 Lasting peace built on justice and understanding among nations. This is the objective of the United Nations. This is another program in the United Nations series of the Pacific story. One of the five special series presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations to further world unity and world peace through understanding. The Pacific and the lands it touches have been the scene of struggle, conflict for gain and power, people against people, western nations seeking to dominate and exploit the people, and the millions caught in the political and economic crosscurrents. Today with most of the world's population concentrated around and in the Pacific, the events of the Pacific are a vital world concern. The Pacific story dedicates this series to the objective of the United Nations. Lasting peace built on justice and understanding among nations. Prince in Malaya. How's everything back in the States? Pulling together as he were, pressure blocks, everybody for himself. I'd say things are confused. Well, you've been in Malaya a while and you'll understand what confusion really means. Well, look, if I'm going to work here, I ought to know what's cooking. Suppose you'll break me, huh? Malaya's rich, fabulously rich. You know I came here before the war, engineer for a rubber company. Well, the night I arrived, I saw a funny thing. An old playboy sulked in his fingers loaded with diamonds. He was right here in this nightclub having a high old time for himself, and in walks a British official. Your Highness, if you please, it's time to go home. I am entertaining my friends. Do not bother me. But you know, Highness, you must leave any cafe in Singapore by 10 o'clock. It's your own good, you know. I am not going. Carry on, Sergeant. Pick him up, man, let him take it. He's our designer. Let me go. This is outrageous. Carry him. You're from me. Do not forget us. Do it here. Rod, I thought the Labour government had changed that can of British policy. I understand Britain is trying to unravel our colonial empire. You're right. But so far as Malaya is concerned, these efforts have only resulted in a worst angle. The nine sultans, all autocrats, are denouncing the British for imperialism. The pot calling the kettle black? Maybe. Anyway, Britain's been working on a scheme for Melee Federation. It's an effort to explore the possibility of Malayan self-government. And last October, Sir Harold MacMichael, an ardent Tory, by the way, came out to sell the idea to the sultans. But the sultans had their own ideas. This is an ultimatum. If I refuse to sign this instrument of surrender, written with a point of successor who will sign, the sultan of Kedah is right. It is an ultimatum. The same kind they used to hand me. If I didn't go home at 10 o'clock, they carried me out for my own good. This strips us of everything, except our authority as master religious leaders. I am going to London to protest in person. I'm inclined to agree with the sultans. They were here before the British, weren't they? Yeah, but remember, before the British came, the sultans had the power of life and death. If a sultan didn't like the way you tied your tie, for instance, your head rolled on the grass. But, God, didn't the Atlantic Charter guarantee every country the right to choose its rulers? Why don't the British get out and let the Meleys sit up with Democratic government of their own? That sounds easy, but it isn't. There are plenty of native Meleys who think democracy would be the worst thing that could happen to them. I don't get that at all. Well, to begin with, there are roughly 2 million Meleys in the peninsula. There are more than 2 million Chinese, what we call the overseas Chinese. Ambitious people who left home to get rich. Reminds me of the European immigrants who came to America. Yes, exactly. And like them, the overseas Chinese send a lot of money back home. But eventually we assimilate our immigrants. How long have the Chinese been here? A long time. And they're not assimilated yet. The Chinese are shrewd traders. The easygoing Meleys are no match for them. Some of your produce is over-ripe. We expected you 2 days ago, Honorable Lee. $6 for the pile. $6? Would it work for the whole village? We'll not take it. The next trader will give us a better offer. No other trader will come to your village. This is my territory. I have a monopoly. Monopoly? I don't understand. Never mind. The price is $6. Or do you prefer to let you produce a rot? We'll take it. All right. Get it unloaded. The Meleys have a saying, the Chinese don't care who holds the cow as long as they milk her. See where they got that, all right. And the proverb has become truer as time went on. Prosperity increased under British protection. Roads were built, cities swelled in population, but the political situation got more involved. It all ends up to 10 separate governments in a country the size of Florida. Beginning to understand what you mean by confusion. Oh, but wait. On top of this, something else happened to mess things up worse than ever in Melea, the automobile. The world on wheels and the wheels needed tires, rubber tires. Melea had the rubber. It didn't have the labor. You see, the Meleys are peasant proprietors and the majority don't take well to the industrialization of hiring out on the rubber plantations. Dirt farmers, old-fashioned dirt