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The Formation and First Years of the United Malays National Organization (U.M.N.O.) 1946–1948

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

A. J. Stockwell
A. J. Stockwell
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway College, University of London
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Extract

The United Malays National Organization has been the strongest Malay political party since its foundation in May 1946; its leaders place it pre-eminent in the history of Malay nationalism and Malayan independence. Needless to say, these claims have been disputed by its opponents and queried by its students; not only have the origins of Malay nationalism been traced to the pre-war era, but also, it can be argued, in its early years the party's leaders were more concerned to safeguard Malay rights vis à vis the other races of Malaya, and were more inclined to collaborate with the British authorities in opposition to radicalism within their own community, than to struggle for self-government. Nevertheless, the formation of U.M.N.O. was a remarkable event. For the first time a mass and pan-peninsula Malay movement emerged to attack British policy. Its popular support, forceful leadership and effective organization surprised Briton and Malay alike. U.M.N.O. amounted to an unprecedented Malay response to colonial rule.

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Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , October 1977 , pp. 481 - 513
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

1 SirClifford, Hugh in his preface to Alice Mary [Baroness] Lovat, The Life of Sir Frederick Weld G.C.M.G.: A Pioneer of Empire (London, 1914).Google Scholar

2 Clifford, , as High Commissioner of the Malay States, Proceedings of the Federal Council of the F.M.S., 16 11 1927.Google Scholar

3 In the following account of Malay political developments up to the Japanese invasion I have followed Roff, William R., The Origins of Malay Nationalism (New Haven, 1967).Google Scholar

4 Purcell, Victor, The Memoirs of a Malayan Official (London, 1965), p. 300.Google Scholar

5 Ibid., pp. 353ff.

6 For example, the Persatuan Melayu Perak (Perak Malay Association), the Persatuan Melayu Pahang and the Persatuan Melayu Selangor; the latter had pioneered the route towards a ‘national congress’ before the war and now its secretary, Mohamed Yunus Hamidi, who was also editor of Majlis, reiterated the call for Malay unity.

7 Majlis, a Jawi-script Malay daily founded in 1931, was published in Kuala Lumpur. Under the direction of Abdul Rahim Kajai (1931–35) Majlis became a watch-dog of Malay ‘national’ interests. During the Japanese occupation it continued in its office in Batu Road with many of its pre-war staff (notably Abdul Rahim Kajai who returned to edit the paper until his death, when Mohd Yunus Hamidi took over), although its name was changed to Perubahan Bahru and its policy was dictated by the new régime. The paper resumed publication as Majlis in October 1945 (it continued until 1955). With its close links with the Persatuan Melayu Selangor, it was instrumental in convening the Pan-Malayan Malay Congress in March 1946 and it became the mouthpiece of U.M.N.O. in the party's early years. When Mohd Yunus Hamidi retired in 1946, Mohamed Salleuddin became editor. There are complete holdings of Majlis for the Malayan Union period and beyond in the Arkib Negara Malaysia and the British Library. Warta Negara, a Jawi-script Malay daily published in Penang, claimed to be ‘the first Malay Daily Newspaper published after the British re-occupation of Malaya’. As early as 10 November 1945 it was arguing that the proposed Malayan Union provided Malays with an opportunity to hold a pan-Malayan conference, and its editor, Ibrahim Mahmood, was to pursue a pro-U.M.N.O. line. A holding of Warta Negara (complete at least for 1946–1948) is in the Penang office of Utusan Malaysia which took over Warta Negara in the 1960s. Utusan Melayu, a Jawi-script Malay daily founded in 1939, continued in Singapore as Berita Malai during the Japanese occupation. In January 1943 it was combined with the former Warta Malaya and its wartime editors were Yusoff bin Ishak (Utusan Melayu's founder-editor), Ishak bin Mohd (formerly a leader of the radical K.M.M. and after the war to be an important figure in the Malay Nationalist Party), and the youthful Abdul Samad Ismail. During the early months of the British re-occupation Abdul Samad Ismail was detained and Utusan Melayu took a cautious line. However, on his release and under the influence of Abdul Aziz bin Ishak (militant brother of Yusoff), the paper grew increasingly radical with the result that at the end of December 1946 Dato Onn observed: ‘As Utusan Melayu is so obviously anti-U.M.N.O. I see no point in making use of their columns’ (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 72/46). Holdings of Utusan Melayu for the Malayan Union period are scarce; much in the paper's Kuala Lumpur office was destroyed in floods in 1959 and one must rely on the incomplete series in the National Library of Singapore (microfilm at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London). Newspaper circulation was not great: Warta Negara was confined to north-west Malaya, while Majlis explained to its readers on 22 June 1946 that post-war paper shortages limited daily production to 2,000 copies. Moreover, these papers were printed in Jawi script, and it is interesting to note that Dato Onn (despite his career in Malay journalism, e.g. in Warta Malaya and Lembaga Malaya) had become known to many English-educated Malays before the war only through his articles in the English-language press (interviews with Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas of Perak, and Dr Mahathir bin Mohamed of Kedah). New publications after the war frequently appeared in Roman type, e.g. Seruan Raayat (which was published in Kuala Lumpur from October 1945 to February 1946) and the radical Suara Raayat of Ipoh (this last also produced an English weekly, Voice of the People). In any case, the political uses of literacy at kampong level were limited during this period.

