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Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Bibliography -- Part 1. Selected Documents [Introduction] -- Malayan Bulletin of Political Intelligence -- 1. MBPI, May 1922, "Bolshevism -- 2. MBPI, August 1922, "Bolshevism -- 3. MBPI, October 1922, (a) "Malaya in 1922" and (b) "Bolshevism -- 4. MBPI, November 1922, "Communist Emissaries for the East -- 5. MBPI, December 1922, "Communist Doctrines in Malaya-Chinese -- 6. MBPI, December, 1925, "Strikes in Malaya -- 7. MBPI, February 1926, "N.E.I. Communists in Singapore -- 8. MBPI, April 1926, "Boedisoejitro in Singapore -- 9. MBPI, October 1926, "Tan Malaka on Communism in Malaya, 1925 -- 10. MBPI, February 1927, "Arrest and Release of Alimin and Moeso -- Documents from Other Intelligence Sources -- 11. "Subversive Activities of Tan Malaka." Extract from Despatch of U.S. Consul in Singapore to the State Department, dated September 1, 1927 -- 12. "A Report showing the Connection between Chinese and Non-Chinese Concerned in Communist Activities in Malaya." (1 April 1930) -- 13. "Communist Organizations in Southeast Asia." Despatch from U.S. Consul in Singapore to the State Department, 5 May 1930 -- 14. "Close Liason Between Straits Settlements and Netherlands East Indies Against Communism." Extract from Sir Cecil Clementi, Governor, Straits Settlements Report of his visit to Batavia, 5 September 1930 -- 15. Governor's Letter on Deporting Joseph Ducroux, 30 November, 1931 -- 16. Note on Joseph Ducroux, alias SERGE LEFRANC, prepared by the Director of Criminal Intelligence, Straits Settlements, 30 November 1931 -- 17. Joseph Ducroux arrested by French Authorities. Extract from Malay Command Intelligence Note of 15th January, 1933 -- 18. "MCP and Labor Unrest." Statement of Director, C.I.B., Kuala Lumpur, undated [probably April 1937] -- 19. Letter from an American Comintern Agent

Colonial discourse analysis has proven one of the most fruitful and significant areas of research in recent years. This paper considers the orientalist discourse and its context in the case of pre-colonial Malaya. It discusses the concept of "feudalism" as employed by historians of western Europe, by those of precolonial Malaya and, thirdly, by selected post-colonial writers. In discussing the works of Clifford, Maxwell and other nineteenth-century British officials on Malay feudalism, the author argues that the truth value of their analyses should not be dismissed out of hand, for they have much of value to say, that would repay careful study.

The French Annales historians have made the study of popular mentalites into a fascinating and important field of historical research. This approach has yet to gain ground in Southeast Asian historical studies, especially in Malaysian history, with respect to the thinking of subject classes. If we take the Malay traditional ruling class and the Malay peasantry in Melaka and other states from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, we know very little about the ideological hegemony which the former exercised over the latter, or what the thinking of the dominated class was like. One problem, of course, has been the lack of sources, but such a problem has not deterred the Annales historians from making their attempt.

The Japanese occupation (1941–45) in Malaya enabled the predominantly Chinese Malayan Communist Party (MCP) to increase its political influence during and after the war. As it was the only effective political organization actively engaged in anti-Japanese insurgency, it attracted widespread support among the Chinese who suffered greatly from the hostility of the Japanese. The MCP succeeded, therefore, in establishing a strong politico-military resistance movement led by the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MFAJA), in the midst of the Chinese community. There was, however, considerably less support for the MCP from the Malay and Indian communities because their cooperation with the Japanese was clearly better and greater than that of the Chinese. None the less, because of its sizeable guerrilla forces operating during the Japanese occupation, the MCP thus became a major political force in post-war Malaya.

Following Japan's announcement of unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers on 14 August 1945, almost three crucial weeks elapsed in Malaya before the landing of the British Royal Marines at Penang on 3 September. A day before the Marines landed, Vice-Admiral Walker had arrived off Penang aboard H.M.S. Nelson, and received the surrender of the local Japanese commanders. What happened in Malaya during the Interregnum still awaits a comprehensive study. The Interregnum is an important period in Malaya's social and political history which saw, on the one hand, the dramatic and cataclysmic collapse of the Japanese order and, on the other, the eruption of local political and social forces which were involved in a relentless and deadly struggle for power. True, there was no social revolution, as in Indonesia. What took place were conflicts along mainly communal rather than class lines. No class conflicts took place among the Malays, as in Sumatra between the traditional and religious groups, or among the Chinese and Indians. The social structures of the various communities in Malaya emerged relatively intact throughout the Interregnum and in the period thereafter. But there were bloody racial clashes, between Malays and Chinese. There were also bloody political feuds amongst the Chinese themselves. But, on the whole, the Malay-Chinese conflicts had far more serious repercussions on Malaya's post-war society and political development.