Malaya

Malaya refers to a peninsula in Southeast Asia.

Malaya in Days of Infamy
Malaya was ruled by a puppet nationalist government composed of local collaborators established by the Empire of Japan. Representatives from Malaya were present during a crowning ceremony in Hawaii of King Stanley Owana Laanui after Japan conquered the Islands in 1942.

Malaya in In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Malaya was part of Japan's empire.

Malaya in Southern Victory
Malaya was a British colony on the southern tip of the peninsular of southeast Asia. The island of Singapore was located on its southern tip. A British colony until 1943, it was taken by Japan in the Second Great War.

Malaya in Worldwar
Malaya was an occupied territory of the Race's empire on Tosev 3.

The Japanese forces which had captured the territory from the British a few months previous to the Race's landings felt secure and had no reason to expect a surprise attack from space, which destroyed their main bases and left them unable to resist the invasion.

Tens of thousands of British POW's incarcerated at appalling conditions at Singapore took the opportunity to revolt and for a few days seized control of the island city, but were in no condition to resist the Race - and in any case, under the circumstances many of them regarded the new invaders as their saviours. The Race commander on the spot took the opportunity to form large-scale human units in the Race service, one of the first places on Tosev 3 where such an action was taken - for which he was commended by Fleet Lord Atvar. The units formed from Indian soldiers formerly in the British service were later sent to police India itself, where the Race's takeover encountered greater difficulties. British soldiers refusing to serve the Race were returned to the prison camps, though treated much better than under the Japanese - who were kept in a separate set of camps.

After the Peace of Cairo, British and Japanese prisoners were repatriated, after again being given the option of enlisting with the Race at good pay and conditions - which some took, knowing that their respective homelands were ravaged and had high unemployment rates. Moreover, operatives of British Intelligence induced a group of experienced British officers to enlist in the service of the Race while continuing to secretly report to London.

In the 1950's, the Race's authorities in Malaya were faced with a large-scale Communist revolt. The Communists, based mainly in the country's large Chinese community, were influenced and inspired by the effective uprising launched by their fellow Communists in mainland China itself. British officers in the service of the Race implemented the contingency plans prepared by the former British administration for such an eventuality - the basic strategy being an intensive counter-insurgency campaign and the enlisting of Malaya's majority Muslim population, less touched by Communist ideology.

By the late 1950's, there were signs of the Communist rebellion being crushed. However, at that time Arab Muslim agitators started arriving in the country with the intention of spreading the Muslim rebellion already in full swing at the Middle East. The Race authorities badly miscalculated in dealing harshly with captured agitators, hoping to nip the new threat in the bud. On the contrary, the summary execution of a fiery orator from Baghdad - who, as it turned out, was a well-known cleric highly respected among Malayan colleagues - made him into a martyr and touched off the very Muslim rebellion it was intended to avert.

Muslim and Communist rebels had little in common and would have under other circumstances fought each other, but both understood the need to cooperate, and an alliance known as "The Malaya Liberation Front" was formed, its Muslim as well as its Communist component receiving lavish clandestine support from the Soviet Union - with the Malaya Campaign getting the personal attention of Molotov (who in public denied all involvement). During the Race-German War of 1965, which absorbed much of their opponents' energy, the rebels for a time controlled most of the country - with the Race garrisons besieged and isolated - and set up an Interim Government. There followed, however, increasing differences and tensions between the Communists, strongest at predominantly Chinese Singapore, and the Muslims who made Kuala Lumpur into their stronghold, and their alliance was patched up with considerable difficulty by Soviet agents.

With the defeat of Germany, the Race could free up fresh forces and relieve its beleaguered forces in Malaya. By 1968, they were back in control of the country's main cities, and the rebels driven once again underground - though by no means crushed.