RI Post-War Singapore Malayan Emergency Slides 2020

Malayan Emergency (T3W4 Lesson 2) Time to ‘Break Glass’

Malayan Emergency – Support for MCP and their strikes decreased over time – The MCP saw no hope of progress from working within the political system – Withdrew from Singapore and decided on violent rebellion in Malaya, making use of the jungles – Led by Chin Peng, they formed the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and aimed to force independence from British rule

Malayan Emergency (1948 – 1960) – 16 June 1948, emergency declared after 3 Europeans were murdered at a plantation in Perak – 6 October 1951, British High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney assassinated by the MNLA – His successor, General Gerard Templer implemented a ‘hearts and minds campaign’ which won the support of the local Chinese civilians and turned the tide – By 1958, MNLA numbers dwindled and many escaped to Southern Thailand

Malaya: The Undeclared War Watch the first 4 minutes to get a sense of the two sides of this conflict. Feel free to continue watching the rest of the documentary at home! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =pBRMRf0JVJc

Task: Worksheet Section E – Refer to the following materials and answer Section E of the worksheet: – Past few slides on overview of the Malayan Emergency – First four minutes of “Malaya: The Undeclared War” documentary – “Civilians in the crossfire” Biblioasia supplementary article (http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/2019/11/29/civilians-in-the-crossfire-the-malayan- emergency/) – Not all information will be spelled out in the resources, so do try to process the information and construct your own responses – Estimated duration: 25 minutes

Impact of Malayan Emergency on Singapore – New government regulations allowed arrest and detention without trial – Organisations and even schools suspected of being anti-British were banned – English-educated left-wing radicals were suppressed and arrested – Caused Singapore’s political scene to tend towards conservativeness due to fear of being seen as anti-British – Conservative, pro-British movements like the Singapore Progressive Party thrived