ABSTRACT
The making of Malaysia was an important landmark in the postwar history of Southeast Asia. It marked, in a single stroke, the end of the formal British Empire in Southeast Asia (excepting Brunei). Yet, at the same time, the very formation of a "Greater Malaysia" provided for the establishment of a sizeable Commonwealth bastion centrally positioned in Southeast Asia. This chapter suggests that while the idea of Greater Malaysia did not necessarily constitute an attempt at imposing British neocolonialism in Southeast Asia, the formation of a "Dominion of Southeast Asia" had long been a British desire. Far from being a carefully laid out plan for decolonizing in Southeast Asia, the "Grand Design" remained very much an idea that lurked in secret files until events on the ground, namely political developments in Singapore, intervened. The plan sprang to life in the late 1950s, and thereafter, the British were able to dovetail their objectives with developments in Malaya and Singapore.
