Japanese rule in Malaya

THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

On 8 December 1941, Japanese aircraft bombed Singapore. By 15 February 1942, Japanese
troops had swept through the Malay Peninsula and captured the mightily fortress of
Singapore, the largest British naval base and the nerve centre of naval operations in the Far
East. Within a short span of 70 days, British colonialism that had begun with the
colonization of Penang in 1786 was brought to an end.
The Japanese invasion of Malaya was part of the drive to conquer Asia and
subordinate the continents people and resources to the needs of Japan. The great expansion
of Japanese industries in the 20 th century necessitated overseas markets for the finished
manufactured products and stable sources of raw materials. Before the 1930s, the colonial
powers that controlled Asian territories had pursued a laissez-faire policy. They allowed the
entry of Japanese goods into the countries they controlled and did not prevent the export of
raw materials to Japan. The Great Depression 6f of the 1930s forced the western colonial
powers restricted Japanese trade through quotas and tariffs. Since the Japanese did not
control any territories outside Japan or vital resources, which they could trade with the other
colonial powers, they were forced to resort to war to break the economic stranglehold.
As with all invading powers, the first task of the Japanese was to restore law and
order and to consolidate their power. After the military campaign was over, a systematic
attempt was made to destroy the structure of British colonial rule. The division of the
country into the Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States an Unfederated Malay States was
abolished. The Federal and State legislative and executive councils that were set up by the
British were all discarded. To emphasize Japanese superiority and to humiliate the
Europeans, the Japanese paraded the Europeans through the streets, compelled them to
perform hard labor, made them bow to the Japanese guards and even inflicted physical
violence on them in public.
An attempt to wipe out all traces of British and western influence was made. The
radio and the press were controlled. Any material considered undesirable by the Japanese
was censored or banned. The penalty for listening to British or Allied broadcasts was death.
English schools were closed and attempts were made to suppress the English language.
Efforts were made to promote the new centre for inspiration and leadership Japan.
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The Japanese established their own military government with supreme authority over
all aspects of life. While military force was to be the ultimate instrument, the Japanese also
realized that coercion could only achieve limited objectives. If they were to build a firm
foundation for their rule and be able to control the human and physical resources of the
country like the British had, they needed legitimacy and acceptance. In the attempt to secure
necessary support, the Japanese displayed some sophistication and variation in their methods
of dealing with local population. Aware of the demographic structure of the country and the
different attitudes each racial group had with regards to them, the Japanese determined their
policy accordingly. In this section, we shall discuss the policies that Japanese adopted in
relation to the Chinese, Indians and the Malays.
Japanese Policy Towards the Chinese
Long before the Japanese invaded Malaya, the Chinese there had displayed a hostile attitude
towards them. In the 1930s when Japanese troops invaded China, Chinese nationalism in
Malaya sparked off many anti-Japanese demonstrations. Boycotts of Japanese goods were
also organized by the local Chinese in addition to the collection of money and its remittance
back to China to help in the resistance against Japan. In fact, between July 1937 and
November 1940 the Chinese in Malaya collected a total of $146 million. This was more than
half the world total of $228 million that was collected by the overseas Chinese for the China
Relief Fund. When the Japanese troops marched through Malaya, it was the Chinese
population who bore the brunt of the fighting. Chinese volunteers defended Singapore with
great ferocity until the island fell.
After the Japanese invasion, the most effective guerilla groups comprised mainly
Chinese. Thus it was inevitable that when the Japanese succeeded in the conquest of Malaya,
they regarded the Chinese with suspicion and inflicted harsh punishment on them. After
Singapore fell in February 1942, it was reported that 5,000 were massacred. The act was
clearly done in reprisal to teach the Chinese a lesson for being hostile. The Japanese closed
the Chinese schools. In addition, they extracted $50 million from the Chinese community as
a punishment for their past activities and as a sign of cooperation with the Japanese
administration. Japanese policy was to terrorize and coerce the Chinese population into
submission and cooperation. However, the policy backfired. Where cooperation was given, it
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was done reluctantly. On the other hand, those who survived the mopping up operations
went underground and took to armed resistance.
