Decolonisation, corruption and post-colonial politics in the Royal Malaysian Navy, 1946–1976.

The Royal Malayan Navy (RMN) was created after the Second World War as Britain sought to secure its regional strategic and economic interests through naval and political federation. By guiding the transition towards independence through political concessions to maintain Malaya's integrity, it was hoped imperial influence could be preserved through transferring pro-British colonial institutions such as the RMN. Thus, while Malaya was declared independent on 31 August 1957, the country's navy depended upon British officers, equipment and ships for more than a decade, with UK firms continuing to profit from procurement. A culture of corruption, which developed during the war, flourished from the new opportunities post-colonial political patronage offered individuals involved in the supply and maintenance of the RMN. The ruling party also furthered their nationalist interests by imposing Malay quotas, language and religion upon the service, side-lining British-trained, non-Malay personnel whose allegiance might lie elsewhere. Decolonisation therefore created a vacuum within Malaysia's post-colonial navy which competing imperial, corporate, personal, and nationalist opportunists looked to fill. Adopting a transnational analysis combining original and existing oral histories and archival sources from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the UK, with conceptual writing on imperial transition, corruption and patronage, this article presents new insights into the issues created by Malaysia's decolonisation and post-colonial naval development. It widens debates on neo-colonialism and its consequences for British hegemony; how decolonisation created new opportunities for individual, political and economic advancement through the navy; and the impact of Malaysian affirmative action and ‘Islamisation’ policies upon non-Malay naval personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]