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MODULE CODE
MODULE NAME
SEMESTER
TITLE
LECTURER
SEMINAR QUESTIOS
: MPU3132
: Malaysian Studies 3
: SEMESTER 2 - Spring
: GOUP C
: ROWENA FRANCIS
TO BE COMPLETED BY STUDENTS
I declare that this coursework is strictly our own work.
NAME ID NUMBER
Ho Se Nie 20303783
PROGRAMME
BA English Language and Literature
SIGNATURE
Se Nie
TO BE COMPLETED BY LECTURER
GRADE
/
MARK COMMENTS:
AWARDED
LECTURER’S SIGNATURE:
DATE:
*ATTENTION: (1) DELAY IN SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS/PAPERS WILL BE
DEDUCTED 5 MARKS PER DAY.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Cover page
Introduction
Content
Conclusion
Total
TOTAL
MARKS
4
8
20
8
40/4
GIVEN MARKS
SEMINAR QUESTIONS
SET 1
1.
THE SULTANATE OF MALACCA – Describe in detail the process of finding the
Malacca kingdom.
The Malacca Kingdom was founded around the year 1400 by Parameswara, the prince of
the Srivijaya Empire and briefly the ruler of Temasik, which is modern day Singapore.
Parameswara was the descendent of Prince Sang Nila Utama, who fled to Temasik from
the Srivijaya Empire after the attack of the Majapahit Empire on the Srivijaya Empire in the
late 14th century, resulted in the kingdom’s decline and forced the royal family to flee to other
parts of the Malay Archipelago. However, when Temasik was attacked by the Majapahit
Empire, the then-ruler of Temasik, Parameswara, had no choice but to flee to avoid the invading
forces. He ended up in Muar in Johor at a fishing village at the mouth of the Bertam River.
According to legends, Parameswara was resting under a tree in the fishing village when he saw
his hunting dogs corner a mouse deer, which somehow managed to bypass the dogs and escape
into the jungle despite its small size.
Witnessing this, Parameswara thought it was a good sign and decided to set up his kingdom
there, which he named after the Melaka tree he was resting under. Thus, that was how the
Malacca Kingdom was founded by Parameswara.
2.
THE PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH COLONIALIZATION OF MALAYA – Explain
the reasons that led to the Portuguese and Dutch colonization of the state of Malacca.
The Portuguese colonization of Malacca occurred from 1511-1641. They were the first
foreign power to colonize Malaya when they took over Malacca. After the Portuguese
colonization, the Dutch took control over the Portuguese fortress in Malacca and proceeded to
colonize Malaya from 1641-1824.
The Portuguese colonization was influenced by the desires of the Portuguese to obtain
the riches of the region, to bring glory to Portugal and their king, and to spread gospel. Firstly,
the Portuguese sought the riches in Malacca in the form of their gold and their spices. At the
time, spices were an essential commodity in Portugal as it was used to season food and cure
meats for preservation. However, spices were expensive as the spice trade in Europe was
dominated by the Jewish community in Venice, who marked-up the prices of spices. Thus, the
Portuguese chose to enter the spice trade on their own by directly going to the source of the
trade, which also inadvertently led them to discover new routes to the East. Secondly, the desire
to bring glory to Portugal and their king encouraged the colonization of Malaya because the
Portuguese monarchy wanted to develop Portugal into a maritime power, and thus encouraged
and funded voyages such as the one to Malacca. Lastly, the Portuguese decided to colonize
Malacca because they wanted to spread gospel, particularly the Christian faith. At the time, the
Portuguese were spreading Roman Catholicism in Malacca.
After the Portuguese colonization, the Dutch colonized Malacca from 1641-1824.
Similar to the Portuguese, the Dutch colonized Malacca for economic reasons. They mainly
wanted to control trade in Malacca. The Dutch wanted to control the trade of spices, tin and
cotton in Malacca and eliminate the Portuguese influence on the state as it would consequently
diminish Portugal’s economic and political power back in Europe.
