MCA MIC Formation

Muzium Negara Gallery D

Nationalism among the Chinese in Malaya started to take shape after 1946 with the formation of the All Malayan Council of Joint Action or AMCJA. It was sparked by efforts to fight for and maintain the position and rights of the Chinese after the British replaced the Malayan Union with the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

Events on the international and home fronts, in particular the Communist takeover of mainland China and the Emergency on 1948, were catalyst that significantly impacted the rising nationalistic spirit. Nationalism among the Chinese was further cemented in Malaya after the formation of the Malayan Chinese Association or MCA in 1949.

As it was with the Chinese, so too the Indians of pre-war Malaya tended to look to political developments in India. The Indian Association was a largely socially focused organisation. Formed in the early 20th century to protect the welfare of Indian workers in Malaya, it reached its zenith in the 1920s and 1930s. The establishment of the Malayan Indian Congress or MIC in 1946 quickly spread the seeds of rising nationalism among the Indians of Malaya.

Business, Government, and the End of Empire: Malaya, 1942-1957 (South-East Asian Historical Monographs) (Hardcover)

by Nicholas J White

This study examines the relations between British business and government during the decolonization period in Malaya.

The author examines business-government interactions concerning reconstruction, the Emergency, the transfer of political power, and the development of the rubber industry.

Review
"...a thoroughly compelling fabric of explanation and interpretation."--Choice

MCA MIC Formation