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Massacre in Malaya: Exposing Britain's My Lai
The first book to draw upon new files from the British National Archives, it also features interviews with veterans from both sides of the conflict to expose the truth behind the Batang Kali massacre The Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) was the longest war fought by British and Commonwealth forces in the 20th century. Today this "war without a name" is largely forgotten, though it had a powerful and secret influence on American strategy in Vietnam. Drawing upon recently released files from the British National Archives, this history will unfold a compelling narrative based on eyewitness accounts from both government forces and Communist fighters, and will expose the truth about the notorious massacre of Chinese villagers at Batang Kali. Furthermore, it will show that British tactics in Malaya were more ruthless than historians have so far conceded. Like the conflict in colonial Kenya against the Mau-Mau, British tactics in Malaya involved massive resettlement programs, ethnic cleansing, indiscriminate aerial bombing, and the brutal exploitation of aboriginal forces.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionWar
432 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 7, 2018
As a Chinese Malaysian, I am really grateful for this book as it brings to light our experiences during pre-independence times. Such a great read, wonderfully detailed and provides an exciting and focused account.
September 4, 2016
If I had to name this book's major flaws I would say it is the following three:
1) I do not think that the title is fitting. This talk about exposing "Britain's My Lai" (a reference to the infamous slaughter in Vietnam) would suggest that the book is about one particular place and time but in fact this is more about the general development of Malaysia, how the history of colonialism and the world wars had shaped it. Interesting for sure, but a misleading title nonetheless.
2) At about 64 % of the book it sadly became a tad boring in places.
3) This book unfortunately fell into the "the last 100 pages are really boring" trap.
However, apart from this, this was quite an interesting book and I learned some things about a place in the world that is not often featured. In fact my most recent point of contact with Malaysia at the time was the cheesy Malaysian produced film "Vikingdom" and that one did not even feature Malaysia but some weird patchwork of all sorts of Northern and Western European cultures and places.
But speaking of films, this here once again let me ask why on earth we get one dumb Hollywood movie after the other about exactly the same things, people and history, when they could have made movies about this time and place. We get tons of stuff about the American gold rush but the Malaysian tin rush leading to mass migration, constant squabbles between Muslim rulers and Chinese (as well as mixed) secret societies is practically unknown. Instead we get dumb movies like Last Samurai, 47 Rhonin or a movie about the Great Wall being built to keep out monsters and where Matt Damon is the lead, for some reason.
Movies about how when the American and British armies defeated the Japanese in 1945 they inaugurated another violent chapter in Southeast Asian history as Asian nationalists fought to eject their former, now decrepit, colonial masters, who had staged a comeback in the atomic shockwave of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been far better, not only because these wars were fought not only against the Europeans but with other Asians too. Also I would really like to read more about the point this book was making: That the idea of racial difference is still a driving force of state governance in modern Malaya, that Malayans today remain obsessed with different races and racial difference and that race is integral to the Malayan constitution.
Also if this book is correct "Indonesia" is another country that is rather new despite claims to the contrary. You see, prior to the end of the nineteenth century there was no Indonesia and no 'Indonesians'. The term was manufactured and in 1850 a protoversion "Indu-nesians" was coined by an English traveler and ethnographer called George Samuel Windsor Earl who was casting around for a way to refer to the brown races of the Indian Archipelago.
Of course things like this aren't the only topics featured here that are totally underrepresented in modern day pop-culture, another would be that both Japanese and German intellectuals came to the same conclusions that to be able to compete with the current colonial powers of the time they would need to acquire an empire. Plus I have to read why Japan was inspired by the German Empire of all since usually people tried and still try today to emulate the English speaking world.
Also, and I shit you not, the term "Yellow-peril" existed in Malaysia as well, but referring exclusively to Chinese. Interesting how terms can mean different things in different contexts.
And just like the author doesn't shy away from showing what results both the Japanese and German advances had for South East Asia (both had proven that the colonial powers were not reliable or unbeatable), neither does the book treat the Americans as heroes straight away (like how McArthur was supposed to hurry so a repetition of Soviet success in Eastern Europe would be avoided at all costs in the Far East). In fact reading this made me question why I constantly see documentaries about Hitler but next to nothing about the Pacific War in Southeast Asia, in fact not even about British Malaya and Dutch Indonesia. Both cases of colonial expansion often seem to be downplayed if not downright romanticized or repressed, despite the fact that e.g. post-war colonial policy was driven not only by the patrician liberalism of the 'Malayan Planning Unit' but the near bankrupt British government's desperate need to exploit Malaya's resources. The colonial government was determined to crush any kind of subversion, plot or strike that threatened the profits of Malaya's mines and plantations." Plus, you really have to ask yourself why British forces in Malaya took more than a decade to quash a guerilla army that had no outside support whatsoever - and that the 'defeated' communists were capable of renewing their assault a few years after the victory was celebrated. Of course there was more about British role in the "Malayan Emergency", like how subterfuge was integral to British counter-insurgency since they could not afford to appear weak, but nor must its hands be too bloody. Blood spilt had to be cleaned up: the inheritance of Britain's small wars is disavowal and cover-up. And things that had to be covered up were among other things concentration camps in Malaya.