8 ‘In the early days of the British Military Administration the country was a mass of rumours and reports… collaboration with the Japanese was a bogey to frighten most folk and to speed the Field Security or Investigations Teams’, Malayan Union, Department of Public Relations, Malayan Prospect (Kuala Lumpur, 1946).

9 For an account of the founding of the M.N.P. see Stockwell, A. J., ‘The Development of Malay Politics during the Course of the Malayan Union Experiment 1942–1948’ (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1973), pp. 86–92.Google Scholar

10 See de Vere Allen, J., The Malayan Union (New Haven, 1967);Google ScholarStockwell, , ‘Development of Malay Politics’; and ‘Colonial Planning during World War II: the Case of Malaya’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, II, 3 (05 1974), pp. 333–51;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Turnbull, C. M., ‘British Planning for Post-war Malaya’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, V, 2 (09 1974), pp. 239–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11 Malayan Union and Singapore: Statement of Policy on Future Constitution, Cmd 6724 (London, 1946).Google Scholar

12 An anonymous Malay in the Sir George Maxwell Papers (Royal Commonwealth Society), I, 6—a view confirmed during my interviews with Malays who participated in these events.

13 In Perak, the Persatuan Melayu Perak was now matched by the newly-formed Perikatan Melayu Perak (Perak Malay League); in Selangor, the Persatuan Melayu Selangor found its influence reduced by the rise of similar associations throughout the State; in Kelantan, Malays educated in vernacular village schools and religious pondok (schools and hostels for students of religion often established by ‘aliens’ from the Middle East and with the help of the local community), set the Persetiaan Melayu Kelantan (the solidarity of Kelantan Malays) in competition with the Persatuan Melayu Kelantan which was dominated by English-educated Malays connected with the State administration; in Kedah, Saberkas—a radical group of young and articulate Malays—was countered by the more conservative Kesatuan Melayu Kedah (Kedah Malay Union); and in Johore the rivalry between the Persatuan Melayu Johore and the Pergerakan Melayu Semenanjong Johore (Johore Movement of Peninsular Malays) was largely determined by the antagonism felt by the family of Dato Abdul Rahman bin Mohd Yasin for that of Dato Onn bin Jaafar.

14 E.g. Ayob bin Abdullah of Kedah, in a series of articles in Majlis (4, 5 and 6 January 1946), argued that the authority of the Malay Rulers rested on the people, that, by signing the MacMichael Treaties, the Rulers had failed their subjects, that these treaties were invalid without the agreement of the people, and that Malays should establish political associations since they could no longer rely upon the Sultans to defend their community.

15 An undated copy of the ‘Aims and Policy’ of the Perikatan Melayu Perak in the Papers of Raja Kamaralzaman bin Raja Mansur, a leading member of the League (Arkib Negara Malaysia).

