Colonial rule in the country began in 1511 when the Portuguese captured Malacca, then a leading port of call for ships, traders and travelers in the region. The Portuguese, however, lost Malacca to the Dutch in 164I. In 1795, Malacca was handed over to the English to prevent it from falling to the French when the Netherlands was captured during the French Revolution. It was returned to the Dutch in 1818 under the Treaty of Vienna but was later exchanged by the British for Bencoolen, Sumatra.
From 1826 onwards, Malacca, together with Singapore and Penang, was ruled by the English India Company (EIC) in Calcutta, under the Straits Settlement Administration. The country came under Japanese Occupation during the Second World War. The end of the war brought the return of the British to continue its colonial rule of the country.
The 400 years of colonial rule, which brought the arrival of thousands of immigrants of various races, cultures and religions, had transformed the character of the land. It also exerted tremendous social, cultural and emotional pressure on the Malays. Aggravating the problem was the well-known policy of “divide and rule” employed by the British. This was further compounded by the disunity among the Malays as they were fragmented according to their respective States, social and educational background. This served only to facilitate British control over the country and the population. Racial disunity made the struggle for independence an arduous task for the local population.
It was during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya that the spirit of nationalism and anti-colonial sentiments began to surface among the Malays. This spurred them to oppose a British plan to establish the “Malayan Union”. This “uprising” was indeed a spontaneous reaction by the Malays to foil, without bloodshed, the plan mooted by the British. It began with 41 Malay organisations, representing a diversity of interests, convening a congress at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kuala Lumpur.
It was at this congress that the formation of the “Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu” which later came to be known as UMNO, was first mooted. UMNO was officially formed on 11th May 1946 at the lstana Besar in Johor Bahru. With the late Dato’ Onn Jaafar at the helm, UMNO began its struggle to defend the rights of the Malays and the well being of the country as well as to restore the rights and the powers of the Malay Sultans. To achieve this objective while at the same time preserving racial unity, UMNO initiated a cooperation plan with the Chinese community, who had in 1949 formed the Malayan Chinese Association or more commonly known as the MCA.
This cooperation led to an UMNO MCA pact in the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Election in 1952.This “smart partnership” was later expanded to include the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC),which represented the interests of the Indian community, during the country’s first general election in 1955.This tripartite coalition, known as the Alliance or “Perikatan” laid the foundation for a strong multiracial cooperation under the leadership of Tunku Abdul Rahman. This political formula of cooperation among the various races was well received when the “Alliance” won 5 1 of the 52 seats in the 1955 election.
An Alliance-led government was formed with Tunku Abdul Rahman as the Chief Minister. Seeing strong evidence of racial unity, the British finally had to submit to demands of independence for the country. In talks held in London,the British colonial government agreed to 31st August 1957 as the date for independence for Malaya.
The “Alliance” formula of cooperation among the various communities became the foundation for the establishment of a united Malayan race and nation. Unity and love for the country was clearly evident when Islam was accepted as the religion of the state and the Malay language as the national language. Also accepted were the special rights of the Malays and the position of the Malay Rulers. Other races, however, were not denied their rights and these were spelt out in the Federal Constitution.
To provide substance and meaning to independence, the Alliance Government worked immediately to formulate and implement policies aimed at developing the country with priority accorded to poverty eradication programs. Thus, the First Malaya Development Plan was launched.
With the British out of the country, new threats, however has emerged. The threat came from the outlawed Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and the “Malaya Proposal” which purportedly was aimed at freeing Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Another threat came from ‘over-politicking’ following the birth of new political parties based either on race, religion or regional interests. This was a direct result of the freedom of association as enshrined in the country’s National Constitution.
In 1963, Malaysia was formed with the entry of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak into the Federation. Unhappy with the expansion of Malaya into a larger national entity, Indonesia’s President Sukarno launched the “lndonesian Confrontation of Malaysia”. Singapore, however, did not remain long in the Federation as it was expelled in 1966.
The protracted Communist threat, the lndonesian Confrontation and the over politicking by political parties led to political instability and racial disunity, which culminated in the outbreak of racial riots on May 13, 1969.
Learning from the mistakes of May 13 1969, leaders of the country joined hands with those of similar aspirations to ensure that the nation would, henceforth, enjoy political stability, which would lead to a united, peaceful and prosperous nation. Soon, the New Economic Policy (NEP), an affirmative action programme was introduced, aimed at achieving these aspirations through a fairer distribution of national wealth among communities in the country. Also introduced was the five national tenets known as the Rukunegara.