Hence, the Portuguese colonization of Malacca was influenced by the desire to obtain their
riches, bring glory to Portugal and their monarchy and to spread gospel to the population. The
Dutch colonization was fueled by economic purposes and the want to control the trade of spices,
tin and cotton in the region. Moreover, the Dutch wanted to eliminate the influence of Portugal
in Malacca to reduce Portugal’s political and economic power in Europe.
SET 2
3.
THE JAPANESE INVASION OF MALAYA – Describe and explain the effects of the
Japanese occupation in Malaya.
The Japanese occupation in Malaya took place from 1942-1945 and had many
economic, social and political effects.
The economy suffered because the British had destroyed all rubber trees, factories,
mines and mining machineries to prevent the Japanese from using them, resulting in the loss
of Malaya’s rubber and tin production for imports. Consequently, this led to unemployment,
inflation, and a lack of manpower resources as Malayan men were taken to help in Japanese
war efforts. Some social effects were the implementation of the Japanese education system in
local schools, widespread poverty amongst the population, many cases of starvation due to
food shortages, and the death of many Malayans from diseases and malnourishment due to the
deterioration of health standards because the Japanese confiscated medicines for their use.
Moreover, Malayans lived in a state of constant fear of arrest, torture and death, especially the
Chinese. Thus, relations between the Malay and Chinese community were strained because the
Malays were seen as allies of the Japanese whereas the Chinese were oppressed and treated
with suspicion because of the Sook Ching operation, which resulted in the rising influence of
communism.
These economic and social impacts led to multiple political effects, such as the start of
nationalistic feelings and a disdain towards the English for abandoning the Malayans. As a
result of the development of nationalist feelings, the Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army
(MPAJA) was formed to resist the Japanese and fight for independence.
4.
ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE –Explain the factors that caused the British to put
forward the Malayan Union plan in 1946.
Prior to the Malayan Union, Malaya was temporarily governed by the British Military
Administration after the end of the Japanese occupation. The Malayan Union plan came about
when the British Colonial Office decided to create a new administrative system in Malaya
instead of resorting to using the pre-war administrative system.
The main factors that caused the British to push forward the Malayan Union plan was
to ensure future political stability in Malaysia by standardising the country’s administrative
system. Moreover, this also reduces the administrative costs borne by the British. Economics
wise, the Malayan Union plan also helps to protect the economic interests of the British residing
in Malaya. Additionally, the British pushed forward the Malayan Union plan in order to unify
the Malays, Chinese and Indians into one community, thus obtaining political unification.
However, this plan was also put in place as an attempt for the British to punish the Malay rulers
and the Malays for their role in helping the Japanese during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya
from 1942-1945.
Hence, the British had multiple political, economic and social reasons to push for the
Malayan Union plan in 1946 to unify Malaya and also for the personal benefits and vendettas
of the British.
SET 3
5.
THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA - Describe in the detail the background that led
to the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
The formation of Malaysia in 1963, was first spurred by the suggestion of a merger
between Malaya and Singapore that was recommended in 1955 by Singapore’s Chief Minister,
David Marshal. However, the idea of the merger was later reintroduced in 1959 by Lee Kuan
Yew and several other Malayan leaders but was once again dismissed due to concerns
expressed by the Malayan government regarding the political and economic differences
between the two countries. Once again, the idea of a merger was revived by Malaya’s Prime
Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman in May 1961 to create an economic alliance involving
Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and the Federation of Malaya because Malaya and its other
states found that it would be hard to be independent if they were separated and disjointed at the
international level.
Singapore responded to this merger favourably, but North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak
did not readily agree, leading to many meetings and to try to achieve a common ground. In
1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman flew to London to meet with the British government and discuss
the formation of Malaysia. Although the British favoured the merger very much, they felt that
the territories of Borneo should also agree with the merger, thus they formed the Cobbold
Commission to investigate the reactions and opinions of the people in Sabah and Sarawak
towards the merger in the period of two months.
