Malay Muslim Revisions of the History of Malaya’s Decolonisation

Abstract

This paper examines recent revisions of the history of Malayan decolonisation from the Malay Muslim perspective. Revisions of history always include not only the discovery of new historical facts but also changes in perception toward a more contemporary standpoint. In research on the modern history of Malaysia, the current political situation, wherein a multi-ethnic party block has won support in opposition to an ethnicity-based National Front, has stimulated the revision of existing perspectives on national history, which traditionally has described the independence of Malaya as an achievement by an alliance of ethnicity-based (i.e. Malay, Chinese and Indian) political parties. In contemporary Malay studies, on the contrary, the thoughts and activities of the ‘Malay left’, which opposed the UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) and offered an alternative vision for the new nation, have recently attracted attention. Such revisions of history may also be contributing to an ongoing revision of the political framework of Malaya/Malaysia, as this framework was itself formed in the process of decolonisation. The transnational nature of the Malay Muslim perspective has not yet been fully revealed but has been hinted at in Qalam, a Malay monthly magazine published in Singapore. The magazine, which appeals to Muslim solidarity across political borders and criticises nationalists in both Malaysia and Indonesia, shows the need to reconsider Malayan politics in the wider context of the Malay Muslim world. The history of Malaysia as a maritime Southeast Asian nation, where state and ethnic frameworks have been flexible at all times, needs constant reconsideration from a multi-layered perspective.