The Formation of Malaysia: Advancing the Theses of Decolonization and Competing Expansionist Nationalisms

Abstract

The formation of Malaysia is an old topic but in the past its formation has been explained basically in terms of the expansion theory and the security theory. With the release of new documents on the subject by the British National Archives (previously known as the Public Record Office), in recent years, much more information, hitherto unavailable, is now at the disposal of researchers. A careful study of these documents reveals that ‘Malaysia’ was in essence a British Colonial scheme hatched in 1942 for the eventual decolonization of Southeast Asia. It is therefore the intention of this paper to advance the view that though the British failed to create their ‘Grand Design’ due to political exigencies on the ground, the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963 was in fact undertaken to solve the problems of British decolonization as well as to cater to the phenomena of competing expansionist nationalisms in post-colonial Southeast Asia rather than fulfilling the needs of the narrower expansion and security theories.