A Department for Containment

Reviewed by: The Malayan Emergency: Essays on a Small Distant War by Souchou Yao Nazirah Lee The Malayan Emergency: Essays on a Small Distant War Souchou Yao + Copenhagen: NIAS-Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2016. 178pp. ISBN: 978 87 7694 190 (hbk) According to author Souchou Yao, The Malayan Emergency: Essays on a Small Distant War is an attempt to present the Malayan Emergency (1948–60) in a wide context. The book contains nine chapters. It begins with a chapter on the British Empire, followed by a chapter on communism entitled ‘On Communism; New Person in a New Era’. The two subsequent chapters discuss imperial policing and British counterinsurgency and the Revolutionary War. In the fifth and sixth chapters the author concentrates on British propaganda, strategies and approaches during the Malayan Emergency. Discussion of the leftists, the most crucial group involved in the insurgency, is delivered in the seventh chapter. In line with the author’s intention to present the Malayan Emergency from a new perspective, Chapter 8 presents stories of the British who were protected by the communists during the Japanese occupation. A desire for a reassessment of the communists is hinted at in the final chapter, ‘On Writing People’s History: Home Grown Revolution’. Throughout the book, the author underlines the need for a closer scrutiny of aspects of the Malayan Emergency in addition to the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) uprising, the success of British High Commissioner Sir Gerald Templer and the government’s victory in 1960. This approach allows the author to offer a fascinating argument on the Malayan Emergency and reveals to readers another side of the story, especially on the British Empire and MCP during that period. The book undoubtedly contributes to the substantial existing works on the Malayan Emergency by presenting a fresh perspective. The foci of the discussion are the British authorities and the communists in Malaya. Yao begins his discussion on the rhetoric of British decolonization, arguing that instead of divestment, Britain was eager to protect her interests and prestige. In the case of Malaya, the Malayan Emergency was used as a platform to demonstrate British commitment to the anti-communist war, which was seen as a good way to mollify United States resentment against the British. Furthermore, Malaya had its own economic significance for the British. The price of tin and rubber soared following the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, resulting in Malayan exports increasing from US$226 million to US$406 million (p. 16). Britain direly needed to maintain its power in Malaya to secure that huge financial resource for its empire. In summary, Yao convinces the reader that the British undertaking in Malaya [End Page 165] during the Emergency was calculated and carried out with a strong political will of self-interest (p. 18). P. Deery (2003) suggests that the British authorities were in a conundrum about the communist insurgency and grappled with the issue of political terminology in 1948–51. Subsequently, the event was treated as acts of thugs and criminals. Nevertheless, Yao affirms that the British employed a fierce approach against the communists from the beginning of the Malayan Emergency, using brutal force to punish and terrorize them. This approach was combined with the policy of control of the masses, such as by requiring identity cards and implementing emergency laws and regulations. Yao has a similar view to Low Choo Chin (2016) that the British practised physical control over contested segments of the population. Yao mentions the relocation of residents of Batu Arang in 1948 and the deportation of 26,000 people. Emergency regulations provided the British with a judicial framework that made their various counterinsurgency measures legal (p. 55). These included the execution of ‘draconian measures’ such as curfews, food control and restriction and collective punishment, which were seen as unfair and unjust. Collective punishment was used as a means to collect information about communists. Yao presents two cases that took place in Tanjong Malim and Permatang Tinggi (pp. 109–11). Residents of Permatang Tinggi suffered a huge loss when their houses and shops were demolished because they refused to cooperate with the British authorities. They only regained their freedom after a year. Prior...

Series Editor Preface, Colin Brock (University of Durham, UK) Contributors 1. Education and Issues in South East Asia: A Regional Overview, Lorraine Pe Symaco (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 2. Brunei Darussalam: Planning for Educational transformation and ICT in Education, Murray Brown (Educational Consultant, Brunei Darussalam) and Haji Abdul Rahim Derus (Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam) 3. Cambodia: From Dependency to Sovereignty - Emerging National Leadership, Vincent McNamara (Educational Consultant, Cambodia) 4. Cambodia: Evolving Quality Issues in Higher Education, Luise Ahrens (University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia) and Vincent McNamara (Educational Consultant, Cambodia) 5. Indonesia: The Challenges of Quality and Equity in Education, Mark Heyward (Educational Consultant, Indonesia) and Sopantini (University of Tasmania, Australia) 6. Indonesia: Islamic Higher Education - Periphery within Periphery?, Anthony Welch (University of Sydney, Australia) and Saefudin Syafi'i (University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) 7. Lao PDR: The Great Transformation, Richard Noonan (Independent Researcher, Laos), Phouvanh Phommalangsy (University of Queensland, Australia) and Inthasone Phetsiris (Ministry of Education and Sports, Loas) 8. Malaysia: Ethnocracy and Education, Moses Samuel (University of Malaya, Malaysia) and Meng Yew Tee (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 9. Malaysia: The Education of Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children, Hema Letchamanan (Taylor's University, Malaysia) 10. Myanmar: Governance, Civil Society and the Developments in Education, Richard Martin (Educational Consultant, Australia) 11. The Philippines: Education Issues and Challenges, Lorraine Pe Symaco (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 12. The Philippines: Higher Education and Development, Lorraine Pe Symaco (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 13. Singapore: Education in Transition, Letchmi Devi Ponnusamy (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and Saravanan Gopinathan (UniSim, Singapore) 14. Singapore: The Malay Ethnic Minority - Playing Perennial Catch-up in Education?, Jason Tan (National Institute of Education, Singapore) 15. Thailand: Issues in Education, Chaiyuth Punyasavatsvt (Thammasat University, Thailand) 16. Timor-Leste: Education, Decolonisation and Development, Bob Boughton (University of New England, Australia) 17. Vietnam: The Education System - A Need to Improve Quality, Martin Hayden (Southern Cross University, Australia) and Le Thi Ngoc Lan (Foreign Trade University, Vietnam) Index

Series Editor Preface, Colin Brock (University of Durham, UK) Contributors 1. Education and Issues in South East Asia: A Regional Overview, Lorraine Pe Symaco (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 2. Brunei Darussalam: Planning for Educational transformation and ICT in Education, Murray Brown (Educational Consultant, Brunei Darussalam) and Haji Abdul Rahim Derus (Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam) 3. Cambodia: From Dependency to Sovereignty - Emerging National Leadership, Vincent McNamara (Educational Consultant, Cambodia) 4. Cambodia: Evolving Quality Issues in Higher Education, Luise Ahrens (University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia) and Vincent McNamara (Educational Consultant, Cambodia) 5. Indonesia: The Challenges of Quality and Equity in Education, Mark Heyward (Educational Consultant, Indonesia) and Sopantini (University of Tasmania, Australia) 6. Indonesia: Islamic Higher Education - Periphery within Periphery?, Anthony Welch (University of Sydney, Australia) and Saefudin Syafi'i (University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) 7. Lao PDR: The Great Transformation, Richard Noonan (Independent Researcher, Laos), Phouvanh Phommalangsy (University of Queensland, Australia) and Inthasone Phetsiris (Ministry of Education and Sports, Loas) 8. Malaysia: Ethnocracy and Education, Moses Samuel (University of Malaya, Malaysia) and Meng Yew Tee (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 9. Malaysia: The Education of Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children, Hema Letchamanan (Taylor's University, Malaysia) 10. Myanmar: Governance, Civil Society and the Developments in Education, Richard Martin (Educational Consultant, Australia) 11. The Philippines: Education Issues and Challenges, Lorraine Pe Symaco (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 12. The Philippines: Higher Education and Development, Lorraine Pe Symaco (University of Malaya, Malaysia) 13. Singapore: Education in Transition, Letchmi Devi Ponnusamy (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and Saravanan Gopinathan (UniSim, Singapore) 14. Singapore: The Malay Ethnic Minority - Playing Perennial Catch-up in Education?, Jason Tan (National Institute of Education, Singapore) 15. Thailand: Issues in Education, Chaiyuth Punyasavatsvt (Thammasat University, Thailand) 16. Timor-Leste: Education, Decolonisation and Development, Bob Boughton (University of New England, Australia) 17. Vietnam: The Education System - A Need to Improve Quality, Martin Hayden (Southern Cross University, Australia) and Le Thi Ngoc Lan (Foreign Trade University, Vietnam) Index

