'Transmogrifying' Malaya: The impact of Sir Gerald Templer (1952-54)

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 79-92

  Ramakrishna, Kumar ^a  

^a NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY   (Singapore)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 9444265407     PISSN: 00224634     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0022463401000030     Document Type: Article

References (124)

1. John Coates, Suppressing Insurgency: An Analysis of the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1954 (Boulder and Oxford: Westview, 1992), p. 186.
2. Richard Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence in Singapore and Malaysia 1945-1983 (Singapore: Graham Brash, 1985), p. 186.
3. Harry Miller, Jungle War in Malaya: The Campaign against Communism 1948-60 (London: Arthur Barker, 1972), p. 108.
4. John Cloake, Templer: Tiger of Malaya (London: Harrap, 1985), p. 326.
5. Edgar O'Ballance, The Communist Insurgent War (London: Faber and Faber, 1966), p. 141.
6. Karl Hack, 'Iron Claws on Malaya: The Historiography of the Malayan Emergency', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 30, 1 (1999): 112.
7. Donald Mackay, The Malayan Emergency: The Domino that Stood (London and Washington: Brassey's, 1997), p. 151.
8. Hack, 'Iron Claws', pp. 112, 114.
9. T.N. Harper, The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 310-11.
10. Purcell, offended at Templer's autocratic methods, produced, ostensibly in his capacity as the MCA's honorary advisor in the United Kingdom - something which the MCA denied - a series of articles in late 1952 and early 1953 in The Times, Daily Telegraph and the New Statesman and Nation criticising the government's New Village policy and accusing Templer himself of being anti-Chinese.
11. Victor Purcell, Malaya: Communist or Free? (London: Victor Gollancz, 1954), pp. 5-19.
12. On the origins of the Emergency, see Anthony Short, The Communist Insurrection in Malaya (London: Frederick Mueller, 1975), pp. 34-61; A. J. Stockwell, '"A Widespread and Long-concocted Plot to Overthrow the Government in Malaya"?: The Origins of the Malayan Emergency', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 21, 3 (1993): 66-88; M.R. Stenson, Industrial Conflict in Malaya: Prelude to the Communist Revolt of 1948 (London: Oxford University Press, 1970).
13. On the origins of the Emergency, see Anthony Short, The Communist Insurrection in Malaya (London: Frederick Mueller, 1975), pp. 34-61; A. J. Stockwell, '"A Widespread and Long-concocted Plot to Overthrow the Government in Malaya"?: The Origins of the Malayan Emergency', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 21, 3 (1993): 66-88; M.R. Stenson, Industrial Conflict in Malaya: Prelude to the Communist Revolt of 1948 (London: Oxford University Press, 1970).
14. On the origins of the Emergency, see Anthony Short, The Communist Insurrection in Malaya (London: Frederick Mueller, 1975), pp. 34-61; A. J. Stockwell, '"A Widespread and Long-concocted Plot to Overthrow the Government in Malaya"?: The Origins of the Malayan Emergency', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 21, 3 (1993): 66-88; M.R. Stenson, Industrial Conflict in Malaya: Prelude to the Communist Revolt of 1948 (London: Oxford University Press, 1970).
15. Karl Hack, 'British Intelligence and Counter-Insurgency in the Era of Decolonisation: The Example of Malaya', Intelligence and National Security, 14, 2 (1999): 124-55;
16. Aloysius Chin, The Communist Party of Malaya: The Inside Story (Kuala Lumpur: Vinpress, 1995), pp. 28-33.
17. Rhodes House, Oxford (RHO), W.J. Watts Papers, MSS.Ind.Ocn.s.320, David Gray to W.J. Watts, 17 Dec. 1951; also David Gray, 'The Chinese Problem in the Federation of Malaya', July 1952.
18. Judith Strauch, Chinese Village Politics in the Malaysian State (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1981), p. 65.
19. Hack, 'Iron Claws', pp. 99-125.
20. C.C. Too, 'Psychological Warfare and Some Aspects of the Psychology of the People in Southeast Asia in Areas where Communist Insurrection is Likely to Arise', transcript of a speech at the US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 15 Oct. 1962. In author's possession.
21. The Protectorate had been formed in 1877 to address the needs and interests of the Chinese community. See Kumar Ramakrishna, 'A Matter of Confidence: Propaganda of Word and Deed in the Malayan Emergency, June 1948 to Dec. 1958' (Ph.D. diss., Royal Holloway University of London, 1999), pp. 116-17.
