ABSTRACT
Indian society in Malaya prior to the Second World War was very heterogeneous. Most linguistic and religious groups in India were represented and Indians in Malaya originated from many regions of the subcontinent, although working-class Tamils constituted a substantial majority. Indian society was also differentiated by caste and class, and the educated were divided between the English-educated and those educated in vernacular languages. Views on the political situation in India prior to the war varied considerably and were closely related to differing conceptions of ethnic identity. This chapter explore the ways in which the Japanese occupation of Malaya during the Second World War altered the experience of race for Malaya’s Indian population. It also examines how the identity narratives that were emerging among Indians in British Malaya prior to 1941 were altered and set on new trajectories by the occupation.
