Leonard Y. Andaya

The Heritage of the Past

Until the beginning of the fifteenth century AD, the history of what is now Malaysia is difficult to reconstruct with any real certainty. Because of the lack of information, historians have tended to regard the rise of a great entrepot, Melaka, on the west coast of the Malay peninsula, as an identifiable starting point for Malay history. There is a consequent inclination to consider the centuries before 1400 — the ‘pre-Melakan period’ — as being of relatively little importance in the evolution of modern Malaysia. But Melaka’s rise from a quiet fishing village to a world-renowned emporium and centre of Malay culture cannot be explained unless one realizes that behind the splendour of its court and the vigour of its commerce lay traditions of government and trade which had evolved over centuries. The story of Malaysia does not therefore begin at Melaka but stretches back deep into the past. An examination of Melaka’s heritage provides not only the context essential for an understanding of later events but throws up themes which continue to be relevant as Malaysian history unfolds.

Kingship- Adat Rivalry and the Role of Islam in South Sulawesi

In Bugis-Makassar society a king was identified in terms of his function in assuring the spiritual and material well-being of the whole community. Though distinguished from the rest of the population by the paraphernalia and “white blood” of kingship, the individual ruler did not reign in splendid isolation from the people. He was a visible presence whose active participation in the affairs of the community was an expected norm. On one level, he was regarded as an essential intermediary or link between mankind on this earth and the gods (or God) of the Upperworld; and, on another level, he was seen as an instrument of the people in maintaining the adat , or the laws and customs of the land. These two variant but co-existing beliefs in the role of kings reflect an existing tension between the rulers and the adat guardians, which had its roots at the very inception of kingship in this society.

Flights of Fancy: The Bird of Paradise and Its Cultural Impact

The aim of this essay is to show through just one greatly valued trade item — in this case, the bird of paradise — how even the most distant and apparently isolated areas of the world could be linked to the major metropoles through trade. Yet this trade was anything but a simple bilateral exchange. It involved a complex series of networks that extended from the collectors to various levels of intermediaries and secondary ports, and then to foreign shippers bringing the desired product to its ultimate destination in various world markets. There is, however, another aspect of this essay which focuses not on the economic but the cultural value of trade. Most studies of the bird of paradise have commented on the cultural impact of its feathers on Western fashion, yet few have examined other cultural interpretations of the feathers that are closely associated with authority, fertility, and even invulnerability. These attitudes found in eastern Indonesia and New Guinea continue a tradition that has its roots in Southeast Asia in the early centuries of the Common Era.

A ‘New World Is Created’, 1819–74

The most colourful description of life in the new British settlement of Singapore is contained in the Hikayat Abdullah (The Story of Abdullah) which is the autobiography of the noted teacher of Malay who was also scribe to Stamford Raffles. One of Abdullah’s main concerns is the change brought about by the European presence, ‘the destruction of the old world and the creation of a new’. He is understandably less interested in the historical continuities which, despite the overriding sense of change, can still be discerned. The very readiness of Malay rulers to establish links with British officials in Singapore and Penang was in keeping with previous Malay diplomacy. Like the Dutch and Portuguese, the British simply represented a new and powerful element whose friendship was desirable. Nor was Singapore’s commercial success unprecedented. In the tradition of earlier entrepots such as Melaka and Johor, its prosperity owed much to its unrivalled geographic position, to which was added the attraction of free trade in an age when tariffs and protection were almost universal. The initial acceptance of the British was also aided by the fact that the areas involved — Penang, Singapore, Province Wellesley and Melaka — had not been forcibly taken from any Malay power and at least the trappings of legality surrounded their transfer. Well before the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the British appeared the legitimate heirs to the prestige formerly accorded the VOC.

The Demise of the Malay Entrepôt State, 1699–1819

The decline in Johor’s standing in the Malay world after the events of 1699 led to the rise of a number of newly independent states, several of which had once been part of the old Johor empire. No kingdom emerged immediately as a dominant force in the Straits, able to maintain a degree of order in regional trade and politics. Without an acknowledged overlord, individual states now had greater freedom in seeking their own political and economic goals. To nineteenth-century observers, however, a situation where various rulers were attempting to assert their independence or supremacy appeared ‘chaotic’ and symptomatic of the ‘decay’ besetting the Malay world. It was therefore with the claim of ‘restoring order’ to the area that the British came to justify their intervention in Malay affairs. But an examination of events in the Malay world in the eighteenth century indicates that such rationalization ignores the cyclical pattern of alternating unity and fragmentation which had characterized Malay-Indonesian commerce and politics for well over a thousand years.

