Abstract
The debate which arose between the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) in early September 2005, concerning the history of Malaysia's independence movement, necessitates a re-appraisal of the organizations and personalities involved. This article re-assesses the period and actors involved in bringing to fruition Malaysian independence. By utilizing mainly authoritative secondary sources, the reconstructed history belies the argument of the ruling elites that they inherit the mantle of `real independence fighters' from their political ancestors. Although the sources are readily available in Malaysian libraries, the truth contained in them has eluded the general public. Thus, to lay people, political history in Malaysia has been what ruling politicians tell them and what they find in school textbooks that, in any case, have been approved by the powers that be. This article reveals that pre-independence Malaysian history is replete with contradictions and paradoxes which may transform perceptions of who were and were not independence heroes.
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