This chapter explores and compares the dilemmas and hesitations colonial authorities in nineteenth-century island Southeast Asia (present-day Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia) faced while implementing abolitionist principles. For most of the nineteenth century, Spanish, Dutch, and British colonial authorities in Southeast Asia confined their abolitionist policies to outlawing human trafficking. They staged major maritime operations to suppress the widespread slave raiding by pirates. This struggle against human trafficking and kidnapping guided British and Dutch colonial authorities in their design of indentured migration contracts to ensure that migrant workers from China, India, and the region itself came to plantations and mines with their consent. That these contracts legitimized coerced labour relations was taken for granted. Regarding forms of slavery and bondage that were not the direct result of kidnapping, the colonial governments in island Southeast Asia were even more condoning. They were inclined to consider indigenous forms of slavery as mild, underrating its obvious economic importance and its role in state-building in the region. They were equally reluctant to outlaw systems of bondage that the emerging plantation conglomerates in island Southeast Asia relied on. This chapter submits that precisely because of the pivotal economic and political importance of human bondage in the region, the Dutch, Spanish, and British authorities did not address this issue with a straightforward agenda.

The paper is an overview of English language publications that discuss what might be considered 'social' and 'cultural' geographies in Southeast Asia over the past two decades. We have strategically chosen two major themes that help us shape the mass of material into digestible strands: (1) the politics of social and cultural change; and (2) constructing identities. The former addresses various politics: the politics of nationhood; the politics of national development; the politics of cultural sites; the politics of urban change; and the politics of the global-local.

Reviewed by: Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast East Asian Past ed. by Geoff Wade and Li Tana Cheah Boon Kheng Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast East Asian Past Geoff Wade and Li Tana (EDS) Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2012. 400 pp. ISBN 978-9814-31-196-0 (paperback) This Festschrift presented by some of his colleagues and students is a fitting tribute to the outstanding contributions of Anthony J. S. Reid (better known to friends and family as Tony Reid) to the field of Southeast Asian history. In his writing and research, Tony Reid applied his liberal values, creativity and insights into reworking methodologies and models on Indonesia and Southeast Asia's past.His research interests began on 19th-century Aceh, then shifted to the period of the Indonesian Revolution (1945-6), and finally to Southeast Asia in the pre-colonial period. In his first book, based on his doctoral thesis presented at the University of Cambridge (The Contest for Northern Sumatra: Atjeh, the Netherlands and Britain, 1858-1898), following the autonomous approach to Southeast Asian history of J. C. van Leur and John Smail, he showed how Aceh achieved a distinct political identity despite falling under Dutch rule. He then went on to explore how revolution eliminated ancien regimes in Aceh and Northern Sumatra (The Blood of the People: Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra), and focused his attention on slavery and bondage, on the origins of poverty in Southeast Asia, and on a 'new paradigm', according to the editors of this volume (Geoff Wade and Li Tana), in 'extending the scope of Southeast Asian history beyond the confines of palaces and kratons to the lives of the farmer and the petty trader and for bringing a regional coherence to the previously disparate and dispersed studies of early modern Southeast Asia'. One of the contributors, Robert Cribb, assesses Tony Reid's achievements and contributions in his highly acclaimed major work, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680, which was published in two volumes, in 1988 and 1998. In adapting French historian Fernand Braudel's model of the Mediterranean region to maritime Southeast Asia with an interesting past and rich in commercial, cultural [End Page 122] and social interaction, Reid unfolded its vibrancy, similarities and diversity. According to Cribb, he revealed that Southeast Asia's genius lay in its eclectic recruitment of outside ideas and people to enrich the region culturally and materially, but 'on terms decided by Southeast Asians themselves'. His second contribution was his controversial assertion that Southeast Asian women enjoyed a relatively high social standing as well as individual freedom and access to political and economic power in early Southeast Asia. Reid's third contribution was that Southeast Asians had developed a genius for managing without powerful states, an issue also studied by American scholar James C. Scott in his recent work. Now aged 73, Tony Reid is currently Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, and the recipient of several honours and awards from the global academic community. His first teaching position at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur was from 1965 to 1969, before leaving to take up the post of Senior Research Fellow at the Research School of Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies at ANU, where he was appointed Professor of Southeast Asian History in 1989. Later he went on to become foundation professor of two other centres of Southeast Asian studies—University of California in Los Angeles and the National University of Singapore. The essays in this volume by the foremost historians on Southeast Asia are closely related to Tony Reid's academic interests. Victor Lieberman's essay, inspired by Reid's model of Southeast Asia as a 'coherent region', looks at 'synchronized parallels' and 'cycles' of consolidation, collapse and revivals between Europe and the region in the period 800-1800. Bold enough to admit that he is making 'large claims', Lieberman invites scholars to debate them. In another comparative essay, Wang Gungwu views the region historically as only partially comparable to the Braudellian Mediterranean syndrome of war and division. However, he regards it as...