16 R.C.J. (Arkib Negri, Johore Bahru) No. 217/46: Dato Abdul Rahman to the Resident Commissioner, Johore, 8 July 1946.

17 Indeed, the repercussions of the Johore dethronement movement were felt for many months afterwards. Sultan Ibrahim's popularity had suffered a set-back which politicians were able to exploit; the Kesatuan Melayu Johore, Muar—a radical Malay association led by Dr Hamzah bin Hj Taib—and a disaffected Johore prince, Ungku Abdullah, pursued this issue into 1947 and 1948.

18 Jaafar, Dato Onn bin (1895–1962; knighted 1953);Google Scholar editor of Warta Malaya 1930–1933, Lembaga Malaya 1934–1936 and Lembaga 1935–1936; Unofficial member of Johore Council of State 1936–1941 and also on Johore Executive Council; Private Secretary to Regent 1938; in charge of Information and Publicity, Johore, during Malayan campaign 1942; Food Controller and later D.O., Batu Pahat, during Japanese occupation; Mentri Besar, Johore, 1946–1950;Google Scholar founder and President, U.M.N.O., 1946–51; founder and President of the non-communal Independence of Malaya Party 1951–54; founder and President of the Party Negara 1954–1962; 1955 Party Negara lost all seats contested in elections; in 1959 Onn became Party Negara's sole representative in the Federal Parliament; in July 1950 he became the first Chairman of the government's Rural Industrial Development Authority (to improve economic conditions of the Melays) and in 1951 was appointed Member (or minister) for Home Affairs in the nominated Federal Legislative Council. For a biography of Onn (in Malay and compiled mainly from interviews and press reports)1 see Abdullah, Anwar, Dato Onn (Kuala Lumpur, 1971);Google Scholar also Tadin, Ishak bin, ‘Dato Onn and Malay Nationalism, 1946–1951’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, I, 1 (03 1960), pp. 56–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

19 R.C.J. No. 61/46. Abdul Samad Ismail recalls (interview) that a delegation of Indonesians trying to enlist support for their cause was coolly received by Onn in Batu Pahat.

20 Majlis reported the Congress in great detail at the time, and its editor, Hamidi, Mohd Yunus, later wrote an account, Sejarah Pergerakan Politik Melayu Semenanjong (History of the Peninsular Political Movement), Kuala Lumpur, 1961Google Scholar. U.M.N.O. anniversary publications— UMNO 20 Tahun (1957), UMNO 20 Tahun (1967), Jubilee Perak UMNO Malaysia (1971)—contain articles on the first Congress. Ahmad, Shahnon in his novel, Perdana (Singapore, 1969), treats the episode with considerable artistic license.Google Scholar

21 Its members were: (i) the Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang, President of the Perikatan Melayu Perak (cf. note 22); (ii) Dato Hamzah bin Abdullah, of the Pergerakan Kebangsaan Melayu Selangor (Hamzah was a member of the M.C.S., 1921–1941, secretary to the Sultan of Selangor and appointed a major chief of Selangor in 1941, secretary, U.M.N.O. Finance, 1947–48, Mentri Besar, Selangor, 1948–1949, and Deputy President of U.M.N.O. in 1950);Google Scholar (iii) Dato Nik Ahmad Kamil of the Persatuan Melayu Kelantan (Nik Kamil was educated at Malay College, Kuala Kangsar, Bristol University and Lincoln's Inn; called to the Bar in 1930; entered service of Kelantan government in 1931; was Deputy Chief Minister in 1938—his father being Chief Minister—and was the mainstay of State administration during the Japanese/Thai occupation; Mentri Besar, Kelantan, 1948–1953, left U.M.N.O. to joint Onn in the I.M.P. in 1951 and the Party Negara in 1954);Google Scholar (iv) Za'ba (Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad) of the Persatuan Melayu Selangor (before the war Za'ba had been prominent as a teacher and also for his work in the Translation Bureau of the Sultan Idris Training College for teachers in Malay schools); and (v) Dato Onn.