farmers. Obviously, they couldn't supply the labor for this new industry, created almost overnight, designed to supply a world market. So, Britain imported thousands of Tamil Coolies from India and injected them into the already scrambled population. More Chinese came in to work the tin mines, which had been opened up as another source of wealth for the white man. Then, thousands of English-speaking Indonesians and Chinese clerks were hurried from the straight settlements into the jungles of the interior to handle the paperwork. The bewildered Meleys watched from the sidelines. See, this path gets harder every day. Look, look, an open space as wide as the river. It is a road, old. The white man has cut another road through the jungle. You're right, Pashay. Come, we'll take the road and travel faster. Look out! Look out for the trucks! Pashay, did you see those strange-looking men? Going like flying demons. Who are they, old? Four of us. A whole army of them. The Chinese are foreigners, too, but these men are different. I know. The white men are bringing them here to work on the big rubber plantation. If the white men have to bring foreigners to our country, there should be work for us, too. I am going to see. I don't like that kind of work. My farm is good enough for me. Then I will go alone. I wish to learn from the white men. What do you want here? Look, who are you? Wrong yet. I am in charge here. Why, you speak Meleys, but you are Chinese. Well? My name is Pashay. I want to work for the white men, too. We do not need you. But the white men brought these foreigners... They are Tamils from India. All one people. There are not enough of you Meleys to count, so we do not bother with you. But will you not let me talk for the white tour? He is busy. Even the Meleys who wanted to get into the new industries, rubber, tin, construction, were denied an opportunity. Between the Meleys and the European engineer, stood a phalanx of clerks and foremen and inspectors. Chinese, Indian, Eurasian? Then in the trades, in business or industry, they must have faced Chinese boycotts. Well, I think the colonial government would have tried to remedy that situation. Well, it did try. In 1936, Britain decentralized the federated Meleys states in the interest of Malayan cooperation, appointed a federal secretary, concentrated departmental advisors at the two capitals, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Oh, it didn't work? No, it didn't work. Because now states' rights predominated. The states were becoming independent little kingdoms again. Well, at least they have native administrators. It merely strengthened the hand of the overseas Chinese. Their monopolies ignored boundaries and thrived on state rivalries. About this time, Chinese operations have become so interlocked and so racially exclusive. Their labor reservoirs so boundless that it was too late to give the natives a new deal. It's too bad the Meleys don't have more aptitude for industry and commerce. Then they might have a chance in competition with the Chinese. It isn't exactly the Meleys' fault. We've got to remember that for 2,000 years both Chinese and Indians have done their best to keep them out of commerce and industry. See those clouds? Your job is to repair them. I've just been waiting for some good mechanics. Here, here, here, what's the matter here? The men cannot work on these carts. Why not? Perhaps you do not understand. You are Hindu. What does that have to do with it? You have used these carts to haul night soil. We Meleys are Muslims. To touch them with the phylum. Then you refuse to do the job? I am sorry. We want the work. Is there not something else we could... Nothing else. I'll report that you refuse the assignment. Then when the British government was helping the Meleys fishermen to oust the middleman and retail his catch... Try up here, Ranspoon. I'll go ashore. There's the ice factory right across the street. Knees like everything else in this town. Well, we have a good day's catch. We must get these fish eyes. 50 pounds of ice. What for? Do I have to tell you what for? You do, if you get it. We have a sampa and a load of fish at the wharf. No ice. Why not? I'll pay in cash. Ice for fish goes to Wasi. Oh, I see. You and your friend who sells fish wholesale. Another Chinese family party. And when British officials tried to force Meleys labour on Chinese contractors in Keita... I'd say Ming. Right here. Come quick, yes, sir. I don't understand this Ming. You haven't even broken ground in your construction job. Labor trouble. Very bad. Do you have a strike? Oh, no, not strike. Meleys. No good. Won't work like China Cooley. Mm-hmm. I'll see you here, Ming. It is a government job you accepted the contract. You know it stipulated one-third Meleys labour. Yes, too bad. China Cooley won't work with Meleys. Very well. You win can find it. Now, the government has authorized me to boost the contract price 10%. Now, get at it, will you? They're way behind schedule. I'm sorry. The Chinese will not work with Meleys. There is always trouble. Meleys fight the Chinese. Will you tell the government? I'll tell them. Oh, the Lord only knows where this land comes from. Yes, things were coming to a head. It was hard to tell where it all might end. The British were trying one scheme after another. And they might have affected some sort