SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This dissertation examines the political development of the Indian community in West Malaysia and Singapore in the period 1945 to 1957. It traces its transition from an essentially India-oriented community immediately after the Occupation to a more permanently-settled community in 1957, with a secure place in the Government of Independent Malaya. After an opening chapter outlining the main political features of the Malayan Indian community prior to 1945, the succeeding chapters, covering the period 1945-1957, are arranged thematically. They consider the impact of Indian nationalism on the local Malayan community, the politicization of Indian labour, the Indian response to the Malayan Union and the Federation Agreement, the participation of the Indians in formal politics, factionalism within the Indian community, and finally the alignment of the Malayan Indian Congress with the Alliance in the mid-1950's.