| Abstract |
To create one Malayan entity, the Federation of Malaya, founded in 1948, attempted to adopt the English/Malay languages as the main instruction media. It also tried to persuade the Chinese schools to change the instruction medium from Chinese into English. Based on the Razak Report in 1956, the Education Minister announced that the public examinations would be conducted in English and the over-aged students would be expelled from schools. Many Malayan Chinese believed that the new education policy would “destroy” the Chinese tradition and culture. The students launched a series of strikes against the policy during the late 1950s. The government alleged that the students were instigated by communist infiltration. On the other hands, many Chinese community leaders praised these students as the defenders of the Chinese language and culture. It is the intention of this paper to reexamine these student activities in order to present a more convincing and acceptable historical interpretation of the student activities during this period. |
