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The Grooming of an Elite: Malay Administrators in the Federated Malay States, 1903–1941

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Yeo Kim Wah
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Extract

Between 1874 and 1888, British colonial rule was imposed on the Malay states of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang later collectively called the Federated Malay States (FMS). Based on the various Anglo-Malay treaties, which maintained the fiction that the British Resident was an adviser to the Malay ruler, the British established a form of administration generally known as a system of indirect rule. In this new order, the Malay rulers retained their constitutional and ceremonial role, while the exercise of executive power was held firmly in British hands. In the rush for establishing a modern administration and accelerating economic development late in the nineteenth century, hardly any attention was paid to training Malays to share executive power with British officials at the higher level of government or to compete effectively with Indians, Eurasians, and Chinese for subordinate appointments. This sin of omission began to stir the British conscience at the turn of the century and, for the next four decades, the British pursued a policy of actively promoting Malay employment in the government. This paper discusses the central component of this policy, namely, the training, recruitment, and development of Malay administrators in the FMS.

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Articles
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Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , September 1980 , pp. 287 - 319
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Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1980

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References

The research for this paper was carried out in London and Malaysia in the period 1969–70, when I held a Research Scholarship from the Australian National University. Additional information was collected in separate trips to Malaysia in 1972 and 1979 and to Malaysia and London in 1975. The 1975 trip was funded by a joint grant from the Ford Foundation and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. I wish to thank the above organizations for their kind assistance and support without which this paper could not have been written.

1 In 1923, 99 out of 189 MCS officers (excluding supernumeraries and those on leave) were based in the FMS. Guillemard to Devonshire, no. 682, 11 Dec. 1923 (National Library of Singapore Collection); in 1940 around 143 out of an estimated 220 MCS officers were stationed in the FMS.

2 Reprint of Memorials, Minutes, Correspondence, Despatches and Schemes, 1900–1917, pp. 39 and 131Google Scholar.

3 Guillemard, L.N., Trivial Fond Records (London, 1937), p. 91Google Scholar; Guillemard to Milner, 28 Aug. 1920, Colonial Office Record (henceforth cited as CO) 273/501.

4 Caldecott to Cunliffe-Lister, 25 Oct. 1934, CO717/602.

5 The Hong Kong or Ceylon Civil Service recruited an average of about 2 cadets each year. In 1927 out of 11 Far Eastern recruits, the MCS took 7. Secretary of State's Despatch no. 133, 23 Mar. 1927 (National Library of Singapore Collection). Malaya had asked for 19 cadets, Ceylon 3, and Hong Kong 4. Minute by Paskin 27 Oct. 1977 on Governor's Despatch 5 May 1927, CO 273/593.

6 The MCS cadets were certainly not ashamed of the fact that they generally did not top the open competitive examination in London. “The two things that impressed me most”, wrote one Colonial Office official, “during my short visit to Malaya in 1928 were the ‘provincialism’ of outlook of many of the officials I met and the feeling that the many good qualities of the MCS were to a considerable extent being detracted from by a kind of ‘intellectual arrogance’ which seemed to be too prevalent. They have been confirmed since by others who can speak with much greater knowledge.” Minute by Furse, 9 Jan. 1933, on Report of Retrenchment Commission 1932, CO 273/582/1931.

7 Straits Times, 27 Jan. 1923; Brockman to Grindle 5 Mar. 1923, CO 717/1932. The fact that the MCS cadets were actually selected by the Far Eastern Department of the Colonial Office and not personally by the Secretary of State was also considered a cause of Malaya's unpopularity. Minute by Furse, 12 Apr. 1923, on the 13th Interim Report of the Retrenchment Commission, 14 Mar. 1922, CO 717/32.

8 The MCS afforded opportunities for local promotion to a degree which rendered promotion to appointments in other colonies unattractive, except in a few of the higher administrative appointments. Secretary of State's Despatch no. 29, 27 Jan. 1920 (National Library of Singapore Collection). Apart from Governorships, there were 18 administrative appointments in the colonial dependencies carrying a salary of more than £1,900 per annum. Nine of these posts were in Malaya, and 8 of the Malayan posts were reserved for the MCS. The MCS officers were also entitled to be considered for promotion to 7 of the 9 posts overseas. Two other posts carrying the same salary were reserved for those serving in Nigeria. Report of the Salaries of Certain Senior Officers by Gibson, Fell, and Cecil Rae, undated, C0717/112/1935.

