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ABSTRACT
This article examines the epistemic violence enacted onto the Malay left (represented broadly by the Malay Nationalist Party, MNP), through the collaboration between the Malay aristocracy, represented by its political vehicle the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), and the British colonial state. It traces this epistemic violence through British re-colonisation in 1945 leading up to the independence of Malaya in 1957. This article argues that this collaboration has resulted in persistent constructions of the ‘Malay’ image as a discursive tool by marginalising those that deviate from this image into subalternity. This discursive control is salient not only in ensuring the fulfilment of the material interests of the colonial state (in re-colonisation), and the Malay aristocracy (in the consolidation of feudal institutions), during the period but is also a persistent narrative used in the current day as a form of legitimacy for the post-colonial state.
Artikel ini mengkaji kekerasan epistemik yang dikenakan ke atas golongan Melayu berhaluan kiri (yang sebahagian besarnya diwakili oleh Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, PKMM), melalui kerjasama antara golongan bangsawan Melayu (melalui alat politik mereka United Malay National Organisation, UMNO) dan kerajaan kolonial British. Artikel ini mejejaki kekerasan epistemik ini dari zaman penjajahan semula British pada tahun 1945 sehingga kemerdekaan Malaya pada tahun 1957. Artikel ini berhujah bahawa kerjasama ini telah menghasilkan pembinaan imej ‘Melayu’ berterusan yang digunakan sebagai alat wacana untuk menindas mereka yang tidak akur kepada imej ini, dan menjerumuskan mereka ke dalam ‘subalterniti’. Kawalan wacana ini penting bukan hanya untuk memuaskan kepentingan material bagi pihak kerajaan kolonial (dalam penjajahan semula) dan golongan bangsawan Melayu (dalam menguatkan institusi diraja) pada zaman tersebut, tetapi juga sebagai satu naratif berterusan yang digunakan pada hari ini untuk menguatkan keabsahan kerajaan pascakolonial.
Acknowledgements
The author received grants from the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (SEAC) PhD Fieldwork Support Fund and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) PhD Studentship award. The author would like to thank his supervisor Dr Kirsten Schulze and the LSE Modern World History cluster for their valuable feedback in the preparation of this article. Thanks are also due to Fadiah Nadwa Fikri for collaborating in formulating the theoretical framework of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Economist 153 (5441), ‘Rumblings in Malaya’, 6 December 1947, p. 926.
2 Political Intelligence Journal (PIJ) no.15, The National Archives (TNA), FCO 141/15673.
3 PIJ no. 6 of 1946, TNA, FCO 141/15954.
4 Record type: memorandum former reference: WP (44) 258, ‘Policy in Malaya and Borneo’, 1944, TNA, CAB 66/50/8.
5 Victor Purcell, Malaya’s political climate VII. Period January 8th to February 4th, 1946, in Malaya: administration and a report on the long-term policy regarding the Chinese in Malaya, Singapore. TNA, WO 203/5283.
6 ‘Malayan societies’, in Malaya: administration and a report on the long-term policy regarding the Chinese in Malaya, Singapore, 1945–1946, TNA, WO 203/5283.
7 Victor Purcell, TNA, WO 203/5283.
8 The manifesto of the Malay Nationalist Party Malaya with regard to the British White Paper on Malayan Union in Policy: Malaya: Malay attitude, 1946, TNA, CO 537/1549.
9 Strategic War Unit, Malaya: Malay Nationalist Party secedes from United Malay Nationalist Organisation, 1946, US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), A-70178.
10 Majlis (1947): ‘Ahli PKMM Melaka menarik diri’, 24 February 1947, p. 3; ‘Ahli PKMM Tangkak menarik diri’, 15 March 1947, p. 4; ‘Menarik diri dari PKMM Parit’, 1 March 1947, p. 4; ‘Lagi menarik diri dari PKMM’, 18 March 1947, p. 2.
11 Majlis, ‘Umat Melayu Melaka membidas PKMM’, 8 November 1947, p. 1.
12 Straits Times,10 December 1947, p. 10.
13 Straits Times, 18 December 1946, p. 4
14 Economist, 6 December 1947, p. 926.
15 Malaya Tribune, 9 September 1947, p. 5.
16 Statement issued by the All Malaya Peasant Union, Kuala Lumpur alleging increase of land rents by tenfold and eviction of peasants, Arkib Negara Malaysia (ANM), 1957/0294228W.
17 Supplement to PIJ no. 10, 1948, TNA, CO 537/3748.
18 United Malay Organisation and Malay Nationalist Party, 1949, TNA, FCO 141/15457.
19 Secretary of Chinese Affairs, ‘Special Conference’, p. 2, TNA, FCO 141/19947.
20 ‘Comments on the proposals of AMCJA-PUTERA on citizenship’, TNA, CO 537/2148.
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25 Economist 153 (5441), 6 December 1947, p. 926.
26 PIJ no. 10 of 1947, TNA, FCO 141/15955.
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29 UMNO, 1949, TNA, FCO 141/15457.
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33 NARA A-70178.
34 No. 131 Malay extremist repent – ask sultan for pardon, 1948–1949, ANM, 1957/0473801W.
35 National Registration, 1948–1949, ANM, 1957/0473801W.
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38 1162 ‘MAY DAY’, 1952, ANM, 1957/0675449W
39 UMNO, 1949, TNA, FCO 141/15457.
40 Malaya Tribune, 20 March 1947, p. 5.
41 PIJ no. 15 of 1948, TNA, FCO 141/15673.
42 NARA A-70178, pp. 247–248.
43 Extract from Pan-Malayan Review (PMR) of Political Intelligence no. 6 – June, 1952, TNA, CO 1022/183.
44 PIJ no. 13 of 1948, TNA, FCO 141/15673; A.H.P. Humphrey, ‘Expressions used in public references to the communist organisation’, 1954–1955, TNA, FCO 141/7462.
45 Straits Times, 19 December 1950, p. 1; PIR no. 9 of 1950, TNA, CO 537/6086.
46 PIR no. 3 of 1950 1950, TNA, CO 537/6086.
47 PIJ no. 14 of 1948, TNA, FCO 141/15673.
48 Morning Tribune, 22 July 1948, p. 3.
49 PIJ no. 15 of 1948, TNA, FCO 141/15673.
50 Othman Wok, Political history of Singapore, National Archives of Singapore, 6 January 1982, 00013.
51 U.M.N.O Labour dept., 1947. ANM, 1957/0638245W.
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56 Second letter from Oliver Lyttelton to Tunku Abdul Rahman, Laporan Mengenai U.M.N.O. Tahun 1953–1954 no. 1–12. (A), p.1, ANM, 2003/0008799W
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64 Straits Times, 22 July 1948, p. 10.
65 ANM, 1957/0473801W.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Armand Azra bin Azlira
Armand Azra bin Azlira is a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He obtained his BA (Hons) in Modern History with Economics from the University of Manchester and an MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation from LSE. He has also done research with civil society organisations on topics such as public finance, governance, development, and migration in Malaysia. His PhD research topic focuses on the often ignored anti-colonial mass movements in Malaysia and its relation to international politics, particularly during the Cold War. Email: [email protected]