22. W.P. Coughlan, personal correspondence, 9 Dec. 1998.
23. RHO, John C. Litton Papers, MSS.Ind.Ocn.s.113, Litton circular, 30 Nov. 1951.
24. CO 537/7262, Director of Operations, Malaya, Directive No. 14, 'Offensive to Prevent Leakage of Supplies to Communist Elements', 22 May 1951.
25. Ibid. See also Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, pp. 246-7, and Richard Stubbs, Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency 1948-1960 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 104-5.
26. Ibid. See also Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, pp. 246-7, and Richard Stubbs, Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency 1948-1960 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 104-5.
27. Ibid. See also Clutterbuck, Conflict and Violence, pp. 246-7, and Richard Stubbs, Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency 1948-1960 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 104-5.
28. RHO, Granada Television 'End of Empire' Papers (EEP), MSS.Brit.Emp.s.527, John Davis interview, Aug. 1981.
29. RHO, Watts Papers, Gray to Watts, 17 Dec. 1951; W.L. Blythe Papers, MSS.Ind.Ocn.s.116; W.L. Blythe, 'The Significance of Chinese Triad Societies in Malaya', 16 March 1949; CO 537/4751, 'Present Attitude of the Chinese Population', 11 Apr. 1949.
30. RHO, Watts Papers, Gray to Watts, 17 Dec. 1951; W.L. Blythe Papers, MSS.Ind.Ocn.s.116; W.L. Blythe, 'The Significance of Chinese Triad Societies in Malaya', 16 March 1949; CO 537/4751, 'Present Attitude of the Chinese Population', 11 Apr. 1949.
31. RHO, Watts Papers, Gray to Watts, 17 Dec. 1951.
32. First-hand accounts of the incident by two women, Ching Yoong and Wong Foo Moi, both interviewed by Granada Television in 1981, are found in EEP, RHO.
33. See Emergency Regulations 17 [1], 17C, 17D and 17DA. A comprehensive discussion of the Emergency Regulations and their effects, including on Chinese sentiments towards government, is found in R. D. Rhenick, Jr, 'The Emergency Regulations of Malaya: Causes and Effect', Journal of Southeast Asian History, 6, 2 (1965): 1-39.
34. Detention and Deportation during the Emergency in the Federation of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur: Government Press, 1953), p. 14; CO 1022/165, W.A. Muller to H. Fraser, 22 Dec. 1951.
35. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Tan Cheng Lock Papers, TCL.3.271, Memorandum to the Right Honourable Oliver Lyttelton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, by an MCA Delegation headed by Dato Tan Cheng Lock at King's House, Kuala Lumpur, 2 Dec. 1951.
36. Mackay, The Malayan Emergency, pp. 111-18.
37. Hack, 'Iron Claws', p. 112.
38. O'Ballance, The Communist Insurgent War, p. 141.
39. Miller, Jungle War in Malaya, p. 108.
40. Cloake, Templer, p. 326.
41. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 184-5.
42. RHO, EEP, Tan Sri Mubin Sheppard interview, n.d.
43. RHO, MSS.Brit.Emp.s.533/6, Ivan Lloyd Phillips' interview with Malcolm MacDonald, 15 Dec. 1972.
44. Dato J.J. Raj, Jr, The War Years and After: A Personal Account of Historical Relevance (Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk, 1995), p. 126.
45. J.L.M. Gorrie interview, 16 Jan. 1998.
46. RHO, W.C.S. Corry interview, MSS.Ind.Ocn.s.215.
47. RHO, A.E. Young Papers, MSS.Brit.Emp.s.486, Box 3, 'Outline of C.P.'s Talk for America', n.d.
48. Anthony Short, 'Communism and the Emergency', in Malaysia: A Survey, ed. Wang Gungwu (London and Dunmow: Pall Mall Press 1964), p. 155.
49. CO 1022/22, Hugh Fraser, 'Papers on the Emergency in Malaya', 16 Jan. 1952; CAB 130/65, summary of a meeting between Prime Minister Attlee, Gurney and Briggs, 27 Nov. 1950.
50. [Briggs Plan]: Cabinet Office summary of a further meeting at 10 Downing Street on 8 Mar. 1951 called by Mr Attlee to consider the plan's slow progress, PREM 8/1406/2 GEN 345/7, 9 Mar. 1951, in British Documents on the End of Empire (BDEEP), Series B, vol. 3, Malaya, Part II: The Communist Insurrection 1948-1953 ed. A.J. Stockwell (London: HMSO 1995), Doc. 233.