9 Minute by Ellis, 22 Sept. 1928, on High Commissioner's Despatch, 14 Aug. 1928, CO 717/59.

10 Minute by Grindle, 4 Apr. 1928, on Governor's Despatch, 16 Feb. 1928, CO 223/549. Minute by Ormsby-Gore on Governor's Despatch, 25 May 1927, CO 273/540.

11 Minute by Paskin, 27 Oct. 1927, on Governor's Despatch, 5 May 1927, CO 273/539.

12 This was the criterion used by the Warren Committee 1931 (a committee called to report on the unification of the various colonial services) to define a good administrative cadet. Jeffries, C., The Colonial Empire and Its Civil Service (Cambridge, 1938), p. 232Google Scholar.

13 Report of the Salaries of Certain Senior Officers by Gibson, Fell, and Cecil Rae, undated, CO 717/112/1935.

14 Minute by Gent, 24 Sept. 1930, on High Commissioner's Despatch, 25 Sept. 1930, CO 717/73.

15 Purcell, V., Memoirs of a Malayan Official (London, 1965), p. 98Google Scholar.

16 This, in fact, happened to R.O. Winstedt, Director of Education, in 1930. He was not selected to be Chief Secretary because he was considered lacking in certain qualities of mind essential to the Chief Secretary but not so necessary to the Director of Education. Minute by Gent, 24 Sept. 1930, on High Commissioner's Despatch, 25 Sept. 1930, CO 717/73.

17 Thomas to MacDonald, 15 Nov. 1935, CO 273/611.

18 For discussion, see Heussler, Robert, Yesterday's Rulers: The Making of the British Colonial Service (New York, 1963)Google Scholar; Allen, J.de.V., “The Malayan Civil Service, 1874–1941: Colonial Bureaucracy or Malayan Elite”, Comparative Studies in Society and History 12, no. 2 (1970)Google Scholar; Lim Huck Tee, “The Malayan Civil Service, 1896–1941” (Academic Exercise, University of Malaya in Singapore, 1960).

19 Clementi to Passfield, no. 266, 30 Sept. 1930 (National Library of Singapore Collection).

20 Anderson to Lyttelton, 17 Aug 1904, CO 273/300.

21 Maxwell to Bracken, M.P. 22 Sept. 1942, The Personal Papers of W.G. Maxwell (Microfilm copy, University of Singapore).

22 Minutes of Conference of Residents, Mar. 1904, High Commissioner's Office File (henceforth cited as HCO) 422/1904.

23 Burns, P., Introduction to Papers on Malay Subjects ed. Wilkinson, R.J. (Kuala Lumpur, 1970), p. 5Google Scholar.

24 Minutes of Conference of Residents, Mar. 1904, HCO 422/1904.

25 R.J. Wilkinson (ed.), op. cit., p. 2.

26 Minutes of Conference of Residents, Mar. 1904, HCO 422/1904; Chan, Chai Hon, The Development of British Malaya, 1896–1909 (Kuala Lumpur, 1964), p. 58Google Scholar.

27 Minutes of Conference of Residents, Mar. 1904, HCO 422/1904.

28 Ibid.

29 Roff, W., The Origins of Malay Nationalism (Singapore, 1967), p. 101Google Scholar; Taylor to Anderson, 29 June 1906, HCO 797/1906; Wilkinson to Anderson, 22 June 1906, ibid.

30 This was implied by Birch who wrote that “if the conditions of the school were made more attractive its numbers would increase, though they are not inconsiderable now”. Birch to Taylor, HCO 1630/1905.

31 Memo by a Malay Inspector, 14 Oct. 1931, Selangor Secretariat File (henceforth cited as SSF), 2469/1931.

32 Birch to Taylor, 7 Nov. 1905, HCO 1630/1905.

33 binte Johan, Khasnor, “The Malay College Kuala Kangsar, 1905–41” (M.A. diss., University of Malaya, 1969), p. 148Google Scholar (henceforth cited as “The Malay College”). See footnote 73.

