Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), also known as the Malay Nationalist Party, was founded on 17 October 1945 in Ipoh, Perak. The party was the first Malay political party formed after the

Japanese occupation of Malaya The then British colony of Malaya was gradually occupied by the Japanese between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 16 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allies in 1945. The ...

. The main goal of the PKMM was to achieve full independence for Malaya and to oppose any form of British colonial rule. The five principles adopted by the PKMM were a belief in God, nationalism, sovereignty of the people, universal brotherhood and social justice. These principles mirrored the Pancasila of Indonesian nationalism and many of the PKMM activists were influenced by nationalist developments in Indonesia and sought for the unification of Indonesian and Malay nationalist struggles in an Indonesia Raya. In response to British proposals for a

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...

, PKMM, as a member of PUTERA, formed an alliance with other predominantly non-Malay political groups organized under the All-Malayan Council of Joint Action, forming the AMCJA-PUTERA coalition. Together they formulated the ''People's Constitutional Proposals'', calling for a common citizenship and democratic governance, which was rejected by the British. With the establishment of the Federation of Malaya and the British crackdown on parties of the Malay Left and the communists of the MCP, PKMM disbanded though many of its members would go on to play important roles in Malayan politics.

History

Emergence

PKMM was established on 17 October 1945 at its inaugural meeting from 16–17 October 1945. Apart from states representatives, present also was a representative from Pattani, Tengku Mahmood Mahyiddeen and a royal representative of the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Hishammuddin Abdul Aziz Alam Shah who contributed $50,000. The central committee consisted of: *

Mokhtaruddin Lasso Mokhtaruddin Lasso (1915–1951) was a Sumatran-born Malayan independent guerrilla, a former anti-Japanese rebel during World War II who later became one of the founders of Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM – Malay Nationalist Party). Life Mo ...

- General Leader * Dr Burhanuddin Al-Helmy - First Vice Chief * Baharuddin Tahir@Taharuddin - Second Vice Chair * Dahari Ali - Secretary * Zulkifli Auni - Vice Secretary *

Ahmad Boestamam Ahmad Boestamam (30 November 1920 – 19 January 1983), or Abdullah Sani, was a Malaysian freedom fighter, politician and was the founding president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and Parti Marhaen Malaysia. Ahmad Boestamam was born in Setapak, Ampang ...

- Youth Chief * Katijah Ali - Women's Affairs Chief * Arshad Ashaari - Treasurer * Salleh - Religious Chief PKMM's inaugural conference ran from 30 November 1945 to 4 December 1945 and featured a wide variety of activists from diverse backgrounds including communists, royalists, nationalists, Islamic preachers, socialists, students and proponents of Malay culture and customs. The congress agreed that PKMM would be guided by the following goals: * To unite the Malay race while planting the spirit of nationalism in the minds and hearts of the Malays so as to unite Malaya with the larger family of the Indonesia Raya. * To advocate freedom in speech, movement, thought and education. * To reinvigorate the economic status of the Malay race by promoting entrepreneurship and agriculture so as to enhance the Malay quality of life. * To obtain freedom in cultivating crops. Cultivators should be freed from land taxes and be permitted to sell their harvests in any market. * To demand that the Malays be provided with national schools where they could study any subjects for free. * To demand freedom to publish books and teach democracy in order to uplift the state of Malay politics and encourage national among Malays. * The PKMM would work together in harmony with other races in the country to create a Malayan United Front to achieve independence and prosperity for Malaya as part of the Republic of Indonesia Raya. * To support the Indonesians in their movement to gain independence. Mokhtaruddin Lasso's decision to leave Malaya for Indonesia in 1946 saw Burhanuddin Al-Helmy assume the position of party leader. The new leadership was organised as follows: * Burhanuddin Al-Helmy - General Leader *

Ishak Haji Muhammad Ishak Haji Muhammad (14 November 1909 – 7 November 1991), better known as Pak Sako, was a Malaysian writer, active in the 1930s until the 1950s. He was a nationalist and his involvement began before independence and continued thereafter. He fo ...

(Pak Sako) - Vice Chief * Zulkifli Auni - Secretary * M. Maza - Vice Secretary * Baharuddin Tahir@Taharuddin - Treasurer * Ahmad Boestamam - Youth Chief * Shamsuddin Salleh - Social Activities As of 1947 the party recorded 53,380 members with its strongholds in Perak and Pahang. {, class="wikitable mw-collapsible" !State !Total Number of Members !Level of Activism , - , Perak , 13350 , High , - , Pahang , 7100 , High , - , Terengganu , 5560 , High , - , Malacca , 4970 , High , - , Selangor , 4950 , High , - , Penang , 3600 , High , - , Kelantan , 3080 , Moderate , - , Singapore , 2740 , High , - , Negeri Sembilan , 2620 , Moderate , - , Seberang Perai , 1640 , Moderate , - , Johor , 1530 , Low , - , Perlis , 920 , Low Tensions between Burhanuddin Al-Helmy and youth leader Ahmad Boestamam, who advocated radical actions to challenge colonial rule led to establishment of separate women's and youth wings. Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (API) formed the radical youth wing of the party led by Ahmad Boestamam whilst Angkatan Wanita Segar (AWAS) formed the women's wing of the party led by Shamisah Fakeh.

Aftermath

With the British declaration of

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

in 1948 and a crackdown on parties of the Malay Left and the MCP the ability of the PKMM to operate was much reduced. API was the first organisation to be banned and nationalist leaders such as Ahmad Boestamam, Ishak Haji Muhammad, Katijah Sidek and Burhanuddin Al-Helmy were imprisoned. In the aftermath PKMM activism splintered. Some retired from political activity altogether, others sought to generate political change from within UMNO itself, with former KMM and PKMM member Mustapha Hussein losing to

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...

by one vote in the contest for the Chairmanship of UMNO. Others such as Shamsiah Fakeh, Wahi Anuwar and Musa Ahmad fled to the jungles and allied themselves with the community guerilla war against the British. Whilst others would go onto found or lead other nationalist, socialist or Islamist political parties. Thus upon their release Ahmad Boestamam would found the Parti Rakyat whilst Ishak Haji Muhammad would found the Labour Party, both would later go on to found the

Parti Marhaen Malaysia Parti Marhaen Malaysia (PMM) was a former left-wing party formed by Ahmad Boestamam. History The party were formed by Ahmad Boestamam on 20 July 1968, 8 hours before he left Malaysia for London to pursue legal studies for two and a half years. ...

, whilst Burhanuddin Al-Helmy would go onto lead the

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...

from 1956 to his death in 1969.

References

Sources

* Amoroso, Donna (2014) ''Traditionalism and the Ascendancy of the Malay Ruling Class in Colonial Malaya'', Petaling Jaya: SIRD * Ariffin Omar (2015) ''Bangsa Melayu: Malay Concepts of Democracy and Community 1945-1950'', Second Edition, Petaling Jaya: SIRD * Mustapha Hussain (2004) ''Malay Nationalism before UMNO: The Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain'', Singapore: NUS Press * Noor, Farish (2015) ''The Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 1951-2013: Islamism in a Mottled Nation'', Petaling Jaya: SIRD * Shamsiah Fakeh (2009) ''The Memoirs of Shamsiah Fakeh: From AWAS to 10th Regiment'', Petaling Jaya: SIRD Political parties established in 1945 Federation of Malaya Political parties by country and ideology 1945 establishments in British Malaya Defunct political parties in Malaysia 1948 disestablishments in British Malaya

History

Emergence

Aftermath

See also

References

Sources