-flung empire in the Far East.
The lost of the 'Jewel In The Crown' was a wake-up call for Britain to return what rightfully didn't belong to them. It's time for decolonisation. It was time to pack up and go. The last few remaining colonies of the British Empire in Asia and Africa literally have had independence thrown on their laps.It was a peaceful and smooth transition of power transfer from colonial masters to colonial subjects without the horrific bloodshed that some less fortunate colonies have to endure to get independence from their colonial masters. We might have shed some sweat and tears but otherwise it was the most civilised manner Britain had conducted itself when it gave independence to this nation. There were no real heroes of independence that one can really talk about but there were champions. In January 1946 the British published proposals for a Malayan Union to unite the whole of the peninsula under a strong central government.These proposals were resisted by the Malays, who quickly formed a political party known as United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). The Malayan Union concept was abandoned and in its place the 'Federation of Malaya Agreement' was signed on 21 January 1948 and came into effect on 1 February same year.A common citizenship was created for all who acknowledged Malaya as their permanent home and gave their undivided royalty. Citizenship were also to be given to the Chinese and Indians as one of the conditions stipulated by the British.At that time the Federation did not include Penang and Malacca which remained British territory and Singapore remained a separate colony. After the fall of Malaya and Singapore to the Japanese during World War II the communists mounted a campaign of active resistance against the Japanese and hope to gain control of the country in September 1945 but the attempt was thwarted by the arrival of the British military administration. The communists insurrections continued until after the end of World War II and after Malaya gained independence on 31 August 1957. Those who depict Chin Peng as liberator and hero of independence were trying to rewrite the history book and should have their head examined. Chin Peng was nothing else but a communist insurgent and a criminal.The Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) continued its arm struggle in trying to overthrow the legitimate government well into the late eighties.