34 “Boys of lower rank”, wrote Anderson, “may easily find employment as Penghulus, but some better prospect must be held out to boys of the immediate family of the Rulers, unless they are to become permanent loafers.” Anderson to Taylor, 10 Mar. 1908, HCO 197/1908.

35 The MAS Establishment List, 1 Oct. 1923, SSF 2076/1923. The figures given in the list did not include officers who had left the service. Khasnor binte Johan, “The Malay College”, pp. 203–4, gives a figure of 47 Malay Assistants in 1916.

36 Memo by Mackray, undated, SSF 3025/1916. Mackray and A. Caldecott jointly drafted the 1917 MAS scheme.

37 binte Johan, Khasnor, “The Administrative Elite in the FMS: An Aspect of Malaysian Social History” (Ph.D. diss., Monash University, 1974), pp. 77–78Google Scholar.

38 Guillemard to Devonshire, no. 4, 8 Jan. 1924 (National Library of Singapore Collection).

39 Minute by Brockman, 12 June 1920, Negri Sembilan Secretariat File (henceforth cited as NSF) 33/1920.

40 Bulletin of the Malayan Bureau of Political Intelligence, no. 8, 1 Oct. 1922, CO 273/518.

41 In fact, the Under-Secretary, Mackray, who helped draft the 1917 scheme died in harness and several others were on the verge of breakdown. Memo on Recruitment to the MCS by A.S. Jelf, 31 May 1922, encl. in High Commissioner's Despatch no. 682, 11 Dec. 1923 (National Library of Singapore Collection).

42 R. Winstedt to H.W. Firmstone (Director of Education), 9 Oct. 1919, Pahang Secretariat File (henceforth cited as PSF), 1667/1919.

43 Khasnor binte Johan, “The Administrative Elite”, p. 119.

44 Lemon to Maxwell, 3 Nov. 1919, PSF 1667/1919.

45 Up to 1925, the Resident of Perak was paid $1,450 in monthly salary and an entertainment allowance of $400. The second highest paid was the Resident of Selangor who earned $1,400 and an entertainment allowance of $300. Guillemard to Amery, 12 Mar. 1925, CO 717/41.

46 Officially Maxwell became Resident of Perak on 19 Dec. 1919, but in effect he occupied the post sometime before the above date.

47 Minute of Meeting of the Board of Governors, Malay College, 19 Dec. 1919, SSF 652/1920.

48 The question was again considered on 21 June 1922 and the decision was that “whilst preference should be given to boys of good birth no hard and fast rule can be laid down”. Minute by O.F. Stonor, 23 Mar. 1923, SSF 1561/1923.

49 W.J. Hume to O. Marks (Resident of Selangor), 16 Sept. 1920, SSF 652/1920.

50 Tengku Besar of Pahang's file cited by Khasnor binte Johan. “The Administrative Elite”, pp. 85–86.

51 Ibid., p. 84.

52 Malay Mail, 2 Jan. 1920.

53 Maxwell to Aldworth (Resident of Negri Sembilan), 5 Jan. 1920, NSF 1066/1920.

54 Khasnor binte Johan, “The Administrative Elite”, pp. 84–85.

55 Minute of Meeting of the Board of Governors, Malay College, 15 Apr. 1920, SSF 1830/1920.

56 Minute by Brockman, 17 Feb. 1920, NSF 17/1920.

57 Minutes by Hume, 16 Mar. 1920, by Parr, 8 Mar. 1920, and by Lemon, 1 Mar. 1920, ibid.

58 Minute by Parr, 8 Mar. 1920, ibid.

59 Ibid.

60 Brockman to Marks. 31 May 1920, SSF 3086/1920.

61 Minute of Meeting of the Board of Governors, Malay College, 15 Apr. 1920, SSF 1830/1920.

62 Under-Secretary to Marks, 27 Oct. 1920, SSF 3086/1920.

63 Memo by T.S. Adams, undated, 1926, NSF 1147/1926.

64 Ibid.

65 Notes of an Interview between His Excellency, the High Commissioner, and His Highness, the Sultan of Perak, at Government House, Kuala Kangsar, 25 Mar. 1920, NSF 33/1920.

66 Ibid.

67 Ghosh, K.K., Twentieth-Century Malaysia: Politics of Decentralisation of Power, 1920–1929 (Calcutta, 1977), pp. 141–43Google Scholar.

