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From: terryr@ogicse.ogi.edu (Terry Rooker)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Malayan Insurgency
Message-ID: <1990Jun6.141954.4833@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 6 Jun 90 14:19:54 GMT
References: <16042@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: terryr@ogicse.ogi.edu (Terry Rooker)
In article <16042@cbnews.ATT.COM> smpod@csd.lerc.nasa.gov (Steve Podleski (Sverdrup)) writes:
>
>Where not the insurgents mostly of Chinese ancestry/origin which may
>explain the lack of support by the native Malayans and also explain
>the failure of the insurgency?

Yes the insurgents were of Chinese ancestry.  Although I doubt that
would be sufficient for the failure of the insurgency.  If it were,
the insurgency probably never would have gotten enough support to
justify the "emergency".  An insurgency needs some dissatisfaction to
generate support.  As with many other post-WWII colonies, the Malays
(not just the ethnic Malays) were seeking self-government.  The
British recognized this early, and took steps to transfer power to the
Malay people.  More importantly, the British didn't renege on promises
to transfer power as the Malays proved themselves capable.  These
situations are incredibly complex, and it is not possible to ascribe
events to any single cause.  If it were, then history would be a lot
easier.


-- 
Terry Rooker
terryr@cse.ogi.edu