Malaysia First colonized by the British in the late eighteenth century, a Federation of Malay States was created in 1895, consisting of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang. In the following years British control was extended to the rest of the states of the Malay peninsula, which became known as the Unfederated Malay States (Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, and Trengganu, as well as Johor). Finally, a third set of arrangements existed for the Straits Settlements, which were ruled by a governor in Singapore. Under British rule, Malaya became the world's leading producer of tin, its mines attracting substantial Chinese immigration, and of rubber, its plantations attracting Indian immigrants. The areas of tin mining and rubber production drew in substantial capital, and became relatively urbanized, leaving the native Malay population, which was traditionally engaged in subsistence farming in the countryside, in an economic backwater. The subsequent tensions between a significant Chinese minority with substantial economic power but few real political rights and a Malay majority in control of the political system, but suffering from economic disadvantages, became the main theme of Malayan (and Malaysian) twentieth-century history.
These difficulties were heightened under Japanese occupation during World War II, when most Malays cooperated with the Japanese, against Chinese and Indian resistance. In response, after 1945 the British tried to introduce the Malayan Union plan, which aimed at the equality of Malays, Chinese, and Indians. This provoked strong resistance from the Malay population, articulated through
UMNO. The British were thus forced to alter their plans, creating instead the Federation of Malaya in 1948, which assured Malayan dominance in politics and administration. It excluded Singapore, whose Chinese majority was able to hang onto British rule. It was immediately threatened by ‘the Emergency’, a Communist insurrection supported largely by the Chinese community. To stop Chinese support for the movement, over 500,000 Chinese were displaced and put into enclosed villages where their movements could be controlled. The rebellion was effectively quashed by the mid-1950s, partly owing to the increasingly successful cooperation of
Abdul Rahman Putra with the Chinese and Indian communities.
The country gained independence on 31 August 1957, and joined with Singapore,
Sarawak, and
Sabah to form the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Its territorial integrity was immediately threatened by Indonesia in the abortive
Confrontation (
Konfrontasi). Owing to increased demands from the Chinese community in Singapore, the city was effectively expelled from the Federation in 1965. However, ethnic tensions erupted again in 1969, and proved a watershed in Malaysian history. Abdul Rahman Putra's policies of compromise were abandoned. Henceforward, the Malayan predominance in government, state, and society was further underlined, while the government actively encouraged a redistribution of wealth from the Chinese to the Malay community through positive discrimination. Under Dato Seri
Mahathir Bin Mohamad, the country achieved the second-highest growth rate of any Asian economy in the 1980s (after Singapore), through capitalist government planning. Underlying tensions between the different ethnic groups were compounded by a growing government commitment to
Islamic fundamentalism. With this stance, however, Mahathir was unable to stop the rise of the Pan Islamic Party (Parti Islam Sa-Malaysia), which in 1999 became one of the largest opposition parties. The growth of the opposition movements was curtailed, however, by Mahathir's increasingly autocratic rule. In 2000 the main opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. Mahathir's hostility against
globalization and foreign interference was fuelled by the Asian economic crisis which set in in 1997. His reluctance to introduce necessary structural economic reforms meant that Malaysia was relatively slow to overcome its effects. Mahathir announced his retirement in 2002, and was succeeded in 2002 by Abdullah Badawi.