68 Utusan Melayu, 26 Sept. 1919, encl. to Winstedt to Firmstone, 9 Oct. 1919, PSF 1667/1919.

69 Utusan Melayu, 12 Apr. 1920 and Lembaga Melayu, 20 Apr. 1920, encl. in Winstedt to Jelf, 24 Apr. 1920, NSF 27/1920. Winstedt suggested that the government should stop subscribing to the above newspapers. He was supported by A.H. Lemon and C.W.C. Parr but was opposed by W.G. Maxwell and W.J.P. Hume. Ibid.

70 Minute by Maxwell, 7 May 1920, NSF 27/1920.

71 Memo by T.S. Adams, undated 1920, NSF 3084/1920.

72 This refers to paragraphs 20–22 of the scheme. Ibid.

73 For instance, in 1923 there were 23 Rajas, 2 Syeds, 5 Datos, and 17 others who were MAS officers. The Establishment List of the MAS 1 Oct. 1923, SSF 2076/1923.

75 Memo by T.S. Adams, undated 1920, NSF 3084/1920.

76 Memo by Hill, 15 July 1920, NSF 33/1920.

77 Memo by G.E. London, Secretary to Resident, Pahang, 19 Oct. 1921, NSF 3084/1920; also memo by W.D. Scott, Ag. Resident of Pahang, 9 July 1920, NSF 33/1920.

78 Memo by Harrison, 6 Nov. 1920, SSF 5429/1920.

79 The MAS Probationers were selected in mid-year after their Junior Cambridge Examination results were known in March or Apil. They entered the College in September, three months before the Senior Cambridge Examination. Memo by Under-Secretary FMS, 7 Aug. 1923, SSF 2330/1923.

80 Ibid.

81 Guillemard to Devonshire, no. 4, 8 Jan. 1924 (National Library of Singapore Collection).

82 Ibid.

83 Proceedings of the Federal Council, FMS (henceforth cited as PFC FMS) (Kuala Lumpur, 1928), p. B105Google Scholar.

84 Khasnor binte Johan, “The Malay College”, p. 216.

85 Minute by Martin, 1 Mar. 1940, on High Commissioner's Despatch, 19 Jan. 1940, CO 717/44.

86 The last Malay officer sent to England was Che Maarof whose social backgrounds I am unable to ascertain. Che Maarof was not made a First-Class Magistrate in 1933 because of the opposition of the Legal Adviser even though he passed his Law examination and was called to the Bar. The Legal Adviser stated that he was incompetent in court work.

87 Minute by T.S. Adams, 3 Mar. 1934, SSF General 98/1934.

88 Minutes by Legal Adviser, W.S. Gibson, 1 Apr. 1930, NSF General 444/1935.

89 Notes on a Conference of Malay officers at Carosa, 7 Sept. 1929, SSF General 1508/1929.

90 For instance, Raja Lope, son of a half-sister of Sultan Iskandar of Perak and a half-brother of Raja Chulan, failed in Balliol College, Oxford, married a European, and left behind unpaid bills to the sum of £187–16s–7d. Thornton to Grindle, 22 May 1931, CO 717/83. In Sally (1904) and Salleh, A Sequel (1908), Clifford himself had warned that Malays who studied in England might become misfits, “neither European nor Asian”. Allen, J.V., “Two Imperialists”, Journal of Malaysian Branch, Royal Asiatic Society 38, no. 1 (1964): 68Google Scholar. Possibly, this also influenced British policy after the late 1920s.

91 The Sultan of Perak was strongly opposed to such marriages and in 1937 issued a titah that no Perak Malay who contracted such a marriage could hope for any office in the State Government. Thomas to Ormsby-Gore, 1 July 1937, CO 717/126.