But enough of that, since all the information of the book would be no use when the writing would not be able to carry them. And I think the book is for the most part pretty good and they author knows how to capture your attention with passages like this:
Centuries of foreign rule had been abruptly brought to an end. The Japanese military earthquake shattered the colonial landscape. Old ties and bonds had been ripped asunder. The cartographic palimpsest of the Malay world would be redrawn once again. What would emerge from its ruins was - at the time - anyone's guess.
Sure, my criticism from the start of the review stands and some parts of this book are kind of a drag to get through, but I would say this overview of Malaysian history from the colonial days onwards up to the last British intervention makes the book worthwhile.
1) I do not think that the title is fitting. This talk about exposing "Britain's My Lai" (a reference to the infamous slaughter in Vietnam) would suggest that the book is about one particular place and time but in fact this is more about the general development of Malaysia, how the history of colonialism and the world wars had shaped it. Interesting for sure, but a misleading title nonetheless.
2) At about 64 % of the book it sadly became a tad boring in places.
3) This book unfortunately fell into the "the last 100 pages are really boring" trap.
However, apart from this, this was quite an interesting book and I learned some things about a place in the world that is not often featured. In fact my most recent point of contact with Malaysia at the time was the cheesy Malaysian produced film "Vikingdom" and that one did not even feature Malaysia but some weird patchwork of all sorts of Northern and Western European cultures and places.
But speaking of films, this here once again let me ask why on earth we get one dumb Hollywood movie after the other about exactly the same things, people and history, when they could have made movies about this time and place. We get tons of stuff about the American gold rush but the Malaysian tin rush leading to mass migration, constant squabbles between Muslim rulers and Chinese (as well as mixed) secret societies is practically unknown. Instead we get dumb movies like Last Samurai, 47 Rhonin or a movie about the Great Wall being built to keep out monsters and where Matt Damon is the lead, for some reason.
Movies about how when the American and British armies defeated the Japanese in 1945 they inaugurated another violent chapter in Southeast Asian history as Asian nationalists fought to eject their former, now decrepit, colonial masters, who had staged a comeback in the atomic shockwave of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been far better, not only because these wars were fought not only against the Europeans but with other Asians too. Also I would really like to read more about the point this book was making: That the idea of racial difference is still a driving force of state governance in modern Malaya, that Malayans today remain obsessed with different races and racial difference and that race is integral to the Malayan constitution.
Also if this book is correct "Indonesia" is another country that is rather new despite claims to the contrary. You see, prior to the end of the nineteenth century there was no Indonesia and no 'Indonesians'. The term was manufactured and in 1850 a protoversion "Indu-nesians" was coined by an English traveler and ethnographer called George Samuel Windsor Earl who was casting around for a way to refer to the brown races of the Indian Archipelago.
Of course things like this aren't the only topics featured here that are totally underrepresented in modern day pop-culture, another would be that both Japanese and German intellectuals came to the same conclusions that to be able to compete with the current colonial powers of the time they would need to acquire an empire. Plus I have to read why Japan was inspired by the German Empire of all since usually people tried and still try today to emulate the English speaking world.
Also, and I shit you not, the term "Yellow-peril" existed in Malaysia as well, but referring exclusively to Chinese. Interesting how terms can mean different things in different contexts.
And just like the author doesn't shy away from showing what results both the Japanese and German advances had for South East Asia (both had proven that the colonial powers were not reliable or unbeatable), neither does the book treat the Americans as heroes straight away (like how McArthur was supposed to hurry so a repetition of Soviet success in Eastern Europe would be avoided at all costs in the Far East). In fact reading this made me question why I constantly see documentaries about Hitler but next to nothing about the Pacific War in Southeast Asia, in fact not even about British Malaya and Dutch Indonesia. Both cases of colonial expansion often seem to be downplayed if not downright romanticized or repressed, despite the fact that e.g. post-war colonial policy was driven not only by the patrician liberalism of the 'Malayan Planning Unit' but the near bankrupt British government's desperate need to exploit Malaya's resources. The colonial government was determined to crush any kind of subversion, plot or strike that threatened the profits of Malaya's mines and plantations." Plus, you really have to ask yourself why British forces in Malaya took more than a decade to quash a guerilla army that had no outside support whatsoever - and that the 'defeated' communists were capable of renewing their assault a few years after the victory was celebrated. Of course there was more about British role in the "Malayan Emergency", like how subterfuge was integral to British counter-insurgency since they could not afford to appear weak, but nor must its hands be too bloody. Blood spilt had to be cleaned up: the inheritance of Britain's small wars is disavowal and cover-up. And things that had to be covered up were among other things concentration camps in Malaya.
But enough of that, since all the information of the book would be no use when the writing would not be able to carry them. And I think the book is for the most part pretty good and they author knows how to capture your attention with passages like this:
Centuries of foreign rule had been abruptly brought to an end. The Japanese military earthquake shattered the colonial landscape. Old ties and bonds had been ripped asunder. The cartographic palimpsest of the Malay world would be redrawn once again. What would emerge from its ruins was - at the time - anyone's guess.
Sure, my criticism from the start of the review stands and some parts of this book are kind of a drag to get through, but I would say this overview of Malaysian history from the colonial days onwards up to the last British intervention makes the book worthwhile.
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August 3, 2016Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews