ABSTRACT
In the Pangkor Agreement, the Sultan would have to receive a British Resident who would take charge of all affairs of state, and whose advice would be asked for and acted upon in all matters except those touching on Malay religion and customs. The Pangkor Agreement and British rule also encouraged further trade links between the Malay States and the Straits Settlements. The authors turn now to understand the organisation that played a huge part in shaping British colonial policy in Malaya in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Colonial Office. Birch proposed that Perak fall under the direct jurisdiction of London which would effectively emasculate and nullify the role of Sultan Abdullah, the Malay ruler who signed the Pangkor Agreement. British officers unfamiliarity with Malaya was also not helped by the ambiguous nature of the Pangkor Agreement; an agreement that reflects inherent tussle between effecting Britishde facto rule and maintaining Malay de jure power.