The Forging of a Nation, 1957–80

Since independence the principal preoccupation of Malaya’s government leaders has been the preservation of the country’s fragile unity and the welding of a truly united nation. The success of the Emergency measures in dealing with the communists removed one major threat to unity, but there still remained the task of reconciling the demands of the communal groups in the creation of their new nation. Under colonial rule the British had orchestrated a smoothly functioning political and economic entity in which each ethnic group was allotted a specific role. In this colonial world, the British saw themselves as supreme arbiters, acting impartially and dispensing justice throughout the land. To a considerable extent the British role had been accepted by the society, and some groups genuinely believed that given the existing situation the colonial presence was desirable. The years of political conditioning could not be overcome simply by the transferral of sovereignty to a Malayan government. With the dismantling of British hegemony, each ethnic group feared being pushed aside by the others, and the post-independence years witnessed a scramble for dominance in areas hitherto restricted to one or another group. Each ethnic community wanted a share of what the others had and yet there was insufficient mutual trust to believe that the sharing would be done equitably. All governments in Malaya (and Malaysia since 1963) have been concerned with solving this vexing problem, which has continued to pose a threat to the nation’s survival.

Introduction: The Environment and Peoples of Malaysia

Formed in 1963, the Federation of Malaysia comprises the long peninsular land mass which separates the Indian Ocean from the South China Sea, together with the northern quarter of Borneo but excluding the small state of Brunei. Peninsular Malaysia, covering 131,794 square kilometres, is made up of eleven states: Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor (with the Federal Capital Territory of Kuala Lumpur), Melaka, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Trengganu and Kelantan. The island of Singapore, part of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965, is now independent. The Borneo territories, Sabah (formerly British North Borneo) and Sarawak, together cover roughly 198,000 square kilometres, but are separated at the closest point from the peninsula by over 650 kilometres. Kota Kinabalu (previously Jesselton), the capital of Sabah, is 864 kilometres from Kuching (Sarawak’s capital) and more than 1,600 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur.

Melaka and Its Heirs

During the fifteenth century Melaka rose to become, in the words of Tome Pires, ‘of such importance and profit that it seems to me it has no equal in the world’.1 Melaka’s great success and its honoured place in Malay history were not only due, however, to its prosperity and renown as a trading centre. Building upon an illustrious past, it established a pattern of government and a lifestyle which was emulated by subsequent Malay kingdoms and became the basis of what was later termed ‘traditional Malay culture and statecraft’. So imposing was the reputation of Melaka that its successors were in a sense condemned to the awesome task of attempting to revive the glory of the Malay past. The trading policies of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and the Dutch in the seventeenth placed such restraints on international commerce that it was all but impossible for a Malay emporium in the tradition of Melaka to re-emerge. But while no Malay kingdom succeeded in re-creating the greatness of Melaka, it remained an inspiration and a source of strength to all those states which considered themselves its heirs.

Conclusion: Some Themes in Malaysian History

Certain dominant themes emerge in examining the span of Malaysian history. One of these is the self-confidence with which Malays have always greeted external influences, an attribute undoubtedly arising from their long and persistent contact with the outside world. From about the beginning of the Christian era, Malays living on both sides of the Melaka Straits were witness to a growing international seaborne traffic passing through this narrow waterway, which linked India, the Middle East and Europe on the one hand, and Japan, Korea and China on the other. Taking advantage of their ideal location on the Straits, the Malays became active participants in this international trade and were able to develop successful entrepots which formed the basis of some of the earliest and most influential maritime powers in Southeast Asia. The most impressive of the early kingdoms was Srivijaya, whose traditions were continued in an almost unbroken line to Melaka, Johor and Riau. They were noted not only for their flourishing entrepot trade but also for their patronage of religion, the medium for many of the intellectual trends in the world beyond the Straits. This area, then, was never a backwater but was exposed to a continuing progression of ideas from abroad, the most suitable of which were adopted and adapted by the local population to suit their own needs.

The Functioning of a Colonial Society, 1919–57

By 1919 the entire Malay peninsula had come under some kind of British control. The Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States (FMS) had been under British influence longest, and consequently their various institutions were more closely co-ordinated than those in the Unfederated Malay States (UMS). The latter continued to maintain their own system of governance but came under increasing British pressure urging incorporation into the FMS. Despite this pressure the unfederated states maintained their status till the outbreak of World War II.