ABSTRACT
Japanese Imperial forces occupied Sarawak from mid-December 1941 to September 1945. During this period, the local population faced shortages of various necessities, but on the whole experienced fewer difficulties than people in neighbouring countries. Policies towards the indigenous peoples were favourable, and the Japanese allowed Malays and Ibans a greater degree of autonomous authority and official status than would have been possible before the war. They regarded the Chinese with greater suspicion, but this community, too, suffered less than Chinese populations in many other parts of the region. This chapter outlines Japanese policies relating to the peoples of Sarawak, and evaluates their consequences. In general it concludes that the Occupation had little direct impact on Sarawak's indigenous communities, but produced strains in inter-ethnic relations that carried over into the state's post-war politics.
