2.2  The British Colonization

Presentation

2.2  The British Colonization

There is a long story about the British colonization. Let us summarize their colonization in a chronology:

1786 : Francis Light founded Penang

1819 : Stamford Raffles founded Singapore

1824 : The signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty between the British and the Dutch in which Malacca was

passed over to the British

1826 : The combination of Penang, Malacca and Singapore under one administration which was called the

Straits Settlements

1841 : James Brooke took over Sarawak

1874 : British interfere the Malay state affairs of Perak after the signing of Pangkor Treaty and also their

intervention in Sungai Ujong, Negri Sembilan

1878 : British took over Sabah from the King of Brunei

1888 : British intervened the affairs of Pahang

1896 : British formed the Federated Malay States that put Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang

under one administration

1909 : Siam (Thailand) handed over Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, and Terengganu To British under the Bangkok

Treaty and put them under one Administration which was called the Non-Federated Malay States

2.2  The British Colonization

1914 : British intervention in Johor when Johor accepted a British advisor

1945 : The establishment of the British Military Administration (BMA)

1946 : The establishment of Malayan Union (MU)

1948 : The establishment of the Federation of Malaya to replace the Malayan Union

1957 : The independence of Malaya

Note: The chronology is taken from the master text book i.e Malaysian Studies: Nationhood & Citizenship, pg 10

Do you know why the British could easily interfere the affairs of the Malay States? Below are the reasons:

1. Internal weaknesses of the states such as unrest and civil war
2. No unity among the people
3. The abandon of economic resources such as tin ore and agriculture products found in these states
4. The strong competition among western powers for colonize as much as colonies to meet the quest of industrial revolution in the West
5. The British wanted to secure their trade business in this region

To ensure the intervention went smoothly, the British implemented the Resident System.

2.2  The British Colonization

There are many impacts of British colonization. Among them are:

1. Multi-racial society
   The British had brought in migrants from Chinese and India to work at estates and tin
   ore mines. The entry of migrants had resulted rapid increase in population.
   
2. Identification of races based on economic functions
   The Chinese involved in the modern sector in the cities and mining areas, the Indian worked as labour and lived in estates and the Malays involved in traditional farming sector and lived in rural areas. This situation had caused social divide in which the British were intended to. This is called "divide and rule policy" implemented by the British to easily control the people.
   
3. Change of political system
   The power of the kings reduced and almost lost their control over their own states. With the implementation of Resident System (in Federated Malay States) and Advisory System (in Non-Federated Malay States), all executive powers were passed over to residents. The kings had power in the matters related religion of Islam and Malay customs only.
   
4. Development of infrastructures
   

Construction of roads and railways

Introduction of land administration

The justice system (through a proper court system)

Introduction a formal educational system