Managing End of Empire: the post-war Malayan Civil Service.

This thesis asks what influence active and retired members of the Malayan Civil Service were able to exert over the post-war Malayan Union and Federation of Malaya, the path to independence, and the subsequent way in which the record of their contribution was shaped.

The Malayan Civil Service (MCS) was the British Colonial Administrative Service in Malaya. Pre-war, its members exercised both an administrative and a political control within the Federated Malay States. Retired members of the MCS, termed here the ‘ex-MCS’, considered their past service a justification for continued influence on British policy. After the British surrender to the Japanese in 1942, 90% of the MCS were imprisoned. Some of those still at liberty were recruited to the War Office, to prepare for a British return. At war’s end, 90 of the MCS officers held captive returned to service in Malaya and predominated amongst the senior cadre of MCS roles. Post-war recruits filled an expanding number of junior MCS roles.

In a post-war history of the MCS published in 1983, its contribution was depicted as the completion of a ‘stewardship’. The history was drawn largely from the memoirs of MCS officers. The roles of many of the actors in post-war Malaya, (political, military, police and intelligence), have been reconsidered in recent works. Such works, however, have not focused on the MCS. The post-war history of the MCS is now revisited in this thesis with the aid of primary sources not available or not used in 1983. On the nature and functioning of colonial administration, the major contribution made by Kirk-Greene some 20 years ago focused on African examples and has not been subsequently developed. Missing detail on Malaya’s post-war colonial administration is now provided, seeking to refresh academic interest in the history of colonial administration. Recent works have studied the impact of memoirs in shaping public perceptions of history. Insight is now provided on how ex-MCS officers sought to use their memoirs to achieve a similar impact.

Three primary sources are interrogated; the official record, contemporary writing (in newspapers, journals, and personal letters), and personal memoirs written subsequent to events. The official record has been studied in both the UK and the Malaysian National Archives. Contemporary writing and correspondence has been studied at 13 libraries and other holdings in the UK and South-East Asia. 80 post-war MCS memoirs have been located as published works, personal papers, and interview transcripts. Secondary sources studied in the UK and South-East Asia have largely comprised published books and articles.

Several factors are identified which made the MCS a less influential force in post-war Malaya compared to its pre-war dominance. Senior MCS officers were increasingly marginalised in discussions on policy. This was partly a deliberate decision taken by political leaders concerned at MCS officers openly expressing their doubts on the efficacy of the British policy to foster a plural democracy in Malaya. It also resulted from the provisions of the Federation of Malaya’s constitution, introduced in 1948, which empowered State roles filled by Malayans. Additionally, there were concerns that the physical and mental health of previously interned MCS officers remained weakened by their experiences. Although morale and focus improved under Templer, MCS officers were further excluded from leadership roles as Malayans took over the domestic leadership of the Federal Government in anticipation of independence. At the junior level, the MCS lacked the numbers and Chinese language skills to meet the administrative demands of the Emergency. Resort was increasingly made to officers from other Services. Ex-MCS officers were seen by British officialdom as unhelpful meddlers. Those who remained in the public eye adopted increasingly extreme positions.

Within this overall picture, there are three notable exceptions. Ex-MCS public protests and behind-the-scenes assistance influenced official actions taken to extricate the British Government from its commitment to the Malayan Union. The work of junior MCS officers towards the creation and development of new villages, and in the chairing of District War Committees, was important to the defeat of communist insurgency. These officers focused more on enhancing the mechanisms of control than on winning hearts and minds. Lastly, the 1983 publication of the post-war MCS history made an enduring impact on the historiography of colonial Malaya, through a depiction of British exceptionalism in managing end of empire in South-East Asia.