92 Cunliffe-Lister to Thomas, 1 Mar. 1935, NSF General 444/1935; Minute by Thomas 21 Sept. 1935, SSF General 444/1935.

93 Report on the Magistracy in the FMS by Sir Roger Hall, Chief Justice FMS, 16 July 1938, CO 717/144/1940.

94 Thomas to MacDonald, 19 Oct. 1938, CO 273/649.

95 For instance, see Majlis, 20 Aug. 1937.

96 The first Malay honours graduate appointed in 1935 was Mohamed Yusuf bin Abdur Rahman who obtained an honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University. Despite the ruling of 1933, Yusuf was nearly made to start at the very bottom of the salary scale. Fortunately, the Ag. Resident of Selangor managed to persuade the other Residents that this was unwise. Yusuf was therefore placed, subject to his passing the Cadet's Law Examination in a year, at a point in the salary scale which he would have reached if he had entered the MAS through the normal channels. See NSF General 539/1935.

97 Headmaster, Malay College, to Board of Governors, Malay College, 14 June 1932, SSF General 1278/1932.

98 See SSF General 1345/1932 and 450/1933.

99 Minutes by Resident of Negri Sembilan, 5 Aug. 1932 and by Resident of Perak 12 Aug. 1932, SSF General 1821/1932.

100 Adams to Resident of Perak, 9 Oct. 1936, SSF General 841/1935.

101 Minute by Headmaster, Malay College, 4 Jan. 1936, SSF General 841/1935.

102 Minute of Residents' Conference, 28 Nov. 1938, CO 717/144/1940.

103 This number excluded three Malay officers studying in England to be barristers in law.

104 See, for instance, SSF General 2298/1929.

105 For instance, Othman bin Mahmud, the only volunteer to work in the Federal Treasury, asked to return to the District Office after six months. One of the two main reasons given was the high cost of living in Kuala Lumpur. State Treasurer to FMS Treasurer, 1 June 1927, SSF 4933/1925.

106 In 1930 there was one Malay officer attached to the Pahang Medical Department, one in the Official Assignees' Department a year earlier, two in the Customs Department in 1938. Probably there were a few others in departments.

107 PFC FMS (Kuala Lumpur, 1938), p. B66Google Scholar.

108 Ibid., p. B55; Majlis, 18 Oct. 1937 and 20 Sept. 1937.

109 Report on the Magistracy in the FMS by Sir Roger Hall, Chief Justice FMS, 16 July 1938, CO 717/144/1940. “If it was the practice in the past”, replied the new Chief Justice, “to appoint the ‘duds’ to do magisterial work, that practice has now ceased.”

110 Ibid.

111 The Malay magistrates frequently lacked a grasp of the principles of law. Their training was confined to committing to memory certain enactments or parts thereof and gaining a general idea of others. Minutes by Resident of Selangor, 14 July 1937, SSF General 841/1935. “Law was a thing little known to the [Malay] Magistrates.” Report on the Magistracy in the FMS by Sir Roger Hall, Chief Justice FMS, 16 July 1938, CO 717/144/1940.

112 Raja Musa to Under-Secretary 17 Apr. 1929, SSF General 884/1929.

113 Report on the Magistracy in the FMS by Sir Roger Hall, Chief Justice FMS, 16 July 1938, CO 171/144/1940.

114 Ibid.

115 Thomas to MacDonald, 19 Jan. 1940, ibid.

116 Minute of Meeting of Board of Governors, Malay College, 15 Apr. 1920. SSF 1830/1920.

117 Note that data for the missing years are not available in the sources consulted.

118 Minutes by N.R. Jarrett, 10 Sept. 1930, by W.E. Pepys, 11 Sept. 1930, and by C.W.H. Cochrane, 13 Sept. 1930, SSF 1455/1930.

119 I am unable to ascertain fully the numbers of MAS officers during the interwar years. The following figures are available from official and published sources: 1923–53, 1925–66, 1928–78, 1930–80, 1932–76, 1935–76, and 1941–72. Khasnor binte Johan provides the following figures: 1916–55 (including 8 Malay probationers), 1922–60, 1928–78, and 1940–91 (including 14 Malay probationers).

120 Minute by Brockman, 16 Mar. 1920, SSF 1921/1920.

121 District Officer, Kuala Selangor to Secretary to Resident, Selangor, 14 June 1921, SSF 2471/1921; in 1920 there were 29 officers on the 1910 scheme. See SSF 5534/1920.

122 Memo by Maxwell, 12 Mar. 1922, SSF 1384/1922.

123 Of the 12 officers, 7 were non-Malay Asians and 5 were British cadets. Guillemard to Devonshire, 11 Dec. 1923 (National Library of Singapore Collection). The “Administrative Appointments open to others than Cadets” carried the same salary scale, $325–400 a month, as Special Class Malay Officers.