The International Conference on Islam and Development in SoutheastAsia was held during September 25-26, 1991, at the Equatorial Hotel, KualaLumpur, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Academyof Malay Studies (University of Malaya), the Islamic Academy (Universityof Malaya), and the Information and Resource Center (Singapore) and wassponsored by the Hanns-Seidel Foundation. The conference's stated aim wasto demonstrate the differences in programs for cooperation between Islamiccountries, the integration attempts of developing countries, and the actualeconomic and political situations of Southeast Asian countries.There were four main panels in the program: a) Islam and Developmentin Southeast Asia: A Historical Perspective; b) Islam and the Political Process;c) Islam and Economic Development; and 4) Islam and the Future of theRegion.In the first panel, Khoo Kay Kim (professor of Malaysian history,University of Malaya) pointed out that Muslims have historically emphasizededucation, while in modern times they have tended to allow education tobe shaped by outside rather than inside influences. In addition, Muslimeducation in Southeast Asia has lagged behind national development. Atpresent, the education system in Malaysia continues to produce students who ...

This work dissects Britain's counter-insurgency campaign during the Malayan Emergency and her wider experience at decolonisation in Southeast Asia. The Darurat - as it is known in the local Malay language - is considered as the typical case of a successful modern-day counter-insurgency campaign. The conventional theoretical wisdom posits; that in order to win a counterinsurgency campaign, the force responsible for such a campaign must, similar to Malaya, embark upon a policy of ‘winning hearts and minds’. However, as more official colonial documents pertaining to the Emergency are uncovered and released to the public, the increasing publication of memoirs from individuals directly involved in the Emergency across the political spectrum, and the increased willingness of ex-insurgents as well as members of previously besieged communities affected by mass resettlement to come forward and share their accounts; there is ground to doubt the accuracy of our inherited and imbalanced knowledge of the Emergency along with the ‘lessons’ we have derived from it. This thesis has strengthened the argument, with an emphasis on Malay language and Jawi scripted sources, that; (1) through the accounts of native actors, both Malay and Chinese, the Malayan Emergency is an artefact of the earlier anti-Japanese experience during World War Two. And that (2) force which was used in the conduct of concluding the shooting war in 1954 was regarded as ‘exempted’ force wrapped in a grand narrative despite the on the-ground reality for the people.