Japanese Policy Towards the Indians
In contrast to the Europeans and the Chinese, the Japanese relationship with the Indians was
far more cordial. The Japanese were able to grasp the fact that the Indians did not view
Japan as an aggressor against their country as the Chinese did. But Japan was looked up to as
a possible source of help to liberate India from British colonialism. As early as October 1941
(before the invasion of Malaya), the Japanese had made overtures to win the Indians to their
side through the F Kikan. Throughout the Malayan campaign they took pains not to be
unduly harsh to the Indians both soldiers and civilians. There were no restrictions, no
bullying or mopping-up operations. Rather attempts were made to gain the goodwill of the
Indians and enlist their active support against the British imperialists. Immediately after the
conquest of Malaya, the Indian Independence League (IIL) was fostered to spearhead the
drive for Indias liberation and to carry out social activities for the benefit of the local
Indians. A military arm the Indian National Army (INA) was also started. Surrendered
Indian soldiers were enlisted and indoctrinated with the ideas of Indias independence. It was
reported that 40,000 out of 50,000 signed a pledge to join the army and 16,000 were armed
immediately. However, despite the enthusiasm of the Indians in Malaya to aid in the struggle
to rid India of British colonial rule, there was great confusion at this stage. The Congress
Party of India had taken the position that India should help the Allies cause against the Axis
powers of which Japan was a part. It was only when the Japanese brought Subhas Chandra
Bose into Malaya to lead the IIL and INA that the confusion was settled with the members
of the IIL and INA firmly on the side of the Japanese. Boses charismatic leadership helped
to give a great boost to the movement in 1943. By October of that year, the Japanese felt
that the movement was strong enough for Provisional Government of India to be formed.
This Azad Hind (Free India) government was established and recognized by Japan, Germany
and all the countries under their control. The INA later went into battle on the side of the
Japanese in India and Burma against Indian troops from India who fought on the side of the
British. Its defeat led to its decimation in 1945. Bose himself was later killed in an air crash in
1945 on his way to Japan.
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Japanese Policy Towards the Malays
Of the three major races in the country, the Japanese thought that they were most likely to
find support from the Malays. After all, the Malays had never had a record of anti-Japanese
activities as the Chinese did. They were also the indigenous people who had been deprived
of their country by the British, who had also allowed a large number of Chinese and Indian
immigrants into the country. Hence the Japanese thought the Malays would accept them as a
good alternative to the British. For tactical reasons too, the Japanese knew that they could
not afford to antagonize the Malays. The Chinese had proven themselves to be
unmanageable and their support had already been unstable. If the Malays were the resent
Japanese rule and organize against it as actively as the Chinese did, it would be difficult for
the Japanese to govern. Coercion would have to be utilized to maintain Japanese authority.
That would be troublesome, for the coercive method of control was far more expensive than
the normative. As the war was still going on in the Far East, resources could not be wasted
unnecessarily. Thus the Japanese made a conscious effort to win the support of the Malays.
This was done though a variety of means. First, the Japanese worked through the
traditional institutions. They realized that Malay society was still very much feudal in nature
and the Malays still had a strong reverence for their Rulers as well as the other aristocratic
and religious leaders. Pomp and ceremony were still politically meaningful to the ordinary
Malay folk. Thus the sultanate was preserved. The Japanese hoped to control Malay society
as the British had done before them. Second, the Japanese allowed Muslim employees to
take time off during the fasting month with full pay. An international religious conference
was held in 1943 with elaborate ceremonies. Through these activities the Japanese hoped to
demonstrate sympathy and support for the Muslim religion. And it was hoped that through
these overtures, the Malays would swing over to the side of the Japanese and be engaged in a
jihad (holy war) against the British. Third, Malay bureaucrats were retained and some were
even promoted to fill the vacancies at junior levels left by the Europeans. The Japanese
hoped that through participation in the machinery of the government, there would be
identification with the regime.
In addition to these efforts made to encourage Malay support for the regime, the
Japanese also promoted anti-British activities among the Malays whenever possible. While
the Malay establishment was loath to take an active part in the anti-British activities, the
Japanese found the radical Malays in the Kesatuan Melayu Muda willing partners. The KMM,
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which had underground after the British government, arrested many of its leaders and
members at the outbreak of the Second World War surfaced again after the British
surrendered in Singapore and offered its cooperation with the Japanese on the basis of an
anti-British united front. But the Japanese regime, suspicious of the intentions of the leftinclined KMM despite its need for active cooperation found it expedient to ban the KMM as
an organization in June 1942. But the radical anti-British Malay movement did not die. It was
reorganized as the Pembela Tanah Ayer (PETA) or Avengers of the Country. PETA also
offered its cooperation to the Japanese against the British. This time, the Japanese accepted
and allowed PETA to operate in Malaya. The Japanese apparently got along well with PETA
for by June 1945 when they realized that a defeat in the war was imminent, they agreed to
PETAs suggestion that Malaya be granted independence within the Indonesian Republic
that was to be declared in late August 1945. However, the surrender of the Japanese in midAugust 1945 prevented that plan from being put into effect. Many of PETAs leaders went
to Indonesia and the organization was disbanded on 22 August 1945.