of compromise among the different racial groups. But the Japanese Empire decided it was ready to take over the leadership of Asia from the white man. The British fleet at Pearl Harbor destroyed British battleships, reports on the Prince of Wales, sunk with British fortress of Singapore taken. The little brown man moved in to establish the East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. I'd say this part of Asia was right for taking. Well, the Japanese exploited the situation here all right. They played off the Meleys against the Chinese. But if there's anything that will unify diverse elements in the population, it's a foreign enemy. Yeah. Even so, that happened in America. Well, that's all that happened here. I was in a concentration camp. And in spite of Japanese propaganda against the Anglo-Americans, the underground anti-Japanese Union was formed. The guerrilla forces under its direction were known as the Anti-Japanese Army. Chinese proved good guerrilla fighters and many Meleys fought beside them. Where are you? Here, sir. They're coming. The Japanese column along the upper road. All the band on the bridge is sniping at them. Wait, sir. Wait till they reach the bridge. Ling, watch this. A wire. You have mined the bridge. With dynamite. Where did you get dynamite? My father's store. Quiet. They're closer now. Listen. You can hear them lorries along the mountain road. Look over the rocks, sir. What can you see? Two lorries. Three lorries. Four. They're on the bridge. Now. Let me look again. You're on the bridge, Ling. The column is stopped. They'll have to go back. Ling, they're swarming up the mountain. Come on, run. Ling, are you hit? My shoulder. I don't think it's bad. The blood. Here. Wrap this around it. Hold it on tight. Thank you. Come on. I know this country like my father's rice fields. I'll hide you. Behind waterfalls. This is my case. You're safe here. Now, your shoulder. It doesn't hurt very much, sir. Sir, do you think the Americans and British can beat the Japanese? Of course they can. But why don't they come? They will. They're getting ready to invade Malaya. I heard it from our new commander. The British officer, they dropped by parachute. I hope it is soon. Things will be so different then. I don't mean we'll just have more to eat and won't have to leave like wild pigs in the jungle. I know what you mean, sir. That Malaya will be a final country to live in. It will be united. Yes. Because of what we've all gone through together. Here am I, sir. Sanopashyang and Malaya Rice Proma. And I, Wong Lin. Son of Wong yet, a Chinese merchant. I would give my life if it would save you, Lin. And I would do the same for you, sir. That's what commerce is. I want to see the same thing you do. Commerce, democracy. A united people throughout Malaya. We'll work together for that. Yes, we will. The Allies were ready to invade the peninsula when Japan surrendered. And immediately the issues held in abeyance were precipitated. The unity that had developed during the war were shot to pieces. Japanese propaganda must have really left a hangover. A bad one. The ethnic pressure groups began to form ranks again. The anti-Japanese Union split up into people's political associations or self-help societies. They were mainly Chinese. Rod, tell me, which of the Chinese political factions dominates Malaya? Well, the Kuomintang is beginning to organize again in the cities. And there's a Chinese youth movement. But the radical societies are but far the most active and the loudest talkers. We are many different peoples here. Malaya is the melting pot of Asia. We can be strong and prosperous only if we unite. What about us, the Sakai? You too? Oh, no, not the Sakai. They are aborigines or negritos. Darker skin makes no difference. Malaya must unite for their common good. Unite and share as equals. Here's an old comrade of mine. His name is Sirah. We fought the Japanese together. Come forward, Sirah. Up here, old comrade. What are the people what the Liberal Party is doing for Malaya? The Liberal Party is a mask for Chinese greed. Sirah, you're wrong. There's only one cause to rally, too, today. Nationalism, run the foreigners out. Malaya for the Malay. You've changed, Sirah. Remember what we... I've had cause to change. I found out what's behind the mask you Chinese wear. You're plotting our enslavement. You're wrong, Sirah. So wrong. You're wrong? I'm wrong. You stand there lying and tell me that I'm wrong? When my own father, Passiang, had to mortgage his rice fields? I didn't know this, Sirah. Who owns the mortgage? Who indeed. Who but the gumbin man of our town. If I Chinese merchant Wang Yeth, your father. Wang Yeth shall never have my rice fields. He has pushed me too far. All my life I have slaved and gone without to eat so his kind could grow fat. If you had understood earlier, my father, if you had gone to school to the white men, you might be a match for Wang Yeth. I tried that when I was young. I wished to learn the white man's skills. I went to the big rubber plantation across the river and asked for work. The white man would not take you? I never saw the white man. A Chinese clerk ordered me off the place. His name was Wang Yeth. Tell him I'll take Passiang's farm. He will not be able to make a living. Then Passiang should not have borrowed money. He could not pay back. He should not