22 Hj Abdul Wahab bin Toh Muda Abdul Aziz (1905–1959); educated at Malay School, Ipoh, 1912–1913, Anderson's School, Ipoh, 1915–1925, London University and the Inner Temple 1925–30; called to the Bar 1930; Hon. Sec. Malay Students' Association (England) 1927–29, President 1930; government service F.M.S. 1931; left government service for private legal practice 1932; replaced his grandfather as Orang Kaya Kaya Panglima Gantang (one of the eight major chiefs of Perak) 1936; member Perak State Council 1937–1941; leader, Persatuan Melayu Perak 1939–40 (?); acted as Judge during Japanese occupation; President, Perikatan Melayu Perak 1946–47; Secretary General U.M.N.O. 1946–47 (and later held other offices on the Executive, e.g. Secretary, Legal Affairs); first Mentri Besar, Perak, 1948–1957Google Scholar; after Onn's resignation from U.M.N.O. in 1951 he remained Chairman, U.M.N.O. Perak, until expelled in 1953 when he formed the short-lived non-communal National Association of Perak which was linked with Onn's Party Negara; in 1956 he was leader of the Rulers' delegation in the Merdeka (independence) mission to London.

23 However, the death in 1942 of Tunku Ismail bin Tunku Mohd Yasin (founder president of the Persatuan Melayu Selangor and an instigator of the pre-war pan Malayan Malay conferences) had ‘cut short the career of the man who, it is often said, might well have preempted Dato Onn's place as the leader of postwar Malay nationalism’ (Roff, , Origins of Malayan Nationalism, p. 237).Google Scholar

24 G. E. J. Gent (Sir Edward; 1895–1948) entered the Colonial Office after distinguished military service in the First World War; by 1942 he had risen to Assistant Permanent Under Secretary. He was the principal architect of the Malayan Union and in 1946 he was sent out as Governor to implement the new scheme. After the replacement of the Union by Federation on 1 February 1948 he remained in Malaya as High Commissioner, but in July 1948 he was recalled ‘for consultations’ and was killed in an air crash as he returned.

25 The resolutions were: (i) Malays to wear white headbands as a sign of mourning; (ii) Malays to boycott the Malayan Union Advisory Councils; (iii) Dato Onn to request the Rulers to refrain from attending any ceremony or official function of the Malayan Union; (iv) Malay Associations to refuse recognition to the Malayan Union Governor or his officers. However, it was added, no Malay would be forbidden from entertaining Gent or his officials in private (Majlis, 3 04 1946).Google Scholar

26 An original proponent of the Malayan Union, Gent was swung over to the side of its opponents after only one month in Malaya and he had no hesitation in recommending its replacement. London was stunned by this turnabout. As Malcolm MacDonald prepared to assume the new post of Governor General S.E. Asia (designed to co-ordinate developments within British Dependencies and to safeguard British interests in the region) the Secretary of State, George Hall, asked him to ‘devote as much of his time as possible to the task of working out, in consultation with the Governor, the basis for an early settlement as nearly as possible within the framework of the Malayan Union Order in Council' (my italics, Creech Jones Papers, Rhodes House Library, Oxford, box 57, file 2). However, on 25 May MacDonald informed Hall of his complete agreement with Gent's recommendation: the Malayan Union should be modified. With the Secretary of State's consent, MacDonald and Gent told the Sultans on 2 June of Britain's eagerness to meet Malay demands.

27 The six Malay members were: (i) representing the Rulers—Dato Hamzah bin Abdullah (Selangor), Hj Mohamed Sheriff (Kedah), Raja Kamaralzaman bin Raja Mansur (Perak), Dato Nik Ahmad Kamil (Kelantan); of these only Hj Mohd Sheriff eschewed U.M.N.O.; (ii) for U.M.N.O.—Dato Onn (Johore) and Dato Abdul Rahman bin Mohd Yasin (Johore); the presence of the latter and his subsequent appointment as U.M.N.O.'s first Finance Officer have been represented as attempts by Onn to appease his Johore critics (cf. note 13).

