Editing Perak (section)

=== Post-war and independence ===
{{main|Malayan Union|Federation of Malaya}}
[[File:The British Reoccupation of Malaya SE6126.jpg|thumb|left|Suspected communist collaborators, believed involved in murders of civilians in Kuala Kangsar, under guard during an operation by the [[53rd Indian Brigade]] ([[25th Infantry Division (India)|25th Indian Division]]), {{circa|1945}}]]

The Malay states became unstable following Japan's surrender to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in 1945. This was exacerbated by the emergence of nationalism and a popular demand for independence as the [[British Military Administration (Malaya)|British Military Administration]] took over from 1945 to 1946 to maintain peace and order, before the British began introducing new administrative systems under the [[Malayan Union]].<ref name="Perak brief history" /> The four Malay states held by Thailand during the war were returned to the British. This was done under a proposal by the [[United States]], offering Thailand admission to the [[United Nations]] (UN) and a substantial American aid package to support its economy after the war.<ref>{{cite book|author=Likhit Dhiravegin|title=Siam and Colonialism, 1855-1909: An Analysis of Diplomatic Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5lGAAAAMAAJ&q=malay+states+return+to+british+american+economic+aid+thai|year=1974|publisher=Thai Watana Panich}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Thak Chaloemtiarana|title=Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6f0CMvP203wC&pg=PA20|year=2007|publisher=SEAP Publications|isbn=978-0-87727-742-2|pages=20–}}</ref> The MPAJA, under the [[Communist Party of Malaya]] (CPM), had fought alongside the British against the Japanese, and most of its members received awards at the end of the war. However, party policy become radicalised under the authority of Perak-born [[Chin Peng]], who took over the CPM administration after former leader [[Lai Teck]] disappeared with party funds.<ref name="Kantowicz2000">{{cite book|author=Edward R. Kantowicz|title=Coming Apart, Coming Together|url=https://archive.org/details/comingapartcomin0000kant|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4456-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/comingapartcomin0000kant/page/111 111]–}}</ref>

[[File:Outdoor portrait of Lee Min, leader of the communist Kepayang Gang in the Ipoh district in 1951 (AWM 4281801).JPG|thumb|180px|Notorious [[Malayan National Liberation Army|MLNA]] leader [[Lee Meng]] in [[Kinta District|Ipoh District]] during the [[Malayan Emergency]], {{circa|1951}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/2018/04/09/hunting-down-the-malayan-mata-hari/|title=Hunting Down the Malayan Mata Hari|author=Ronnie Tan|publisher=National Library Board, Singapore|date=9 April 2018|access-date=2 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504010100/http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/2018/04/09/hunting-down-the-malayan-mata-hari/|archive-date=4 May 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

Under Chin's authority, the MPAJA killed those they considered to have been Japanese collaborators during the war, who were mainly Malays. This sparked [[ethnic conflict|racial conflict]] and Malay retaliation. Death squads were also dispatched by the CPM to murder European plantation owners in Perak, and [[Kuomintang]] leaders in [[Johor]]. The Malayan government's subsequent declaration of a [[state of emergency]] on 18 June 1948 marked the start of the [[Malayan Emergency]].<ref name="Kantowicz2000"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkib.gov.my/en/web/guest/darurat-angkara-komunis|title=Emergency Brought by Communist|publisher=National Archives of Malaysia|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101021336/http://www.arkib.gov.my/en/web/guest/darurat-angkara-komunis|archive-date=1 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Perak and Johor became the main strongholds of the communist movement, the former through native-born figureheads like [[Abdullah CD]] and [[Rashid Maidin]].<ref name=radhub>{{cite news |author=Khoo Kay Kim |author-link=Khoo Kay Kim|title=Perak once hub of radical Malay activities |department=It's History |work=[[New Straits Times]] |date=28 March 2000 |page=12}}</ref> In the early stages their actions were not co-ordinated, and the security forces were able to counter them.<ref name="Malayan Communist Insurgency">{{cite journal|title=The Malayan Communist Insurgency|author=M. Ladd Thomas|journal=Asian Affairs: An American Review|year=1977|volume=4|issue=5|pages=306–316|jstor=30171520|doi=10.1080/00927678.1977.10554134}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Guan Heng Tan|title=100 Inspiring Rafflesians, 1823-2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elthDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA2|year=2008|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-277-892-5|pages=2–}}</ref> Earlier in 1947, the head of the Perak's [[Criminal investigation department#Malaysia|Criminal Investigation Department]], H. J. Barnard, negotiated an arrangement with the Kuomintang-influenced OCAJA leader [[Leong Yew Koh]]. This resulted in most OCAJA members being absorbed into the national Special Constabulary, and fighting against the MPAJA's successor, the [[Malayan Races Liberation Army|Malayan National Liberation Army]] (MNLA).<ref name="Kratoska2018"/>

[[File:Sir Gerald Templer and his assistant, Major Lord Wynford inspecting the members of Kinta Valley Home Guard in Perak.jpg|thumb|left|Sir [[Gerald Templer]] and his assistant, Major Lord Wynford, inspecting the Kinta Valley Home Guard (KVHG), Perak, {{circa|1952}}]]

The [[Kinta Valley]], one of the richest tin mining areas in Malaya, accounted for most of the country's tin exports to the United States. On 1 May 1952, the Perak Chinese Tin Mining Association established the Kinta Valley Home Guard (KVHG) to protect it from the communists. Often described as a private Chinese Army, most of the KVHG's Chinese members had links to the Kuomintang.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Malayan Emergency: General Templer and the Kinta Valley Home Guard, 1952—1954|author=Leon Comber|journal=Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|year=2012|volume=85|issue=1|pages=45–62|jstor=24894129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/templer-and-the-road-to-malayan-independence/general-sir-gerald-templer-the-mca-and-the-kinta-valley-home-guard-195254/093E3BA59735E07DFA0519006BC74A3B|title=General Sir Gerald Templer, the MCA, and the Kinta Valley Home Guard (1952–54). In Templer and the Road to Malayan Independence: The Man and His Time|author=Leon Comber|chapter=General Sir Gerald Templer, the MCA, and the Kinta Valley Home Guard (1952–54)|publisher=[[ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute]]|year=2014|volume=85|issue=1|pages=118–138|isbn=9789814620116}}</ref> Many of the Kuomintang guerrillas were absorbed from the Lenggong area, where there were also members of Chinese secret societies whose main purpose was to defend Chinese private property against the communists.<ref name="KhooLubis2005"/> Throughout the first emergency the British authorities and their Malayan collaborators fought against the communists. This continued even after the proclamation of the independence of the [[Federation of Malaya]], on 31 August 1957. As a result, most of the communist guerrillas were successfully pushed across the northern border into Thailand.<ref name="Malayan Communist Insurgency"/> Other [[Far-left politics|radical left]] nationalist movements started in Perak like those under [[Ahmad Boestamam]] and [[Burhanuddin al-Helmy]]; but were eventually overwhelmed by the [[United Malays National Organisation]]'s local mobilisation in the same decade.<ref name=radhub/>