The British vs. the Japanese: Sabotage of Malaya

Japan occupied Borneo and the Malay Peninsula in South East Asia in 1360 AH/1941AD. Borneo came under the military administration of Japan. Japanese officials were appointed as the heads of the various state departments, but their mission was merely supervisory. The Malay employees were carrying out the actual local administration work; consequently, they earned the skills and self-confidence which they had lost during the British occupation.

The Japanese occupation was harsher and more violent than the English colonization. The Japanese occupiers mistreated the Malays, despite all the glamorous slogans that they had raised. They tried to impose their language on the countries that they occupied. The Malays were reeling under the burden of mutual sabotage between the British and Japanese forces. The British tried to sabotage the country before they surrendered. They demolished many bridges, destroyed buildings, and damaged the weapons they left. They were not content with that, they even sabotaged the rubber and rice plantations and fields, and burned massive amounts of oil.

After the end of the World War and the defeat of Japan to the Axis powers, Japan was forced to withdraw from areas that it had previously conquered, including the Malay states. This move enabled England to restore its former bases in the region and replace the Japanese in the Malay Peninsula.

After the British restored their control over the Malay Peninsula, they suggested establishing a union between the nine British protectorates in Malaya. The United Malays National Organization (abbreviated as UMNO) was established in order to prepare for this project. In 1367 AH/1948 AD, the Federation of Malaya was founded and all its member countries enjoyed autonomy, though under the supervision of a central government. The rulers maintained their sovereignty over the various provinces, except for Malacca and Penang, which continued to be British protectorates.

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