It can be seen that in the attempt to consolidate their rule in Malaya, the Japanese
placed the greatest reliance on the Malays. The traditional structure of authority the
sultanate- was maintained and used. The Muslim religion (all Malays were Muslims) was
promoted and the Malays were recruited and promoted in the bureaucracy. Like the British
before them, the Japanese hoped to use normative and utilitarian means of control over the
Malays after the initial phase of violence was over. To a lesser extent, this was true also for
the Indians. With regards to the Chinese who had proved to be antagonistic to them before
and during their occupation in Malaya, the Japanese relied more on coercion to force
submission. Whether such strategy would have worked in the long run, there could be no
answers. Japanese rule in Malaya was only a short interlude of 3 and half years. However, the
short interlude had great effects on Malayan society and politics and this is what we shall be
concerned with in the next section.

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THE EFFECTS OF THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
Although the 3 and half years of Japanese rule had not been solely responsible for the
marked break in Malayas development, that rule certainly played an immense catalytic role in
ushering in some fundamental changes in the countrys political and social life. Whether it
was intentional or not, the Japanese invasion and occupation broke the pre-war pattern of
authority, upset the value structure and caused a breakdown in the economy with great
implications for the post-war politics of Malaya.
Before the Second World War, British military power in Malaya had always been
thought to be invincible. The Singapore naval base was the largest in the Far East. It had
taken twenty years to build and could even accommodate a 45,000 ton battleship without
much difficulty. With guns pointing out to the sea, it played the role of a mighty fortress
guarding the Malay Peninsula. In 1941, there were about 65,000 British and Australian and
55,000 Indian troops in the country. With such strong military backing, British political
power seemed unshakeable. It was difficult to imagine that British rule could collapse so
easily. The Japanese destroyed their myths. Two days after the first attack, the Japanese air
force sank the two great battleships- the Prince of Wales and the Repulse that were sent to
defend Malaya. In a mere 70 days, the Japanese had swept through Malaya and completely
destroyed the military might of Britain in Southeast Asia. The surrender of Singapore on
February 15, 1942 was not only the final stamp signifying the military defeat. It was also the
stroke that signaled the end of British political power. The collapse of British rule and the
stupefying speed in which it occurred had a tremendous psychological effect on the local
people. Those who they had though to be invincible were vulnerable. What they had
regarded as an unalterable state of affairs had changed. Their high regard, respect and even
fear of the British dwindled. After the conquest, the Japanese consciously humiliated and
disgraced the British internees. British prestige received a blow from which it never
recovered.
The change in authority relationship was also accompanied by a change in values.
The older generation of Chinese and Indians had immigrated to Malaya when British
colonialism was at its prime and the traditional leaders who collaborated with the British
were still powerful. To survive or even to make a living, they had to be subservient. As
recent immigrants, they tended to be servile, adjusting as best they could to the status quo.
Whatever the hardships, they viewed them as a temporary phenomenon. There were always
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hopes that better times were ahead. By the time of the Second World Wars, a new
generation born in Malaya had grown up. The younger people did not look upon their stay
in Malaya and the accompanying hardships as temporary. Not willing to suffer difficulties for
the rest of their lives, they were more aggressive and were prepared to challenge the status quo
to improve their conditions. This was also the period of anti-colonial favor. Ideas of
nationalism, independence, democracy and equality had caught the imagination of many.
Events in China, India and other parts of Southeast Asia certainly made an impact on the
younger generations in Malaya. Thus they were not only prepared to change but were also
prepared to take an active role towards this end. The Japanese invasion gave them the
opportunity.
First, through the participation in the organization of the resistance movements they
gained valuable experience. Those in leadership and administrative positions became
confident of their ability to control their environment. They could manage without the
colonial rulers or their traditional leaders. Other found that they need not suffer the old
humiliations and suppression. New alternatives had been offered and they could actively
participate in bringing about radical changes into society.
Second, the behavior and practice of the British themselves were also responsible for
the peoples resentment and rejection of British colonial rule. The British had always claimed
to be protectors, but their actions proved otherwise. When their defeat in northern Malaya
seemed imminent, they decided to evacuate only British nationals of pure British stock. No
Asiatics or Eurasians, even those who were British nationals, were allowed to leave. The
British were only thinking of saving their own skins. The coloreds were left to their fate.
Such racist actions contributed to the modification of the local peoples opinion of their
colonial rulers. Those who were indifferent previously began to be resentful and those who
rejected colonial rule found the cause to fight harder.
Within the Malayan communities, social leadership and authority relationship also
underwent great changes. This was especially so among the Chinese and Indians. The
traditional leadership made up businessmen the clan and association elders and the Englisheducated, had always worked with the governing authority. With the defeat of the British, a
very confused situation arose. What was their position to be? Some fled the country. Others
found that to retain their wealth, their jobs, and even their lives they had no choice but to
compromise with the new rulers. If they did not collaborate actively, they did so reluctantly.