28 Malayan Union, Constitutional Proposals for Malaya: Report of the Working Committee Appointed by a Conference of His Excellency the Governor of the Malayan Union, Their Highnesses the Rulers of the Malay States and the Representatives of the United Malays National Organisation (Kuala Lumpur), 1946, hereafter referred to as the Constitutional Proposals for Malaya.

29 The Consultative Committee, consisting of ten unofficials and chaired by H. R. Cheeseman (Director of Education), was boycotted by the Pan-Malayan Council for the Joint Action (P.M.C.J.A.)—later renamed the All Malayan Council for Joint Action (A.M.C.J.A.)—which pledged itself to reject any constitution devised without the full participation and approval of the true representatives of the Malayan peoples. In February 1947 a separate Malay front with similar aims was formed by radicals who had withdrawn from U.M.N.O. some months earlier; thereafter PUTERA (lit. son or prince but here serves as an acronym, viz Pusat Tenaga Raayat, centre of the people's power) worked in alliance with the A.M.C.J.A.

30 U.M.N.O./S.G. (Arkib Negara Malaysia) No. 17/47: Onn to Gent, 17 February 1947.

31 See note 26.

32 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 79/47: Onn to Gent, 15 June 1947.

33 Straits Times, 28 08 1949,Google Scholar cited by Vasil, R. K., Politics in a Plural Society (Kuala Lumpur, 1971), p. 53. Onn was anxious, inter alia, that a Malay should be appointed to the proposed post of Deputy High Commissioner but the Sultans opposed this suggestion because, said Onn, ‘they feared I would be appointed’. This clash precipitated a personal breach between Onn and his own Ruler, Ibrahim of Johore, and the following year Onn was forced to resign as Mentri Besar.Google Scholar

34 Majlis, 6 09 1946.Google Scholar

35 Cf. The Malaya Tribune, 13 12 1946Google Scholar. Utusan Melayu, now firmly in the radical camp, led a press campaign against U.M.N.O.; in retaliation the U.M.N.O. Executive collected from affiliated associations expressions of loyality which were published in friendly newspapers such as Majlis and Warta Negara (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 72/46).

36 U.M.N.O./S.G. Nos 1, 15 and 17/47. The K.M.S. subjected each clause of the Constitutional Proposals for Malaya to searching criticism; Saberkas tried to obstruct the debate and later issued independent minutes of the proceedings and a separate critique of the problem; Dr Hamzah of the Kesatuan Melayu Johore, Muar, enraged by the thought of an Anglo-Malay compromise, stormed out of the Congress and in May 1947 this association withdrew from U.M.N.O. membership altogether.

37 In Kedah, for example, Hj Mohamed Sheriff (the Sultan's close adviser) refused to meet the demands of State associations with regard to the State constitution and the appointment of the new officers of government, and similar quarrels occurred in Kelantan and Trengganu; see Stockwell, , ‘The Development of Malay politics’, pp. 169–81.Google Scholar

38 The Malayan Security Service commented soon after the inauguration of the Federation: ‘… it is unlikely that many leaders who have now accepted office in their various States will have time to devote to the activities of U.M.N.O. as a political body’ (Malayan Security Service/Political Intelligence Journal [M.S.S./P.I.J.] No. 3/48). In fact, although some (like Dato Hamzah, the new Mentri Besar of Selangor) did resign from political office, key members of the Executive—e.g. Onn, the Dato Panglima and Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas—managed to combine both roles.

39 U.M.N.O./F. No. 7/47: minutes of the General Assembly, Ipoh, June–July 1946; cf. U.M.N.O. Charter.

40 No. 26 of U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 11/46 (at U.M.N.O./F. No. 3/47): Gantang, Dato Panglima Bukit, ‘Memorandum on the Re-organisation of the Secretariat-General’, 02 1947.Google Scholar

41 See U.M.N.O./Ed. Nos 57/47, 58/47; F. No. 38/47; S.G. Nos 145/47, 62/48.

42 Maxwell Papers I 7: Sir George Maxwell to N. Jarrett (draft), 25 September 1946.

43 These organizational problems together with the Executive's increasing identification with government policies are familiar features of emerging political parties; for example, in its early years the British Labour Party, as a federation of independent organizations, suffered from a lack of cohesion, while, as an embarrassed ally of the Liberal Government 1906–14, it was robbed of initiative in social reform.

