ABSTRACT
Professor A. J. Stockwell is an acknowledged expert on Malaya during the British rule. As for Malaya, its prosperity, strategic position and political quiescence convinced the British that they would remain in control for the indefinite future. The Second World War set Malayan policy upon a new course. During their exile from Malaya the British devised the Malayan Union which abandoned the old principles of the sovereignty of the Malay rulers, the autonomy of the Malay states and the special position of the Malay people. The major issue of Britain's declining world power was not a matter for government decision; it was a trend to which wise men adjusted. By the late 1940s decolonization had entered the official mind of British Imperialism. When the Malayan Union was drafted in 1943-45 great play was made with progressive ideas but it was then believed that Malayan independence was safely distant.
