Emergency or “Colonial War” 1948 in Malaya: A Debate Based on Several Schools of Thought and Perspectives

This study examines the various interpretations by historians about the majorfactors that led to the declaration of emergency by the British in Malaya in 1948. The mainpurpose of this study is to analyse why there is disagreement among historians about thefactors that led to the emergency and what are the weaknesses of every view expressed.In this study, the main sources that explain the views of historians will be examined.Historians discussing the 1948 Emergency are generally divided into several schools ofthought: Orthodox, Revisionist, Neo-Orthodox and Post-Revisionist. The Orthodox viewexplains that the emergency was declared by the British in reaction to communist terrorismand the existence of an armed rebellion plan by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) tobring down British rule. However, recent criticisms have arisen on the Orthodox approachwhich is considered to be over-dependent on official reports by the British intelligence andadministration. With the latest evidence available through records released by the BritishNational Archives beginning in the late 1990s, an alternative view emerged that beganto question whether the declaration of emergency in 1948 was due to MCP rebellion ormore driven by other purposes related to the interest of maintaining British colonialism inMalaya. Some Revisionist and Post-Revisionist historians claim the 1948 Emergency is aform of “colonial war” that was created as part of the British conspiracy to curb the threatof nationalist movement deliberately accused by the British as infiltrated by communistelements.