44 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 49/47.

45 This figure is taken from M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 1/48, and includes members of A.P.I. (the radical youth wing of the M.N.P.) and its sister movement A.W.A.S.

46 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 50/48.

47 Interview with Dato Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas.

48 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 48/46.

49 On 8 September 1946, representatives of eleven Selangor associations gathered at the Sultan Suleiman Club (Kuala Lumpur). Under the chairmanship of Onn and assisted by the Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang, the meeting agreed in principle to a federation of Selangor affiliates. However, the sub-committee appointed to examine the matter went much further in its recommendations and suggested that an U.M.N.O. Selangor Branch should be established—a proposal which was baulked by the original terms of U.M.N.O.'s Charter (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 47/46; U.M.N.O. developments in Selangor were reported minutely in Majlis).

50 See U.M.N.O./S.G. Nos 42/48, 62/48; F. No. 7/48; G.A. Nos 31/47, 35/48, 5/48.

51 Perhaps the more disciplined approach of the new U.M.N.O. towards subscriptions pruned the party of half-hearted members; or perhaps the re-organization served not so much to deter recruits as to bring a greater realism to their enumeration.

52 Interviews with ex-Saberkas members, e.g. Abdul Hamid bin Abdullah, Syed Agil Barakbah, Ahmad Nordin bin Hj Mohd Zain, Mohd Khir Awang, Mohd Khir Johari, Dato (Dr) Hj Omar bin Din, Senu bin Abdul Rahman, Dato Shaari bin Hj Mohd Daud, Wan Din bin Mohd Hashim.

53 The Finance Department was at first the charge of Dato Abdul Rahman bin Mohd Yasin, cf. note 27.

54 In addition to the Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang there was Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas, the first officer in charge of U.M.N.O.'s Department of Politics and the Dato Panglima's successor at the Secretariat; Che Puteh Mariah, wife of Zainal Abidin and President of the Kaum Ibu (cf. note 62); Megat Yunus bin Megat Mohd Isa who succeeded Zainal Abidin at the Department of Politics; and C. M. Yusof who later became the Dato Bendahara of Perak.

55 Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas (b. 1907) was educated at the Anglo-Chinese school, Telok Anson, and Anderson School, Ipoh; joined M.A.S. in 1926; promoted to M.C.S. in 1941; secretary to Japanese Governor, Perak; Assistant Secretary, Perak, 1948; Chief Social Welfare Officer, Federation of Malaya, 1949; founder member of the Perikatan Melayu Perak, 1946; in charge of U.M.N.O. Politics, 1946; U.M.N.O. Secretary General 1947–50; left U.M.N.O. to join Onn's I.M.P. in 1951 and was later prominent in the Party Negara; on the death, of Onn became Chairman, Party Negara but left in 1963 to chair United Democratic Party; 1964 failed in election since his non-communal stance had alienated him from his own community.

56 The inner ring of the U.M.N.O. Executive would joke that they kept going on aspirin. The Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang was dogged by ill-health and an unhappy private life; sickness forced him to relinquish the post of Secretary General, U.M.N.O., in March 1947, and the Presidency of the Perikatan the following month. The sacrifices which political life demanded from women leaders of U.M.N.O. have been described by ‘Ardjasni’ (Che' Khatijah Sidek) in her autobiography published serially in Eastern Horizon, Hong Kong, 1960–1963Google Scholar (cf. Roff, W. R., Autobiography and Biography in Malay Historical Studies, Institute of South East Asian Studies, Singapore, occasional paper 13, 05 1972, p 9).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

57 Majlis, 12 01 1946.Google Scholar

58 Interviews with those close to Onn at this time, e.g. Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas.

59 Onn frequently received threatening letters, which the Malayan Security Service traced to extremists of A.P.I., M.N.P.'s youth wing. At the time of the arrest of Ahmad Boestamam, the leader of A.P.I., Onn's car was tampered with and a wheel fell off, though not while Onn was travelling in the vehicle (M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 4/47).

