Activity 1 - What was the impact on Malaya?

  1. Examine - Explore and make notes from Slides 1-10 of the Lesson Presentation on the impact of the Emergency on Malaya. 
  2. Research - Complete the relevant sections on this worksheet by researching the impact of the Emergency on Malaya. Use the Lesson Presentation and the following resources to help you research:
    1. 70 years later, Malayan Emergency’s legacy lives on
    2. Economic History of Malaysia 
    3. Cold War scripts: Comparing remembrance of the Malayan Emergency and the 1965 violence in Indonesia
    4. Communal riots of 1964 | Infopedia
    5. See the realities of S'pore's 1964 racial riots from these stories'  
    6. May 13, never again: The 1969 riots that changed Malaysia 
    7. The Second Emergency (1968-1989)
    8. 1968 in Asia: Malaysia's “Second Emergency” (1968–89)
  3. Debate - Following the 1989 ceasefire the communists were exiled to Southern Thailand. This decision resulted in much resentment and most communists now wish to return to Malaysia, the government has refused these requests. Watch this clip and then get into two groups arguing whether or not Chin Peng and his followers should be allowed back to Malaysia. Consider the entire causes and course of the conflict when you prepare your debate.

Activity 2 - What was the impact on Britain?

  1. Research - Complete the relevant sections on this worksheet by researching the impact of the Emergency on Britain and the Commonwealth. Use the Lesson Presentation and the following resources to help you research:
    1. New documents reveal cover-up of 1948 British 'massacre' of villagers in Malaya 
    2. The lost wars: Britain's Malayan campaigns | The Independent 
    3. Relatives lose fight for inquiry into 1948 Batang Kali 'massacre' 
    4. NZ and the Malayan Emergency - Malayan Emergency 
    5. The 70th anniversary of the Malayan Emergency: a quick guide 
    6. 1950: Australia commits to the Malayan Emergency 
    7. The 'Official Mind' of Late-Colonialism: Britain, Decolonization and the Cold War in Southeast Asia 1945-1950
    8. Malaya, 1948: Britain's Asian Cold War? 
  2. Discuss - As you will see from this article, the Supreme Court in Britain ruled that even though the actions of the British troops in killing 24 Malayan villagers may have been a war crime, the action took place too long ago for any public inquiry to be held into what happened. Discuss as a class your reactions to this decision. Should there be a cut off point for investigating or compensating cases of war crimes?

Activity 3 - How was the region changed?

  1. Examine - Explore and make notes from Slide 12 of the Lesson Presentation on the impact of the Emergency on South East Asia.
  2. Research - Complete the relevant sections on this worksheet by researching the impact of the Emergency on the South East Asia region. Use the Lesson Presentation and the following resources to help you research:
    1. Malaysia’s “Second Emergency” (1968–89) and links to the region | Verso Books
    2. When Britain sent Malayan Chinese into exile and sometimes death: taboo-breaking exhibition brings a dark episode to life | SCMP 
    3. The War That Gave Birth to ASEAN
    4. Negotiating the end of cross-border insurgency in Thailand 
    5. Indonesian Confrontation  
    6. Communist insurgency in Sarawak 
    7. Brunei Revolt breaks out - Singapore History 
  3. Discuss - Think counterfactually. What if the MCP had won the Malayan Emergency? What do you think might have happened to other countries in SouthEast Asia in the 1960s? Consider how a communist victory may have impacted on: Indonesia; Thailand; Indochina; the Philippines; and the Cold War.

Activity 4 - Did it affect the Cold War?

  1. Examine - Explore and make notes from Slide 13 of the Lesson Presentation on the impact of the Emergency on the wider Cold War. 
  2. Research - Complete the relevant sections on this worksheet by researching the impact of the Emergency on the wider Cold War including relations with the US, USSR, and PRC. Use the Lesson Presentation and the following resources to help you research:
    1. How the Morning Star exposed Britain's decapitation war crimes
    2. The United States Economic Interests in Malayan Emergency of 1948-1960
    3. The Implications of Cold War on Malaysia State Building Process 
    4. The “Lessons” of Britain's Counterinsurgency in Malaya: An American Obsession | Perspectives on History 
    5. Assessing the British Counter-Insurgency Effort in Malaya 
    6. The Cold War's Legacies in Malaysia
    7. Legacies of the Cold War in Malaysia: Anything but Communism  
    8. Malaysia and the Soviet Union
    9. The real story behind historic Malaysia-China ties
    10. CIA Report - The Pattern of Communist Movements in SE Asia
  3. Discuss - “The Malayan Emergency had very little impact on the course of the Cold War”. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Further Reading

OBLIGATORY READING
  1. The Cold War’s Legacies in Malaysia | Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. (2019). Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia.
RECOMMENDED READING
  1. Shuib, Md. S., Keling, M. F., & Ajis, M. N. (2009). The Implications of Cold War on Malaysia State Building Process. Asian Culture and History, 1(2).
SUPPLEMENTAL READING
  1. Hack, K., & Wade, G. (2009). The origins of the Southeast Asian Cold War. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 40(3), 441–448.
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