To ensure political stability and wider political support for the NEP, the then Perikatan or Alliance Government embarked on the construction of a broader political coalition. TheAlliance in 1970 had a commanding majority of 93 seats in Parliament to the 5 1 held by the Opposition which also controlled the state of Penang through the Malaysian People’s Movement Party (GERAKAN) and Kelantan through the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS). Leading this initiative was the Iate Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein, the second Prime Minister, who succeeded in getting political parties in Sabah and Sarawak to join the Alliance which at that time consisted of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malaysian ChineseAssociation (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) to come together to form a “greater Alliance” so to speak.
In 1972, the Alliance enjoyed a further boost when GERAKAN leader, Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu, agreed to be a part of it. And, hardly two months later, the People Progressive Party (PPP) headed by its president, Dato’ S.P. Seenivasagam, who enjoyed strong support in the lpoh area, joined the Alliance.
Undoubtedly, the entry of the GERAKAN and the PPP helped to considerably strengthen the Alliances support base of the Government, particularly among the non-Malays. However, the process of getting PAS into the Alliance proved to be an assiduous task. It took several meetings between Tun Abdul Razak and PAS leader, Dato’ MohamedAsri Muda, before an agreement was reached. It was only in December 1972 that PAS, at its annual general assembly, decided to accept the concept of coalition.
Thus, the Alliance gave way to a new and wider coalition, initially and tentatively called the National Front or Barisan Nasional based on the concept of “Justice For All”. The “dacing” or the traditional beam scale, symbolizing justice, aptly replaced the “sailing boat” symbol of the Alliance. It was officially registered as a political party on June I, 1974.
Barisan Nasional, the name of the coalition, was quickly accepted by all and by the time the national election was held on August 24, 1976.The “dacing” was accepted as the symbol as the way to the future through compromise and accommodation. The enlarged coalition proved to be well received by the people throughout the nation as evidenced by the fact that on Nomination Day, the Barisan Nasional won uncontested 47 Parliamentary seats.
When the first results were announced, the Barisan Nasional had garnered 135 seats, reducing the Opposition to 19 members in the 154 seats in the Lower House of Parliament o r the Dewan Rakyat. This pattern was repeated in all elections since then despite PAS’S expulsion in 1977. The Barisan Nasional was returned with more than the required two thirds majorities in the Dewan Rakyat in 1982, 1986 and 1990. In 1995, it swept more than four-fifths of the seats. In November 1999 General Election, despite strong contest from the Opposition, the Barisan Nasional won 148 of the 193 seats in Parliament, thus retaining its two –thirds majority.
With the strong mandate from the people,the Barisan Nasional-led Government under the leadership of the Iate Tun Abdul Razak and his successor Tun Hussein Onn was able to focus its efforts on nation-building and national development.
These efforts at nation-building and development took on a new dimension under the leadership of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who introduced a blue print to make the country a respected member in the world’s community of nations.The blue print known as “Vision 2020″ aims at making Malaysia a developed nation by the year 2020.
As a political party, the Barisan Nasional is unique as it is actually a “party of political parties” and has no direct individual membership. Its component members have now grown to 13 political parties representing all the different races, cultures and religions in the country. All the parties subscribe to one common principle i.e.”Justice for All” and they work under a common symbol that depicts “Justice.”
By being members of Barisan Nasional, all the component parties accept the reality of a multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-cultural society and for that the nation to flourish, there must be moderation and interracial harmony founded upon justice, democracy and mutual consultation. Also to be noted is the fact that the 13 component parties have a combined membership of some 5 million – making it the largest in the country.
This is indeed the Barisan Nasional’s “winning formula” that has brought recognition for Malaysia as being the only country in the world that has been successful in preserving ethnic harmony and unity. The recognition and the successes achieved thus far have further strengthened the Barisan Nasional’s commitment to ensure the continued prosperity of the nation as enshrined in its Charter.
The Opposition parties on the other hand had always worked together through a number of political platforms such as Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU), Gagasan Rakyat and Barisan Alternatif to unseat the Barisan Nasional. However, they have always been rejected by the people because of the Barisan Nasional proven record in being fair and just to all the communities in the country.