60 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 3/47.

61 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 10/46: Zainal Abidin to Onn, 28 March 1947.

62 The emancipation of Malay women, clearly demonstrated by their role in the campaign against the Malayan Union, surprised Europeans returning after the war (Straits Times, 5 12 1946;Google Scholar cf. Samah, Asiah bte Abu ‘Emancipation of Malay Women 1945–57’, unpublished B.A. thesis, University of Malaya, Singapore, 1960).Google Scholar In January 1947 U.M.N.O.'s Kaum Ibu was set up under Che Puteh Mariah of the Perikatan Melayu Perak; in September 1947 it held its first independent congress and was inaugurated on a pan-Malayan basis as an equal partner of the men's organization (Utusan Melayu, 2 09 1947).Google Scholar By the end of the year the Kaum Ibu consisted of 20,000 members distributed over 14 association, though more than 8,000 members were accounted for by Johore alone (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 161/47: report of the Kaum Ibu for 1947). Although the Kaum Ibu was mainly concerned with social issues, such as girls's education and the abolition of forced marriages, its members enhanced the political influence of U.M.N.O. in the Malay community.

63 U.M.N.O.'s Youth Movement was officially established under Hussein Onn in March 1947, despite the impressive tattoo mounted by over 500 Johore youths at the U.M.N.O. General Assembly in September, its first year was plagued by organizational problems, governmental regulations and the rivalry of more radical counterparts (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 126/47). Indeed, its progress was somewhat fitful until after the declaration of the Emergency in mid-1948. Throughout 1948 and the first half of 1949 the rules for a more cohesive U.M.N.O. Youth League were drafted (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 170/47). The League was inaugurated in August 1949; it complemented the reconstituted U.M.N.O. and was led by its own President, who, with the President, Kaum Ibu, would automatically be joint Vice-President of the parent body.

64 U.M.N.O.'s Department of Religion was set up under Salleh Osman of Perlis in June 1946 but two years later it was replaced by a sub-committee on religious affairs chaired by Salleh Osman. In December 1947 the U.M.N.O. Executive requested the Secretary, Religious Affairs, to arrange a Perjumpaan Ulama (gathering of religious leaders) in Johore Bahru (U.M.N.O./F. No. 8/47).

65 Zainal Abidin bin Sutan Maidin, who had been educated at the Penang Free School, had joined its staff in 1918 and obtained an external B.A. degree from London University in 1930. Since 1938 he had been headmaster of the Francis Light preparatory school attached to the Penang Free. He was President of Sahabat Pena—a pan-Malayan Malay cultural movement—from 1934 to 1941 and was a founder member of U.M.N.O.

66 U.M.N.O./Ed. No. 1/46.

67 A Straits Dollar was equivalent to 2s. 4d.

68 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 128/47. Mohd Tahir was connected with both the Persatuan and Perikatan Melayu Perak.

69 U.M.N.O./S.G. Nos 128/47, 161/47.

70 For economy the number of the secretariat staff was reduced from 7 to 4 in August 1948 though by 1951 it had risen to 15 (U.M.N.O./S.G. Nos 161/47, 83/51). Sir Roland Braddell, legal adviser to U.M.N.O. during the Malayan Union campaign, was still struggling for his fees four years later (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 14/46).

71 In June 1946 the annual subscription for affiliated associations was fixed at $1 for every Malay claimed by each association. Many associations were appalled by this amount, and, although the rate was agreed by the General Assembly, subscriptions were rarely met in full (U.M.N.O./F. No. 8/47; also interview with Zainal Abidin bin Hj Abas).