After the successful unification o China under Chiang Kai-shek in 1927, the Kuomintang (KMT) attempted to extend its influence over Chinese communities in Southeast Asia Being revolutionary in nature, the KMT tried to place Chinese nationalist movements at home and abroad under party control. In the years between 1928, the year of the Tsinan Incident, and 1932, the second year of the Manchurian Incident, the KMT and its party-controlled government enacted a series of acts and regulations aiming at strengthening the party's hold over the Nanyang Chinese. As a result, the anyan Chinese anti-Japanese movement, which began in 1908 over the Tatsu-Maru Incident, was transformed from a boycott movement led by merchants to a national salvation movement directed by the party and the government, as well as by their overseas agents. At the same time, modern Chinese Nationalism, epitomized in Sun Yat-sen's “People's Three Principles”, had gained strength as China was being unified under a single government for the first time in nearly two decades. She was also being faced with external threat. This nationalism, kindled by propaganda and a desire for the emergence of a strong China, was prevalent among Nanyang Chinese, particularly among students and young intellectuals and leaders of business circles who had immigrated from China in the recent past, and who had received traditional Chinese education.It is in this context that the Nanyang Chinese started the national salvation movement when the Manchurian Incident broke out in Septemder 1931. Boycotts began in early October throughout Southeast Asia, attesting to the degree of KMT coordination in the movement. For a few months, the boycotts had a telling effect on Japanese trade in Southeast Asia but they petered out by February, 1932. Other methods used by the national salvation movement, such as monetary contributions and material donations, were also comparatively ineffective. The overall effect o the movement upon Japan's trade position vis-a-vis the Nanyang region was light compared with that of the 1928 national salvation movement, a consequence of the Tsinan Incident, whose boycott lasted much longer, and had a more severe economic effect on Japan.Reasons for the rather disappointing results of the 1931-32 movement are as follows:1. The economies of the Nanyang countries were suffering from the Great Depression. The Nanyang Chinese, particularly merchants who were principals in boycott, were simply in no position to conduct the boycott so soon after the Tsinan Incident boycott, from which Chinese communities suffered as much as they succeeded in hurting Japan's economic and trade position in Southeast Asia.2. By nature, the Nanyang Chinese economy had small capital accumulation and depended on handling Japanese consumer goods for livelihood. Chinese merchants could not continue the boycott for long without hurting themselves and undermining their business and economic position. In short, the longer they continued boycotting, the more they lost their economic position to Japanese who, with government subsidies, tried to establish their own retail network in order to be less dependent upon Chinese merchants for the distribution and sale of their merchandise.3. The national salvation movement, which had been evolving gradually into a political movement as the KMT's influence grew, became the object of suppression from colonial and native governments. Colonial governments were afraid of indigenous nationalist movements being contaminated of Chinese nationalism. On the other hand, the native governments of Siam and the Philippines were increasingly resentful of the predominant Chinese hold over their economies. Consequently, these governments, motivated by their own brands of nationalism-Thai-ification and Filipinization-tried to wrest economic control from the Chinese and restore it into their own hands. Because of these factors, Chinese had to be

At the end of 2009, the number of medical schools in Malaysia had exceeded 20 and there is every indication that this number, although large for a country of 28 million people, is likely to go up. However, very few medical schools engage in postgraduate programs due to lack of qualified staff and training facilities. Only 4 medical schools have a Master of Public Health (MPH) program. These medical schools are located in the University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Of these 4, only 2 (UM and UKM) have a Doctor of Public Health Program and take in international students for their postgraduate degrees. The oldest and most established public health postgraduate degree program in Malaysia is run by the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (popularly known as the SPM Department), University of Malaya, which is also the oldest academic public health department in Malaysia. Relative to public health departments in other universities in the Southeast Asian region, the SPM Department is small, with only 12 active academic staff and a further 9 staff who were still on study leave at the end of 2009. This small department delivers 2 general public health master’s programs, 4 specialty master’s in public health, a doctor of public health (DrPH), and PhD program and is the only department in UM’s medical faculty to maintain its own department Web site (http://spm.um.edu.my) since 1999. Since 1974, the SPM Department has produced 612 Master of Public Health and 106 Master in Medical Science (Public Health) graduates, in addition to a number of PhD graduates. Many of these graduates are international and increasingly international students make up a significant number of student intake. Currently half of its master’s and a quarter of its doctoral student intake every year are of international origin.

