Independence Of Malaysia Essay

INDEPENDENCE OF MALAYA

Malaysia is a country located in Southeast Asia. Every 31st of August, Malaysians celebrate their independence day. Prior to achieving its independence, Malaysia had had been under foreign rule for 446 years (1511-1957), first by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, followed by the British, and finally the Japanese. Colonialists’ attempt to control the economy and politics of the country, the imposition of taxes, violation of local customs and practices, arrogance and compulsion gave the local citizen reasons to rise up against the foreign masters.

Basically, the struggle for independence in the country can be divided into two phases: the struggle with bloodshed and the struggle through negotiation. The struggle with bloodshed occurred when the people were under the colonialists. By the 20th century, the citizens were already exposed to outside struggles for independence and many people had received formal education, so the struggle became a struggle for nationalism. Associations and the mass media were used as channels for expressing woes and dissatisfaction to stir up the spirit of nationalism and exert pressure on the British to improve the lives of the people. It was not easy though. A great effort was needed in achieving the freedom from foreign rulers. Being a great country, must have been through a great process. Hence, this essay would simply talk about Malaysian’s history prior to being a well-known country.

It began by the domination of Hindu and Buddhist cultures from India in the early history of Malaysia. As a result of these two influences, there were number of kingdoms existed in the Malay archipelagos after 1 AD such as Kedah, Langkasuka, Srivijaya, and Majapahit. A few decades later, Islam was ...

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...m the local officials. The local population was reluctant to pay taxes to the foreigners whom they protested had no right to receive any payment of taxes. In conclusion, it was such a long and difficult way to go through. All the fighters did not give up though. They tried to maintain what they believe as theirs. As the Independence Day being always celebrated every year, for a section of the society, in particular the younger generation, independence is taken as something that has always existed. They fail to appreciate the meaning of independence. There are many among them who are ignorant of the struggle of the leaders who risked their lives to defend the sovereignty of the motherland. It is better to appreciate what we are granted with. Our ancestors not only fought for this country, but they also fought for us, so we will not experience the colonization era.