The Cobbold Commission found that Sarawak and North Borneo wanted to join the
Federation of Malaysia as it would entail independence from the British and the unity of
government would overcome the threat of communism, however, they were concerned with
potential discrimination, the loss of the rights of the indigenous to speak their language and
practice their religion, and generally the fear of the unknown. Upon discovering their concerns,
amendments were made to the merger to secure Sabah and Sarawak’s agreement. Singapore
generally found the concept of Malaysia acceptable and supported the idea of the formation of
Malaysia in order to secure them from the threat of the left-wing United People’s Party, which
strongly opposed the merger because they wanted to pursue their self-rule and have different
ideologies. Brunei, on the other hand, decided against joining the Federation of Malaysia
despite the possibility of speeding up its own independence, the benefit of having defense
against the communist, and provisions to help the less developed parts of the two countries
because some of their economic and political requests were ignored.
Thus, the Cobbold Commission sought the views of the public and political leaders of
the remaining countries involved in the merger and found as the majority were in favour of the
merger, it was thus approved by the British. They were then tasked with drafting the
Constitution of the Federation of Malaya, which took into consideration the rights and interests
of the people in their new territories. However, Singapore eventually broke away from
Malaysia in 1965 and declared its own independence due to rising tension between the leaders
of the two countries.
Indonesia refused to accept the results from the Cobbold Commission and also the UN
mission that followed it and verified its findings because President Sukarno felt that Malaysia
was formed as a ploy by the British to make sure they maintain dominion over rubber, tin and
oil in the region. Moreover, President Sukarno also felt insulted because Tunku Abdul Rahman
did not consult him about this formation. Thus, he broke off diplomatic relations with Malaysia
and began to launch undeclared war on the country in attempts to destabilise the new nation.
After years of bloodshed, a peace treaty was eventually signed by both countries in June 1966
for Indonesia to recognise the formation of Malaysia after the succession of President Suharto.
The Philippines opposed the merger as they believed that that North Borneo was once a
territory of the Sultanate of Sulu, which was by extension, the Philippines. Thus, then-President
Macapagal cut diplomatic ties with Malaysia in 1963 up until 1966 when they finally
acknowledged the formation of Malaysia.
Thus, the formation of Malaysia in 1963 took many years and involved many different
countries. Although much has changed regarding its member nations, and the reactions and
wars from other countries, the formation of Malaysia remains until this day.
6.
NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION STRUCTURE – Explain the roles of the Judicial
system in Malaysia’s national administration.
The Judicial system is one of the three branches of power within Malaysia’s national
administration which comprises of a system of courts that handles legal disputes and
disagreements, whilst interpreting, defending, and applying the laws in Malaysia to legal cases.
The roles of the judicial system are to defend the Constitution by ensuring that the
Executive and the Legislature do not abuse its powers, and to uphold and defend justice. Firstly,
the Judicial system defends the Constitution by making sure that laws passed by the Legislature
are made accordingly with the provisions stated in the Constitution. Moreover, it also defends
the Constitution by ensuring that the Executive acts within its powers to maintain and reinforce
the public’s faith in the government.
Additionally, the Judicial system plays a role in defending justice by ensuring all
disputes and offences committed in Malaysia are judged and have been imposed with sentences
that are in accordance with the country’s law, including disputes between the State and the
Federal Government, State and State, an individual of the public and the government, and
disputes between two individuals.
Hence, the Judicial system in Malaysia’s national administration has the role of
defending the Constitution and justice.
SET 4
7.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND VISION – Explain the objectives of the various
national development programmes introduced in Malaysia.
National development refers to the abilities of the country to improve the social welfare
of the Malaysian people by providing social amenities such as quality education, clean and
drinkable water, a developed transportation infrastructure, and medical care. To do this,
Malaysia introduced various national development programmes. These national development
programmes are The National Education Policy, The National Youth Policy, and The National
Cultural Policy.
