Editing Malayan Union (section)

==Formation of the Malayan Union==
Prior to [[World War II]], British Malaya consisted of three groups of polities: the [[protectorate]] of the [[Federated Malay States]], five protected [[Unfederated Malay States]] and the [[crown colony]] of the [[Straits Settlements]].

On 1 April 1946, the Malayan Union officially came into existence with [[Edward Gent|Sir Edward Gent]] as its governor, combining the Federated Malay States, Unfederated Malay States and the Straits Settlements of [[Penang]] and [[Malacca]] under one administration. The capital of the Union was [[Kuala Lumpur]]. The former Straits Settlement of [[Colony of Singapore|Singapore]] was administered as a separate crown colony.

The idea of the Union was first expressed by the British in October 1945 (plans had been presented to the War Cabinet as early as May 1944)<ref>CAB 66/50 'Policy in Regard to Malaya and Borneo'</ref> in the aftermath of the [[Second World War]] by the [[British Military Administration (Malaya)|British Military Administration]]. [[Harold MacMichael|Sir Harold MacMichael]] was assigned the task of gathering the Malay state rulers' approval for the Malayan Union in the same month. In a short period of time, he managed to obtain all the Malay rulers' approval. The reasons for their agreement, despite the loss of political power that it entailed for the Malay rulers, has been much debated; the consensus appears to be that the main reasons were that as the Malay rulers were resident during the Japanese occupation, they were open to the accusation of collaboration, and that they were threatened with [[dethronement]].<ref name="omar-1">Ariffin Omar, ''Bangsa Melayu: Malay Concepts of Democracy and Community, 1945–1950'' (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 46. Cited in Ken'ichi Goto, ''Tensions of Empire: Japan and Southeast Asia in the Colonial and Postcolonial World'' (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2003), p. 222</ref> Hence the approval was given, though it was with utmost reluctance.

When it was unveiled, the Malayan Union gave equal rights to people who wished to apply for citizenship. It was automatically granted to people who were born in any state in British Malaya or Singapore and were living there before 15 February 1942, born outside British Malaya or the Straits Settlements only if their fathers were citizens of the Malayan Union and those who reached 18 years old and who had lived in British Malaya or Singapore "10 out of 15 years before 15 February 1942". The group of people eligible for application of citizenship had to live in Singapore or British Malaya "for 5 out of 8 years preceding the application", had to be of good character, understand and speak the English or [[Malay language]] and "had to take an oath of allegiance to the Malayan Union". However, the citizenship proposal was never actually implemented. Due to opposition to the citizenship proposal, it was postponed then modified, which made it harder for many Chinese and Indian residents to obtain Malayan citizenship.<ref>Carnell, Malayan Citizenship Legislation, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 1952</ref>

The [[Sultans]], the traditional rulers of the Malay states, conceded all their powers to the [[British Crown]] except in religious matters. The Malayan Union was placed under the jurisdiction of a British Governor, signalling the formal inauguration of British colonial rule in the Malay peninsula. Moreover, while the State Councils were still kept functioning in the former Federated Malay States, they lost the limited autonomy that they enjoyed, left to administer only some less important local aspects of government, and became an extended hand of the Federal government in [[Kuala Lumpur]]. Also, British Residents replacing the Sultans as the head of the State Councils meant that the political status of the Sultans was greatly reduced.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1855:road-to-independence-1-birth-of-umno-and-malayan-union&catid=184:british-colony |author=Lee Kam Hing |title=Road to Independence (1): Birth of Umno and Malayan Union |access-date=2017-03-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511122620/http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1855:road-to-independence-1-birth-of-umno-and-malayan-union&catid=184:british-colony |archive-date=11 May 2013 |publisher=CPI }}</ref>

A Supreme Court was established in 1946 of which Harold Curwen Willan was the only [[Chief Justice]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Generations: The Story of Batu Gajah|first=Tak|last= Ming Ho|page= 165}}</ref>