Abstract

The impact of British rule in Malaya on Malay politics resulted in the emergence of two opposing streams of Malay political views. One stream totally favoured the modernism of the West while the other, drawn from the traditional order, preferred to adapt modern ideas to the maintenance of the old structure. The beginnings of modern Malay nationalism coincided with the growing conflict between these two streams. The conflict between the radical, modern element and the conservative old order characterized and dominated the development of modern Malay politics. From the turn of the century to the end of World War II, the radical stream, while it could not decisively defeat the conservative element, dominated the struggle for Malay leadership. However, the end of the war erased the gains of the radicals as the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KKM) collapsed. The return of the British with the Malayan Union proposal for the political consolidation of Malaya directly threatened the Malay conservatives. Seizing the opportunity of the weakened position of the Malay radicals, the conservatives utilized the experience gained under the tutelage of the British as well as their traditional influence on Malay society to emerge as the dominant force in Malay politics. Thus the Malayan Union crisis boosted and propelled the Malay conservative elite to political dominance and ended over fifty years of the radical-conservative schism in Malay politics. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)