The National Education Policy was implemented to ensure that its Malaysian citizens
develop into knowledgeable and competent individuals with high moral standards and
responsibility so that they can maintain their personal well-being and will be able to contribute
back to their family, society, and country. Its objectives are to fulfil the nation’s development
requirements and to create social integration and national unity to ensure a country as culturally
and racially diverse as Malaysia can have proper nation-building. To ensure this can be done,
the government completely changed the education system introduced by the British, which had
been clearly segregating the different communities in Malaysia by allowing each community
to create their own education syllabus based on either the education syllabus used in other
countries, and also based on different desired educational outcomes. Thus, there was no
standardised education. Consequently, the Malaysian government created a new education
system to attempt to unify the nation under one common curriculum. This new education
system began with the Tun Razak Report in 1956, which proposed that every child should have
the opportunity to pursue an education, and that there should be a National Education System
in Malaysia. Additionally, they proposed that two types of public schools should be available;
a public school that utilises Malay as the medium of instruction, and one that uses either English,
Chinese or Tamil as the language for teaching. Despite that, Malay and English were to be
taught in all schools regardless of the language medium used in the teachings. From theh Razak
Report, the Education Ordinance 1957 was created. However, the Education Ordinance 1957
needed to be altered slightly due to strong protests from the non-Malay communities in
Malaysia because the Razak Report stated that the ultimate objective of the education policy
was to bring all children of all races under one education system whereby Malay, the national
language, is the main language medium of teaching. Thus, further changes were made by The
Rahman Talib Report which then formed the Education Act of 1961. This act detailed that
children in primary schools should be given the chance to continue furthering their education
to secondary schools, and that education in all national primary and secondary schools should
be free. It also notes that the age range for students to go to school should be from the age of 6
to 15 years old, however children who cannot enter secondary schools would be admitted to
vocational schools instead where they can learn skills and non-academic knowledge. Moreover,
the Education Act also now replaces the two public schools detailed in the Education Ordinance
1957 with two new types of schools: ‘national’ and ‘national type’ schools. National schools
are government funded schools, but national type schools are schools that are catered for
specific ethnic and cultural communities in Malaysia, particularly for the Chinese and Indians.
This special type of school was introduced to promote the languages and cultural values of
these communities. Lastly, the Education Act planned to streamline the education syllabus and
use Malay as the medium of instructions in national schools instead of English.
Despite these provisions, the National Education Policy is still subjected to change
whenever the government decides to make changes to cater to changing needs in the developing
world. Currently the National Education Policy focuses on teaching English as well as
Mathematics and Science as these subjects are seen as important to help Malaysia keep a
competitive edge in the region against other countries. An example of this importance practiced
by the National Education Policy is the Malaysian SMART School, which tries to make better
learning environments for students through the use off modern teaching methods and
technology to prepare the youth for the Information Age. The Information Age is a period that
began in the mid-20th century that is characterized by the rapid development of information
technology as the basis of the economy. Thus, the Malaysian education system is beginning to
shift from passive learning to more active learning methods with an emphasis on extracurricular
activities so that students will learn to form independent thought and be able to become allrounded.
The National Youth Policy was created and implemented with the aim of developing
youth power by providing social and exercise services to the national youth movement to create
a new younger generation of youth who are moral, responsible and of high moral. The Youth
Service Division and Department of Social Welfare, as well as The Ministry of Youth and
Sport was established to form and implement the National Youth Policy. This policy follows
the principles stipulated in Rukun Negara and it also works to produce youths with unity and
voluntary spirits of high morals and levels of knowledge who have matured leadership traits to
encourage the development of a youth generation who have a healthy conscious attitude and a
desire to participate in the country’s national planning process.
Lastly, the National Cultural Policy was implemented with the objective of fostering
national integration in Malaysia by conducting joint research to restore, preserve and develop
national culture, by expanding on developments, education, connections, and culture in the
country, and to fortify cultural leadership amongst the population by providing individuals who
are interested in this proper training and guidance. The policy includes principles that are based
on the culture of the indigenous people in Malaysia, whilst incorporating elements of other
cultures that may be suitable for the aims of this policy. However, one main principle is that
the National Cultural Policy will have Islam as an important element of the national culture in
Malaysia.
Hence, the three national development programmes introduced in Malaysia work to
further Malaysia’s development as a country through education, morals and culture with the
adoption of government programmes to support and foster a positive change and development
for the country.
8.
