Malay Society under Japanese Occupation, 1942–45

Abstract

This study aims to understand how Malay national awareness matured during the wartime period, and is primarily concerned with the exact nature of the impact of the three and a half years of Japanese rule on the political, economic, and social aspects of Malay society. With this aim in view, first of all, this paper examines the historiography of the Japanese occupation of Malaya, focusing on “interruption” and “transformation” arguments. Secondly, this study considers Japan's objectives in invading Malaya. Thirdly, this work examines the development of Malay national awareness under Japanese rule, highlighting the hidden dynamics behind the Malay struggle for the development. Based upon this investigation, this paper shows that Malay national awareness was consolidated mainly by the creative adaptation of the Malays to the new circumstances, not as a result of the deliberate intentions of the Japanese as the “interruption” school argues.