ABSTRACT
Postcolonial nations seldom use the memory of colonial armies as part of their nationbuilding efforts. Generally, newly independent countries seek to promote the recent memory of anti-colonial armies that fought for independence or relive the glories of precolonial forces. Indonesia, for example, glorifies not only its revolutionary forces that fought against the Dutch, but also the armies from its precolonial Majapahit kingdom.1 The colonial armies established by the Dutch with local recruits are largely ignored. However, the memory of some colonial armies, far from being cast aside as relics of the colonial period, is invested with nationalism so that they are used by postcolonial governments to encourage their youth to follow in the footsteps of ‘warriors’ who exhibited discipline and martial prowess. The Malay Regiment is one such colonial army. It has been actively employed as a part of nation-building in the postcolonial nation-states of Malaysia and Singapore. This chapter investigates shifts in the memories that led to the Malay Regiment attaining a higher prominence in nation-building in Malaysia and Singapore than these countries’ anti-colonial armies.
