A new evaluation of the history of the Malayan Communist Party. By 1946, the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) had become one of the most successful communist parties in Asia. From its foundation in 1930, it had built up a membership in the thousands, mainly among Chinese and Indian workers in Malaya. When the Japanese arrived, the MCP organized the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), the only effective resistance force. After the War, when the British returned, the Party launched a legal campaign for independence, but by 1948, the MCP had surrendered its achievements and taken many members underground to launch a disastrous, failed insurrection against the British. To understand these momentous turns of history, a fresh view is required of the Malayan Communist Party as a political actor. The Politics of the Malayan Communist Party from 1930 to 1948 gives a political history of the Party and explains why the MCP self-destructed in 1948. In particular, David Lockwood questions assumptions that post-war politics led inevitably to armed struggle and questions the accepted narrative of Party Chairman Lai Tek's treachery. This is a revisionist history of a period, and political force, that has left a lasting mark on the politics of Malaya and Singapore.
David Lockwood is associate professor and a visiting research fellow in history at the University of Adelaide.
List Of Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One: Communism, The Colonies And Malaya In 1930 Chapter Two: The Malayan Communist Party: 1930 To 1934 Chapter Three: Building A Mass Workers' Movement: 1934 To 1941 Chapter Four: The People's Front Chapter Five: The Japanese Occupation Chapter Six: The First Debate Chapter Seven: Back To The Workers Chapter Eight: The British Strike Back Chapter Nine: The Second Debate Chapter Ten: The Decision Chapter Eleven: The Campaign Against Lai Teck Chapter Twelve: Disaster Appendix Bibliography Index
"Meticulously researched and lucidly argued, Lockwood's study of the Malayan Communist Party through its crucial years identifies the party's unique position in Malaya and its many successes. The forensic examination of the political career of the MCP's controversial leader Lai Teck is a model of dispassionate historical analysis." - Peter Monteath, Flinders University "This represents a completely new approach to the history of the Malayan Communist Party, focusing on Lai Teck and his leadership. It is a dialectical approach that gives us much to ponder." - CC Chin, editor of Interviews with Chin Peng
