ABSTRACT
Malaya was granted independence in 1957 in a transfer of power that evidenced very little friction between the departing British governors and the incoming Malayan elites. Several important historical factors have helped shape civil-military relations in Malaysia and have contributed to the subordination of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) to civilian authority. First, the numerical growth of the MAF has been gradual and slow. Second, the army has been, until very recently, a non-conventional force. Since the military is directly identified with the legitimacy of the exercise of state authority, the government proclaims and reiterates that it is policy that the military be a “national”, not ethnic, force, and that the skewed composition is due to historic and economic reasons. For Malaysian civil-military relations, there is little on the international scene to provide any complications. In conclusion, there are hypothetical situations where one could imagine that in the future a disgruntled Malay army group might attempt to seize power.