51. CO 1022/1, Viscountess Davidson to Oliver Lyttelton, 1 Nov. 1951.
52. CO 1022/1, minute by T.C. Jerrom, 26 Oct. 1951.
53. Short, Communist Insurrection, p. 382.
54. Brian Lapping, End of Empire (London: Paladin, 1989), p. 220; Charles Allen, Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945-1989 (London and Sydney: Futura, 1991), p. 37.
55. Brian Lapping, End of Empire (London: Paladin, 1989), p. 220; Charles Allen, Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945-1989 (London and Sydney: Futura, 1991), p. 37.
56. RHO, EEP, Guy Madoc interview, Aug. 1981.
57. RHO, MSS. Brit.Emp.s.397, A. Kirk-Greene's interview with Sir Kerr Bovell, 12 June 1972.
58. Purcell, Malaya, pp. 11-19.
59. RHO, Robert Heussler Papers, MSS. Brit.Emp.s.480, Box 17, J.D.H. Neill to H.P. Bryson, 11 June 1969.
60. O. W. Wolters, personal correspondence, 27 Feb. 1998.
61. Montgomery was Templer's instructor at Staff College in Camberly in 1928; in 1940, Templer commanded a brigade in Monty's 5th Corps. In May 1945, Montgomery, as Commanding Officer 21st Army Group, appointed Templer as Director of Civil Affairs and Military Government in Germany. When Montgomery became Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Templer served as his Director of Military Intelligence.
62. Nigel Hamilton, Monty: The Making of a General: 1887-1942 (London: Harnish Hamilton, 1981), p. 565.
63. Field-Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Memoirs (London: Collins, 1958), pp. 80-90.
64. National Army Museum, Chelsea (NAM), 8011-132, David Lloyd-Owen to L. Hankins, 15 Apr. 1969.
65. Ibid.
66. Cited in Cloake, Templer, p. 213.
67. NAM, 7410-29-1, 'Address by H. E. the High Commissioner to Division III officers at the Selangor Badminton Hall, Kuala Lumpur' 30 Oct. 1952.
68. Briggs Plan, in BDEEP, Malaya: The Communist Insurrection, Part II, Doc. 216.
69. NAM, 7410-29-1, 'Speech by H. E. the High Commissioner to F.M.S. Chamber of Commerce', 25 Apr. 1952.
70. Richard Clutterbuck The Long, Long War: Counterinsurgency in Malaya and Vietnam (New York: Praeger, 1966), p. 85.
71. RHO, Watts Papers, Watts to A.D.C. Peterson, 24 Mar. 1953.
72. RHO, Litton Papers, Litton, circular letter, 30 Nov. 1951.
73. RHO, EEP, Sir Michael Hogan interview, n.d.
74. In May 1952, Templer pushed through a Local Councils Ordinance that called for elected Village Councils. By July, there were 200 such Councils in existence. They did not possess much authority, however, as licence fees and taxes still went to the District Office. RHO, Heussler Papers, Box 9, Frank Brewer, 'The Malayan Emergency'; Strauch, Chinese Village Politics, pp. 70-2.
75. In May 1952, Templer pushed through a Local Councils Ordinance that called for elected Village Councils. By July, there were 200 such Councils in existence. They did not possess much authority, however, as licence fees and taxes still went to the District Office. RHO, Heussler Papers, Box 9, Frank Brewer, 'The Malayan Emergency'; Strauch, Chinese Village Politics, pp. 70-2.
76. CO 967/181, A.D.C. Peterson, 'Report and Recommendations on the Organisation of information Services in the Federation of Malaya', 20 Aug. 1952; Ramakrishna, 'A Matter of Confidence', pp. 272-3.
77. CO 967/181, A.D.C. Peterson, 'Report and Recommendations on the Organisation of information Services in the Federation of Malaya', 20 Aug. 1952; Ramakrishna, 'A Matter of Confidence', pp. 272-3.
78. Ibid, pp. 275-82.
79. CO 967/181, Peterson Report.
80. RHO, Young Papers, Box 3, 'Malaya', May 1967.
81. RHO, Young Papers, Box 2, draft article for New York Herald Tribune, 6 May 1953; MSS. Brit.Emp.s.525, Prof. Max Beloff interview with Oliver Lyttelton, 27 Feb. 1970.
82. NAM, 7410-29-1, 'H. C.'s Speech at the First Meeting of the 6th Session, Legislative Council, 18 March 1953'.
83. NAM, 7410-29-1, 'A New Year Message from the HC to all Public Servants, 1 Jan. 1953'.
84. Yorkshire Post, 19 May 1953.
85. WO 291/1787, 'P.B. Humphrey, 'Some Statistics Relating to Communist Terrorist Recruitment in Malaya', ORS (PW) 16/54, 21 Dec. 1954.