Palms are crucial species to the flora of south-east (SE) Asia. Oil palm (OP) is a highly significant introduced species to the region and produces palm oil, an especially important commodity. OPs are grown in huge plantations in SE Asia, predominantly in Malaysia and Indonesia. These palms have detrimental effects on the environment, particularly from deforestation when creating new plantations. Future climate scenarios have indicated mostly reductions in suitable climate for growing OP throughout SE Asia and it is crucial to consider how the palms can be conserved. Climate change has been shown to stimulate poleward movements in some other species, which assist in conserving them and may permit assisted colonisation. However, poleward movement to these refuges is unlikely from the tropics. Recent research has indicated potential longitudinal refuges for OP in Africa and phased longitudinal refuges in South America, based on future suitable climate (SC) for growing OP. These data indicate how the sustainability of OP could be maintained rather than experiencing the complete decimation of the crop, which might otherwise occur. This current work was undertaken to determine trends of future SC for growing OP in SE Asia and to indicate refuges with implications for conservation and plantation management. The results are compared with those for Africa and South America. The longitudes considered in SE Asia were from 100°E to 146°E, which is an intentionally large area of land. The maps obtained from the climate modelling program CLIMEX, of climate suitability for growing OP, were employed to obtain the percentage SC in SE Asian regions and countries for current time (CT), 2050 and 2100. The average percentage SC decreased for 2050 and further for 2100. Increasing longitudinal trends in SC for growing OP were observed from CT to 2050, CT to 2100 and 2050 to 2100 from west to east. Vietnam, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and island Malaysia had increased SC by 2050. Large decreases in SC by 2050 for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, which are towards the west of SE Asia, were observed. There was an increasing trend in suitable climate from CT to 2100 and a smaller trend from 2050 to 2100. Hence, OP may find suitable refuges by natural seed spreading towards the east of SE Asia, hence avoiding extinction. Similarly, new plantations could be established in the same direction, although environmental concerns are paramount. Vietnam, the Philippines, PNG and island Malaysia may become more suitable than Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The sustainability of OP plantations is likely to decrease substantially with climate change. However, there is scope for a more sustainable situation towards the east of SE Asia. New plantations cannot be established without considering the severe effects on the environment from deforestation and increased greenhouse gases. Overall, urgent action is required to reduce the effects of climate change.

This article investigates the failure of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO), a regional security alliance established in 1954 with the principal objective of containing the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. The study aims to critically assess the key factors contributing to SEATO’s ineffectiveness, focusing on its weak institutional design, unbalanced membership composition, and inability to align its strategic and military framework with the political, social, and cultural realities of the postcolonial Southeast Asian context. Particular emphasis is placed on SEATO’s lack of a binding collective defence mechanism, unlike NATO’s Article 5 and the alliance’s overreliance on the United States (US), which ultimately undermined its legitimacy and credibility among regional actors. This study adopts a qualitative methodology grounded in content analysis of secondary literature in history and international relations. It also considers the strategic positions of key non member states such as Indonesia and India and examines SEATO’s role during the Indochina conflict. The findings reveal that SEATO failed to foster a cohesive regional identity and secure broad-based support from major Asian powers that favoured non-alignment. Its structural dependency on Western leadership, absence of collective regional commitment, and lack of operational capacity rendered the alliance ineffective as a long-term security mechanism. Furthermore, the disconnect between the geopolitical aims of Western powers and the sovereignty concerns of newly decolonised Asian nations contributed to the alliance’s declining relevance and eventual dissolution. The study concludes that attempts to transplant Western-style security models like North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) into Southeast Asia without adapting to the region’s historical, political, and cultural complexities are inherently limited. This research contributes to the broader scholarly discourse on Cold War geopolitics and underscores the necessity of developing context-sensitive and locally grounded approaches to regional security cooperation.

Along the Academe‐Policy Frontier: A Tribute to Aileen S.P. Baviera

This paper provides an analysis on the United States’ (US) reaction towards the Malayan emergency that occurred between 1948 and 1960. From the US’ perspective, the emergency in Malaya was a problem that resulted from the communist movement. The core objective of this paper is to explore the United States’ reaction and the reasons for this reaction. Apart from that, this paper will also focus on the United States’ actions following the reaction they had taken, which can be observed through documents such as the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), the Department of State Bulletin, the Pentagon Papers, reports from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), British documents and memoirs from local and overseas archives. Based on these documents, the reaction towards the Malayan emergency by the United States can be directly and indirectly concluded. The methods used in this paper involved source researching in archives, document analysis, translating files and interpreting resources. The United States’ reaction towards the Malayan emergency is closely related to regional communist threats and conflicts in the Far East. This paper will argue that ideological competition and strategic considerations were seen as reasons or factors that affected the United States’ reaction towards the emergency. Finally, this paper will further argue that the United States’ reaction towards the Malayan emergency from 1948 to 1960 was significant in diminishing communist threats in Southeast Asia and in Malaya.

The Changing Balance of the Early South-East Asian Pepper Trade. By John Bastin. pp. 67. Papers on South-east Asian subjects. No. 1 Department of History, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, 1960. - Volume 93 Issue 3-4