124 Memo by E.B. William, Collector of Land Revenue, Seremban, 15 Apr. 1925, SSF 3749/1925.

125 Adams to Cochrane, 15 Dec. 1930, SSF 1202/1930.

126 Roff, op. cit., p. 228. Ishak was a member of the MAS before he resigned in 1933 and subsequently helped found the radical organization, the Young Malay Union.

127 Memo by Adams, 6 Nov. 1936, NSF 1712/1936.

128 Khasnor binte Johan, “The Administrative Elite”, pp. 299–300.

129 Memo on Indebtedness of Malay Officers, MAS, by N.R. Jarrett, 30 July 1934, PSF 33/1934.

130 Report of the Magistracy in the FMS by Chief Justice, Sir Roger Hall, 16 July 1938 and enclosures, CO 717/144/1940.

131 Thomas to MacDonald, 19 Jan. 1940, and enclosures, ibid.

132 Khasnor binte Johan, “The Administrative Elite”, pp. 194–95.

133 Ibid., p. 170.

134 PFC FMS (Kuala Lumpur, 1932), p. B16Google Scholar.

135 Guillemard to Devonshire, no. 682, 11 Dec. 1923 (National Library of Singapore Collection).

136 Adams to Cator, 9 Oct. 1936, SSF General 841/1935.

137 It should perhaps be noted that Malays with a university honours degree were not admitted directly into the MCS because they were alleged to be lacking in character and not sufficiently disciplined. See footnote 96.

138 According to Purcell, this was also the attitude of the pro-Malay officers towards the Malays. Purcell, op. cit., p. 300.

139 Notes on a Conference of Malay Officers at Carcosa, 7 Sept. 1929, SSF General 1508/1929.

140 This was not required under the 1921 Scheme. Memo by T.S. Adams undated, NSF 1147/1926.

141 The MAS Scheme (Kuala Lumpur, 1929)Google Scholar.

142 Minute by Under-Secretary FMS, 28 May 1930, SSF 448/1930.

143 Under the 1921 scheme, Adams expected that efficient officers would reach “Administrative Appointments” after seven or eight years in service. Memo by T.S. Adams, undated 1926, NSF 1147/1926. Malay officers joined the MAS at 21 or 22 years of age.

144 A report in 1929, for instance, recommended some seven or eight Class V posts for relegation to “Administrative Appointments”. See SSF General 1334/1929. Two were transferred in 1929, three in 1930, and the rest in 1932.

145 MCS Association to Chief Secretary, 28 Apr. 1928, SSF General 1756/1928.

146 For discussion, see Wah, Yeo Kim, “British Policy towards the Malays in the FMS, 1920–1940” (Ph.D. diss., Australian National University, 1972)Google Scholar; Emerson, R., Malaysia: A Study of Direct and Indirect Rule (Kuala Lumpur, 1964)Google Scholar.

147 PFC FMS (Kuala Lumpur, 1929), p. B106Google Scholar; ibid. (Kuala Lumpur, 1933), p. B145.

148 Clementi to Cunliffe-Lister, 26 Oct. 1932, CO 273/584.

149 Ibid.

150 Of these, there were only four Class IB and ten Class II posts.

151 This scheme opened certain administrative posts to Asian British subjects born in the Colony. Officers on this scheme were confined to the Colony. It was a recognition of the rights of local-born Asians to a share of political power in the Straits Settlements. Clementi to Cunliffe-Lister, 14 Oct. 1932, CO 273/584.

152 Minute by Nostar, 29 June 1934, on Governor's Despatch, 12 May 1934, CO 273/600.

153 Minute by Cowell, 31 July 1934, ibid.

154 Thomas to MacDonald, 7 Mar. 1940, CO 717/142.

155 Minute by Martin, 19 Apr. 1940 on High Commissioner's Despatch, 7 Mar. 1940, CO 717/142.

156 See a good account of this in Khasnor binte Johan, “The Administrative Elite”. This study also gives the best account to date of the relations between the Malay officers and the British, and between the traditional Malay establishment and the Malay officers.

157 Ibid., p. 319.

158 For discussion, see Roff, op. cit.