72 In March 1947 Onn launched a Special Fund (Derma Khas) with the object of raising $120,000 in a year to supplement the Working Fund, but, though the initial response from U.M.N.O. members was encouraging, early zeal gave way to apathy (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 161/47), and in September 1948 a despairing Secretary General wrote: ‘We are now trying to pool in every resources [sic] to meet long overdue outstanding payments’ (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 6/48).

73 Letter to me, January 1971.

74 U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 13/47: Gordon-Hall to the Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang, 6 February 1947.

75 Cf. de Vere Allen, J., ‘The Malayan Civil Service, 1874–1941: Colonial Bureaucracy/Malayan Elite’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 12, ii (04 1970), pp. 149–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

76 Utusan Melayu's reaction to the Malayan Union as edited in Straits Times, 25 01 1946.Google Scholar

77 Majlis, 19 03 1947.Google Scholar

78 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 22/47.

79 In mid-June 1946, shortly after the Anglo-Malay constitutional talks had started, the government decided that the General Order prohibiting the participation of officials in politics should not be enforced for the time being (M.U. Secretariat Confidential Circular No. 2, 18 June 1946). Therefore, when the Dato Panglima Bukit Gantang wrote to the Chief Secretary, Malayan Union, claiming that, as U.M.N.O. ‘represents Malay opinion’, ‘it is only right and proper for those Malays who are highly educated such as Government servants to lead it’, Newboult was able to reply that, because ‘these are exceptional times’, the government would allow its officers to participate in U.M.N.O. affairs (U.M.N.O./S.G. No. 35/46). It was not until August 1949 that the government explicitly laid down that any of its servants (except members of the Judicial and Legal Departments, Police Force and Malay Regiment) could belong to a political party and would, if unofficial members of the Legislative Council, have the right to free speech on the Council (Federal Secretariat Circular No. 29, 4 August 1949).

80 Interviews with Dato Abdul Rahman bin Musa and Hj Anwar bin Hj Abdul Malik. Abdul Rahman, as A.D.O. Batu Pahat and secretary of the Pergerakan Melayu Semenanjong Johore, was Onn's official and political aide during the period Onn spent in Batu Pahat. Hj Anwar (originally a committee member of the Persatuan Melayu Johore which competed with Onn's Pergerakan, cf. note 13) established a similar relationship with Onn when the latter assumed the post of Mentri Besar in Johore Bahru.

81 Arrangements for mass meetings were passed to villagers by ‘pegawai dan ketua Melayu di-daerah’ (Malay officers and district leaders, Majlis, 21 05 1946Google Scholar). Abdul Rahman bin Musa recalls (interview, cf. note 80) the exhausting preparations involved in staging a demonstration of 15,000 Malays in February 1946. He travelled by motorcycle from mukim (sub-district) to mukim, informing the penghulu of the forthcoming gathering. As a result, groups of Malays from Kampong all over West Johore set off to walk in some cases journeys of two or three days in order to attend the rally in Batu Pahat, while Abdul Rahman travelled the roads and tracks to guide stragglers.

82 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 1/48.

83 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 3/48.

84 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 20/47.

85 Stenson, M. R., Industrial Conflict in Malaya (London, 1970), p. 182.Google Scholar

86 Ibid., p. 132.

87 Malayan Union Annual Report 1947, pp. 6–7.Google Scholar

88 Patah Akhir bin Mat Sah was Vice President of the Persatuan Melayu Selangor and had been employed in the government's Co-operative Department since 1926. He had been educated at the Malay College, Kuala Kangsar, and from 1920 to 1926 he had worked in the Agricultural College.

89 The rapid growth of the pan-Malayan G.L.U. alarmed the government which took steps to supervise labour development by enforcing union registration and by creating the new post of Trade Union Adviser (filled by John Brazier) in order to encourage ‘sound’ and ‘responsible’ unionism (Stenson, , Industrial Conflict in Malaya, pp. 132–4).Google Scholar

90 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 13/47; cf. U.M.N.O./S.G. Nos 82/47 and 41/48.

91 M.S.S./P.I.J. No. 17/47.

92 Means, Gordon P., Malaysian Politics (London, 1970), p. 102.Google Scholar