Historians Malaya

Question 1

Historian Anthony Short.

Answer 1

Malaya : said that the resolution of the Malayan emergency created political stability that paved the way for Malayan independence.

Question 2

Karl Hack.

Answer 2

Malaya.
- Says that the resettlement of villages, as part of the Briggs Plan was ‘a major turning point from the hard approach to soft measures’.
- Says that the Briggs Plan was not aimed at gaining popular support but rather intended to provide cover for the population to refuse what the insurgents asked of them.
- The force played a role in the Malayan Emergency but at different times compared to winning the hearts and minds of the people.
- The MCP knew how to use the jungle to their advantage.

Question 3

Historian Nicholas J. White.

Answer 3

Malaya. Says that ‘The Malayan agency houses this faced severe difficulties in recruiting and maintaining European staffing levels.’

Question 4

Political scientist Richard Stubbs.

Answer 4

Malaya. The Hearts & Minds Campaign was a coercive campaign that only worked because of the cast ethnic diversity of the country which pitted Malays against the Chinese.

Question 5

Marc Opper.

Answer 5

Malaya. Says that the MCP treated people who were reluctant to help violently which isolated the MCP.

Question 6

Cheah Boon Keng.

Answer 6

Malaya. Says that the ‘the complexities of alliances and divisions within the MCP affected its running’.