Trace and Tell your Family's Empire Stories
Country Histories
Malaysia is divided in two parts, geographically separated by the South China Sea. West Malaysia lies on the Malay Peninsula south of Thailand, while East Malaysia lies along the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Malaysia's coastlines border one of the oldest, wealthiest and busiest trading routes of the world and its development has been shaped by the Indian, Chinese, Arab and European civilisations that traded in the region over the centuries.
The end of British rule in the region was made inevitable by Japanese occupation during the Second World War. A successful war of counter-insurgency, known as the Malay Emergency, was fought against Malayan Chinese Communists between 1948 and 1960. Independence followed rapidly under a conservative constitution that protected western access to Malaysia's many valuable natural resources.
Browser by chapterLt. Colonel Bowring, Military Malaysia 1948-57. Copyright Images of Empire.
Lt-Gen Sir Gerald Templer (1898-1979), was appointed High Commissioner of Malaya following the assassination of his predecessor, Sir Henry Gurney, in October 1951. Templer is remembered for his effective counter-insurgency strategy. He famously declared that "the answer lies not in pouring more troops into the jungle but in the hearts and minds of the people."
Under his authority a range of policies were implemented to win Chinese popular support. Conditions in the new villages were improved, equal rights of citizenship introduced and incentives were offered to encourage Communists to defect. By the time of Templer's departure in 1954, only a small hard core of insurgents were left, based in a remote area along the border with Thailand. The Emergency was officially declared over in 1960.
