Evening star., 1946-08-18
Malaga Holds
Greater Role
In Lower Asia

S1NGAPORE.-Brita may be pull
ing out Of such vital empire links as
India and Egypt, but here in Southeast
Asia she is unifying her holdings and
| forging streamlined administration
for government and defense that en-
phasizes the new Importance of Malaga
in British colonial holding.
This is the evidence
l. The centralization of government
in Malaga into two units under one
governor general. Previously there were
three types of administrations with
Various degrees of responsibility to Lon
don.
2. The application of direct British
government to new crown colonies of
Sarawak and British North Borneo, To-
Gated on the back doorstep of the tur-
bulent Netherlands East Indies and
heretofore controlled only indirectly by
Britain.
3. The assignment as governor gen
eral of one of the colonial Offices out
standing younger men, Malcolm Mac
Donald, former high commissioner for
Canada.
a. Location in the area for the first
time of special commissioner and for
eign Office adviser, Lord Killearn,
former minister to Peking and envoy to
Egypt.
5. Creation of an area governors con-
| ference, an area defense council and an
area political committee-all designed
to centralize British policy and action.
Defense Cooperation.
The position of Malaga in the en-
pire chain is emphasized directly by the
announcement that, when desirable,
their cooperation on the defense coun-
Gil OF Australia and New Zealand will
be sought.
The British aim Immediately to pro-
vide for this Far Eastern area a CEN
tralized government which can meet
complicated economic problems with a
single policy and which, in the event of
future international conflict, won't re-
peat the mistakes of 1941.
The policy is just developing Event
ually, it emissions official British re-
tirement from the area. When that
time comes, the British hope to leave
behind stable governments
The local populations are of four
groups-primarily agricultural Malays,
aggressive and commercially minded
Chinese, Indians-chiefly laboring men,
and, in Borneo, the same combination
plus the primitive Dyaks.
The British believe that to give any
large measure of independence now
would hand the country to the Chinese
and result, they think, In violent out
breaks by Malays.
Bad feeling already is present. There
have been armed clashes between Ma
lays and Chinese in the Malay PENN
sula. Several hundred Chinese were
massacred by Indonesians in Tan
gerang, Java. Much Malay resentment
against the British proposed constitu-
tlon Tor Malaga can be traced to the
of1er OF citizenship to all permanent
residents of the Peninsula, including
the Chinese.
The new generation of British CO.
lonlal knows that he cannot continue
to shelter the Malays and Dyaks
through artificial restrictions, and that
some day they must compete with the
Chinese. He hopes to maintain peace
while, through education, he raises the
living standard ana efficiency OF the
Malays, Indians and Dyaks.
At the same time the governing Brit
isher realizes that the place of the
Chinese in the local community de-
mands for them share in the govern
ment
If the British fail to weld these ma
tionalisms into a peaceful. cooperating
community, one of two things may hap
pen when the European governors
eventually pull out
The Chinese may take over complete
ly, and the area become a dependency
OF the Marking republic, provided the
latter is strong government.
The Malays, aided and inspired by
their militant Indonesian cousins to the
south, might bring Malaga, Sarawak
and North Borneo into an Indonesian
federation.
Distributed BY the Associated Press
/