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In the case of the Chinese community, there was great resentment against the Japanese. The
traditional leaders could not meet up to the challenge to galvanize the discontent into fruitful
action. Rather, it was the young men in Malayan Communist Party who provided the
leadership to the resistance through the Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) and
the civil wing, the Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Union (MPAJU). Thus in the course of
the war, a new generation came to the force through ideological and organizational skills and
courage, displacing those of wealth and age.
While the Chinese guerillas came into leadership positions through their antiJapanese activities, the younger Indians became prominent because of activities promoted by
the Japanese. Japanese efforts to stir up Indian nationalism against the British recruited many
clerks, Tamil speaking kanganys and schoolteachers into leadership positions. The wealthy
and English-educated professionals who had in the past provided leadership to the Indian
community were not willing to be engaged in anti-British activities. Leadership therefore
passed to the people in the Indian National Army, the Indian Independence League and
other mass organizations involved in the struggle for Indias independence. Invaluable
experience was gained by these new leaders in organization and mass mobilization.
The Japanese occupation not only affected the relationship between the pre-war
colonizer and the colonized after the war and the authority structure within each community
but also the relationship between the different communities. Before the Japanese
Occupation, racial tensions between the Malays and the Chinese were not characteristic of
the relationship between the two communities. Except for the fears expressed by the English
educated Malays, particularly in the Straits Settlements and the major cities in the Malay
Peninsula, that the Malays could be overwhelmed by the non-Malays, there was mutual
tolerance. The lack of interaction was responsible for this state of affairs. The Occupation
changed all that. It accentuated racial differences and heightened communal fears which later
resulted in racial antagonism and violence. It was reported that hundreds were killed in
clashes between the Chinese and the Malays in Johore in 1945. There were three main
reasons for this turn of events. First, during their occupation, the Japanese put into practice
the policy of divide and rule. Since they needed support from the local people and the
majority of the guerillas that were active in the anti-Japanese resistance were Chinese, the
Japanese attempted and succeeded in arousing the fears of the Malays to the issue of the
Chinese domination. Second, the Japanese continued with the British policy of recruiting
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Malays into the police and military forces. Thus the military clashes between the guerillas and
the governments armed forces turned out to be clashes between Chinese guerillas and Malay
troops. This helped in the creation of racial tensions between the Chinese and the Malays.
Third, the economic disruption caused by the Japanese Occupation forced many people
from the cities to become bandits in the rural areas. The fact that most of these brigands
who extorted food from the Malay peasants were Chinese certainly did a great deal of harm
to inter-racial harmony. The racial tension that was the product of the Japanese Occupation
has remained in Malayas political life ever since.
Economic Effects
Though it might never been intended, the Japanese Occupation left the Malayan economy in
a wretched state. First, with the impending Japanese invasion, the British were afraid that the
infrastructure as well as the industrial capacity would be utilized by the Japanese in the
furtherance of their war efforts. To prevent that, the British destroyed the roads, blew up the
bridges, flooded the tin mines, incapacitated the industrial machinery and even attempted to
destroy the rubber trees. The extent of the destruction could be gauged by the fact that the
tin production fell by 90% of the pre-war total. Although the Japanese succeeded in their
conquest, they did not succeed in quick rehabilitation of the economy. In some cases, they
did not have the technical knowledge how as all the British were interned, and in others, they
could not get spare parts to get machinery running again as war was going on other parts of
the world. Whenever rehabilitation was carried out, it was geared to the needs of the war and
not for the benefit of the people.
Second, the Malayan economy before the war had been increasingly linked with
those of the western countries. Malaya supplied commercial crops and raw materials, while
she imported food and industrial products. The war cut Malaya off from her former this
economic links. It also prevented the establishment of new ones. Since Japan was the only
industrialized country in the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, it was natural to expect that
industrial products would come from her. But Japan had very little to spare in terms of
consumer goods. Her industrial capacity had shifted to war production. Consumer products
were not given priority.
The economic breakdown caused a great shortage of all consumer commodities.
Particularly acute was the shortage of food. Rice, the staple food, was so scarce that people
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had to eat ubi kayu. This shortage of essential daily needs led to spiraling prices and great
instability. The widespread misery, particularly in the urban areas caused tremendous
hardships. Although the suggestion that mass movements could be activated by ideas was
not wrong, it could be said that empty stomachs always gave people the final push into
action. With the nothing to lose attitude, people were prepared to change, accept
revolutionary ideas and leadership in the search for a better alternative. In the early 1940s the
communists certainly were the most appealing.

Source:
Khong Kim Hoong (2003). Merdeka! British Rule and the Struggle for Independence in Malaya 1945-1957,
Kuala Lumpur: Strategic Information Research Development., pp 31-44.

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