The Literature of Independence

Summary

The 1960s signalled the beginning of a totally new phase in the history of the country. Malaya gained its independence on 31 August 1957, and as a result the 1960s were characterized by a complex interplay of the political, social and economic forces brought into being by the circumstances of an immediate post-independence era. Inevitably, the complexity of events during these years made themselves felt in certain significant ways in the literary development of the period.

The 1960s were generally referred to as zaman mengisi kemerdekaan or an era in which to give substance to (the meaning of) independence. In line with this aspiration, the administrative sector undertook to accelerate what was known as the process of Malayanization. Prior to independence in 1955, a committee was set up to look into this process, and it recommended that for every five officers recruited into the Malayan Civil Service (MCS), four should be Malays. Between 1957 and 1962, the number of British officers in the MCS decreased from 220 to 26, while that of Malays increased from 128 to 219. By 1968, the number of these Malay officers had reached 709. The 1960s were thus to witness the emergence of these MCS officers as a distinct Malay group. Alongside the MCS officers, there also grew a group which came about as a result of the adoption of parliamentary democracy, namely the parliamentarians and councillors (Wakil Rakyat). Together with the MCS officers, they drew attention to the phenomenon of Malay leadership as a whole. To be sure, this question was evident in earlier years, but it became more pertinent in the context of independent Malaya where the leadership of the country was now solely in the hands of the indigenous population. Within Malay society in particular, the Wakil Rakyat and the MCS officers, especially the latter with their pervasive presence in all ministries and the various statutory bodies, were seen as the body with the authority and power to shape the fortunes of the Malays.