From the end of the Second World War in 1945 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was a great deal of turmoil, tension and violence in what became Malaysia as a result of the 1963 Federation; upheavals included the Malayan Emergency of 1948·1960, the independence of Malaya in 1957, Konfrontasi with Indonesia of 1963·1966, the Philippines’ claim to Sabah, the Sarawak Communist Insurgency (1962·1990) and the Second Malayan Emergency of 1968·1989. This book breaks new ground in arguing for a longer trajectory of the Cold War, tracing this phenomenon back to 1920s’ colonial Malaya and Sarawak. Many new research findings showing how Malaysia coped with and overcame the many trials, challenges and difficulties are presented here, further enriching the historiography.
List of illustrations
List of contributors
Preface
A note about currencies
Glossary
List of abbreviations
Introduction: Abu Talib bin Ahmad: from kampung boy to professor of history
OOI KEAT GIN
1 ‘Big’ picture and ‘small’ picture: an introductory essay
OOI KEAT GIN
2 Between left and right: Chinese politics in Malaya/Malaysia, 1920s–1990s
OOI KEAT GIN
3 Kuomintang man behind special force: Wu Tiecheng and Force 136, 1942–1945
TAN CHEE SENG
4 Anti-Japanese movement to Haadyai Peace Accord: the mobilization of Malayan women in the Malayan Communist Party (MCP)
MAHANI MUSA
5 From Malayan Union to Malayan Emergency: nationalists’ resistance and colonial reaction in post-war Malaya, 1946–1948
AZMI ARIFIN
6 Malaysia, the Cold War and beyond
OOI KEAT GIN
7 The Philippines’ claim over Sabah from the Cold War perspective
MAT ZIN MAT KIB
8 The regression of Malaysian socioeconomic policy: rise of state discrimination in the Cold War era, 1970s–1980s
SIVACHANDRALINGAM SUNDARA RAJA
9 Malaysia and the Cold War: the longue durée approach
OOI KEAT GIN
Appendix: constitutional proposals for Malaya, 1947. A comparison
References
Index
Biography
Ooi Keat Gin was Professor of History and Coordinator of the Asia Pacific Research Unit (APRU), School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Since October 2019, he is an independent researcher based in George Town, Penang, Malaysia.