86. Department of Information Weekly News Summary, week ending 26 Mar. 1955; Ramakrishna, 'A Matter of Confidence', pp. 347-9.
87. CO 1022/29, Inward Saving. From High Commissioner Federation of Malaya to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 24 Mar. 1952.
88. CO 1022/29, Extract from Federation of Malaya Saving. No. 470, 16 Mar. 1953.
89. T.N. Harper, 'The Colonial Inheritance: State and Society in Colonial Malaya', (PhD diss., Cambridge University, 1991), pp. 217-8.
90. RHO, EEP, Davis interview.
91. Ramakrishna, 'A Matter of Confidence', pp. 243-5.
92. Detention and Deportation during the Emergency, p. 8.
93. CO 1022/132, Extract from 'Federation of Malaya Administrative Report for January 1953'; extract from 'Federation of Malaya Saving No. 79, 18 Jan. 1954'.
94. CO 1022/132, Extract from 'Federation of Malaya Administrative Report for January 1953'; extract from 'Federation of Malaya Saving No. 79, 18 Jan. 1954'.
95. CO 1022/132, Extract from FM Saving. No. 645, 11 Apr. 1953.
96. On the background to Tanjong Malim, see Stubbs, Hearts and Minds, p. 165.
97. NAM, 8011-132-2, 'Proposed Dialogue Script for a Filmed Discussion with Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer on the Anti-Terrorist campaign in Malaya', 30 Mar. 1977.
98. NAM, 7410-29-2, 'High Commissioner's Press Conference: Replies to Written Questions', 26 May 1954.
99. CO 1022/58, Extract from 'High Commissioner's Budget Speech to Federation of Malaya Legislative Council, 25 Nov. 1953'.
100. RHO, Young Papers, Box 2, 'An Appreciation of Police Affairs', 5 Feb. 1953.
101. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London (LHCMA), Major-General Dennis Edmund Blaquiere Talbot papers, Lieutenant-General Hugh Stockwell, 'Appreciation of the Situation in Malaya', 15 Oct. 1953.
102. CO 1022/58, Federal Government Press Statement, 3 Sept. 1953.
103. Ibid.
104. Author's correspondence with C.M. Turnbull, 31 July 1997.
105. CO 1022/58, Inward Savingram 1480 from HCFM to SSC , 28 Aug. 1953; Federal Government Press Statement, 3 Sept. 1953.
106. NAM, 7410-29-1, 'H. E.'s Address to State Councillors and Heads of Departments of the Johore State Government', 13 May 1954.
107. CO 1030/1, Federal Government Press Statement, 29 Apr. 1954.
108. C. Northcote Parkinson, Templer in Malaya (Singapore: Donald Moore, 1954), pp. 35-6.
109. J.L.M. Gorrie interview, 16 Jan. 1998.
110. Turnbull personal correspondence, 31 July 1997.
111. Straits Budget (SB), 17 July 1952; Stubbs, Hearts and Minds, p. 146.
112. Too argued that one problem in the early years of the Emergency was that by appealing to the Chinese villagers for help against the teriorists, the goverment projected an image of weakness. C.C. Too, 'Psychological Warfare' lecture, 15 Oct. 1962.
113. RHO, Heussler Papers, Box 17, J.D.H. Neill to H. Bryson, 11 June 1969.
114. SB, 11 Sept. 1952.
115. NAM, 8011-132-2, 'Proposed Dialogue Script'.
116. NAM, 8011-132, Lloyd-Owen to Hankins, 15 April 1969; NAM, 8011-132-2; 'Proposed Dialogue Script'.
117. Raj, The War Years and After, p. 131.
118. Hack, 'Iron Claws', p. 118.
119. See Purcell's letter to the editor, Spectator, 19 Mar. 1954.
120. On the unreliability of the Chinese Home Guards, see CO 1030/10, Director of Operations Review 1955. On the relative lack of rural Chinese interest in grassroots democracy, see W.C.S. Corry, A General Survey of the New Villages (Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer, 1954), pp. 38-40, and Strauch, Chinese Village Politics, p. 71.
121. On the unreliability of the Chinese Home Guards, see CO 1030/10, Director of Operations Review 1955. On the relative lack of rural Chinese interest in grassroots democracy, see W.C.S. Corry, A General Survey of the New Villages (Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer, 1954), pp. 38-40, and Strauch, Chinese Village Politics, p. 71.
122. RHO, EEP, Sheppard interview.
123. Raj, The War Years and After, p. 134.
124. Ibid., p. 131.