MALAYSIA AND THE WORLD – Discuss the objectives of Malaysia’s foreign
policy.
Malaysia’s foreign policies were introduced to focus on maintaining peace and
harmony through both regional and international affairs. These foreign policies work to achieve
this by working together with other countries in political, economic and social activities whilst
resolving any misunderstandings or disputes through discussions and consultations. Malaysia’s
foreign policies are the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the United Nations (UN), the Commonwealth, and the World Bank.
The objective of ASEAN is to aid in improving cooperative ties amongst its member
nations; Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia,
Indonesia and the Philippines, in terms of economic, social, cultural, education, technological
and administrative matters. This is maintained by having discussions and consultations with a
member nation if there is a serious ongoing conflict that can destabilise and threaten the
security of the Southeast Asian region since it is not a military alliance. As a result of ASEAN
not being a military alliance, it will not be involved in the internal affairs or politics of any of
its member nations unless it is to settle serious conflicts.
Next, the objective of OIC is to ensure that its member countries develop good
economic, social, and political cooperation with each other. Additionally, it aims to establish
and strengthen good relations with other Islamic countries. To do so, several OIC countries
worked together to build the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Malaysia,
which resulted in the Malaysian government offering Islamic students in Islamic countries such
as Bosnia, Albania, Nigeria scholarships to study at IIUM. Additionally, the OIC set up The
Islamic Development Bank, at which it was its patron, who worked to help poor Islamic
countries through economic assistance. Moreover, Malaysia worked to achieve these objectives
by displaying serious commitment to the Bosnia-Herzegovina issue in 1995 by hosting a
meeting involving the OIC.
The UN’s main objectives are to preserve and maintain world peace and security, to
encourage nations in the world to have social, economic and cultural cooperation, and to protect
the basic rights of people regardless of their culture, race and religion. This is done through
many peace-keeping missions as well as actively advocating for the rights of the Palestinians,
even having organised and held an international conference regarding the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian territories. Moreover, Malaysia was briefly a non-permanent member of the UN
Security Council in the years 1965 and 1989.
The Commonwealth is an organisation comprising of Britain and its former colonies
with the objectives of maintaining world peace, promote representative democracy and
individual liberty, the pursuit of equality, combat poverty, and to promote free trade. The
objectives Malaysia had by being in the Commonwealth is firstly the British-Malayan Defense
treaty signed in 1957, which entailed that the British would defend Malaya and Singapore if an
enemy were to attack the two countries. However, when the treaty was abolished in 1968, it
was replaced by the Five-Power Defence Treaty that was signed by five countries: Malaysia,
Britain, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. This treaty detailed that the five signing
countries are to ‘immediately’ consult each other in the event of an armed attack on any of the
five countries to decide on what measures need to be taken jointly or separately in response to
the attack. Additionally, Malaysia was also involved in the Colombo Plan; a cooperative
venture that involved the economic and social advancement of the people of South and
Southeast Asia, which aimed for poorer and less developed Commonwealth countries to
receive training and technical aid from more developed Commonwealth countries. For example,
many Malaysian teachers and nurses benefited from the Colombo Plan in the 1960s and 1970s
as they were sent to Australia and the United Kingdom to receive training. In line with
education, the Commonwealth also has an education scholarship fund, which Malaysian
students have greatly benefited from to obtain opportunities to study abroad in other
Commonwealth countries. In addition to that, Malaysia had hosted the Commonwealth Heads
of Government Meeting where the Kuala Lumpur Declaration and the Langkawi Declaration
were passed. The Kuala Lumpur Declaration helped member countries end South Africa’s
Apartheid Policy, which institutionalised racial segregation, and the Langkawi Declaration
focused on combating against environmental issues.
Lastly, Malaysia is also a part of The World Bank, which has the main objective of
providing financing, advice, and research to help developing nations in their economic
advancements. They also attempt to combat poverty in middle to low-income countries by
offering developmental assistance.
Thus, Malaysia’s foreign policies had the objectives of maintaining peace and harmony
whilst defending and providing rights to both Malaysians and people in need through its various
policies and declarations.