SJI 2026 HIST PRELIM P2 QP

ST JOSEPH’S INSTITUTION PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 (YEAR 4) CANDIDATE NAME CLASS INDEX NUMBER HISTORY Paper 2 Developments in the post-World War II world: The Cold War and decolonisation in Southeast Asia, 1940s-1991 No Additional Materials are required. 2174/02 31 August 2026 1 hour 50 minutes (10:05 – 11:55) READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST A Digital Answer Booklet will be provided with this question paper. You should follow the instructions on the cover page of the Digital Answer Booklet. Answer each question in the correct tab of the Digital Answer Booklet. Answers written in this booklet will not be marked. Section A Answer all parts of Question 1. Section B Answer two questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 6 printed pages including this cover page.

2 [Turn Over Section A: Source-Based Case Study Question 1 is for all candidates. Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then answer all the questions. You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those sources you are told to use. In answering the questions, you should use your knowledge of the topic to help you interpret and evaluate the sources. 1 (a) Study Source A. What can you learn from this source about the Federation of Malaya proposal? Explain your answer using details from the source and your own knowledge. [5] (b) Study Sources B and C. How far does Source B prove Source C wrong? Explain your answer. [6] (c) Study Source D. Why did MacDonald make this speech on 19 October 1947? Explain your answer using details from the source and your own knowledge. [6] (d) Study Source E. How useful is this source to a historian studying about the impact of the Federation on Malaya? Explain your answer. [5] (e) Study all the sources. ‘The Federation was good for Malaya.’ How far do these sources support this view? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain your answer. [8]

3 The Federation of Malaya, 1948 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you answer some of the questions. The British drew up the Federation of Malaya proposal in 1947 to replace the failed Malayan Union Scheme and to address the objections of the Malays who were led by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). There were, however, groups of Malays, Chinese and Indians who were against the proposed Federation of Malaya. These groups formed the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) with Tan Cheng Lock as its Chairman. The AMCJA launched mass protests ( hartal ) on 20 October 1947 to show their displeasure with the Federation. Despite this, the British went ahead, and the Federation of Malaya was inaugurated on 1 February 1948. Was the Federation good for Malaya? Source A: A cartoon from a Malay newspaper showing the Malaya hartal in 1947 in response to the published terms of the proposed Federation of Malaya. [Turn Over

4 Source B: A cartoonist impression on the issues surrounding the Federation published in a Malay nationalist newspaper on 6 th September 1947. Source C: An extract of the PUTERA-AMCJA People’s Constitutional Proposals for Malaya, presented to the British in 1947. By creating a form of citizenship which is connected only to ethnicity, and divorced from allegiance, the Working Committee* has made it impossible to develop loyalty as a way to obtain citizenship. National consciousness and racial unity are similarly unachievable. It threw into the wastepaper basket the concept of allegiance, loyalty, national unity and the whole future of Malaya as a stable and racially peaceful democracy. In fact, one of the worst features of the Federation of Malaya Agreement was aimed at dividing the Malayan society into unfriendly and conflicting groups – thus giving the British Government enough opportunity to play one community against another. *The Working Committee was formed by representatives from the British colonial government and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in 1947.

5 Source D: An extract from a radio address to the people of Malaya and Singapore by Malcolm MacDonald, the Governor-General of Malaya, Singapore and Borneo on 19 October 1947, a day before Hartal took place. If we in Malaya had to wait until the various bodies who are co-operating in tomorrow’s demonstration could all agree on a constitution for the country, we should probably never have any Constitution at all. The public of Malaya would reel from hartal to hartal. The fact is that many differences of opinion exist between the various communities and interests as to what is the right constitutional plan. However small or great the public response to the hartal may be, do not let anyone be misled into supposing that they represent a large and united body of opinion on the Federation. Source E: An adapted extract from an official statement issued by the representatives of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Trade Unions and 68 other associations, unions and public bodies, in 1947. The British government declared the intention to ensure and facilitate the progress of the people of the country towards unity and ultimately self-government. However, the new Constitution (for the Federation of Malaya) is based on the former condemned policy of divide-and-rule. Far from being designed to create a united nation out of the various Malayan races, it aims at turning the population into two antagonistic groups of Malays versus non-Malays. Source F: Adapted from a letter written by Dato Onn bin Jaffar, the leader of UMNO, to Sir Edward Gent, the Governor of the Malayan Union, 17 February 1947. Regarding the Federation of Malaya Agreement proposals, some Malays are getting extremely restive and highly suspicious of the motives and sincerity of the British Government. I do not blame them either. As I said before, the British Government must choose immediately between Malay support and co-operation… and any attempts to further delay the replacement of the Malayan Union or to minimize the legitimate rights and the special position of the Malays will have disastrous results. [Turn Over

6 Section B: Essays Answer two questions. 2 ‘Internal weaknesses within Germany were the most important reasons for Germany’s defeat in World War II.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 3 ‘The Soviet Union should bear the biggest responsibility for the outbreak of the Korean War.’ How far do