have been compelled to borrow it. So you defy your father. You degrade the most precious heritage of our race. Respect for your parents. You make your bed with slime. Father, I didn't mean that. I am not your father. You are not longer a son of mine. Then I will no longer act like a son of yours. And the more radical elements are gaining strength in Malaya. Well, it certainly doesn't look as if the British labor government favored them in the home islands. What is it doing here? Well, here it's a different proposition. British colonial policy has been under fire for years. As you said yourself a while ago, Britain is now trying to unravel the skein of her colonial empire. I don't think she can swing her colonies by the tail anymore. At any rate, she's leaning over backward here. The policy of the British military administration in Malaya is to permit the utmost possible in free association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and non-interference for the program of any political party. You have been called together, gentlemen, as an advisory council to His Majesty's government. You, sir, what party do you represent? I am a member of the Kuomintang. I favor the same democratic policy in Malaya that Zhong Kai-shek supports in China. And a user. Zhong Kai-shek is a tool. I am for democracy too, but not the kind you are supporting in China. Next, next, user. I represent the Malay National Party. These men are quarreling over which Chinese faction is going through Malaya. What about the Malays? Between the Chinese and the Indians were far outnumbered in voting strength. Our Malay friend has stated it very well. In a mixed population, voting should be by racial groups. That system has worked in India, in Burma. No. You Chinese have combined the shoulder as our comers. Now you cheat us out of a share in the government of our own country. We Malays will never consent. What is your recommendation, then? Retain administration of the Malay state in Malay hands. You might as well be under the heel of the Japanese. Malay people's party protests against high administrative posts passing into the hands of the Chinese. The Chinese are just as loyal to Malaya as you are. I was born here. What success I gain in business, I owe to Malaya. Yes. Milking the cow while we hold her for you. Gentleman! Gentleman, will you please come to order? His Majesty's government has a plan. This is a statement issued yesterday by the Secretary of State for the colonies. Quote, we have given careful consideration to the need to promote the sense of unity which will develop Malaya's strength and capacity in due course for self-government within the British Commonwealth. Unquote. I won't get. What are you doing here? I want to hear the Secretary for the colony's listens. Our policy will call for a constitutional union of Malaya and for equal citizenship rights to those who can claim Malaya as their home. I do not want Malayan citizenship. I'm a citizen of India. I don't trust the British to look out for the Males when we are outnumbered. You're outnumbered. There are only 30,000 of us Sakais. Who's going to look out for us? The Malaya Union will consist of nine states in the Malaya Peninsula and the two British settlements of Penang and Malacca. The settlement of Singapore will be constituted as a separate colony. A separate colony? That's fine for you, Wong Yet. Singapore is 80% Chinese, but the British are retaining you Malay salkons in the peninsula. I doubt they will let the Chinese vote. You don't need to vote. You hold the money back. Out of the way! Out of the way! I'm looking for... There you are, Wong Yet. What do you want? My rights fields, Wong Yet. The fields you took... You're crazy. This Chris is sharp, Wong Yet. There's no more on this place, Buffy Mail. Oh, dear, dear, dear. None of that now. I'll take that sticker now. Break it up, everybody. Listen to this makeup-faceful lie. None must rely upon past privilege or regard Malaya simply as a source of material wealth. Her resources should be restored and developed. But it is only right that the Malayan people should be assured they're full-shared in the rewards of their industry and feel the country's wealth reflected in their standard of life. Malaya needs British guidance. Malaya for the Malays. The Chinese insist on their rights. We demand the more liberal government. Good heavens, Rod. Jealousy, distrust, confusion. What can be done about it? Well, the British have announced their intention of guiding Malaya toward the goal of self-government. The Union is only a preparation for democracy, a training course. After this, Union is achieved, will come the big problem, that of devising a democratic representative system which will work without spitting the country into a dozen hostile factions. Can this be done? The future will tell. I have been listening to the Pacific story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cross currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. May I repeat? For a reprint of this Pacific story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific story is produced and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. The principal voice was that of William Johnstone. Programs in this series of particular interests of servicemen and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company. Thank you.