Name : Nguyễn Lê Minh Thủy

Student ID : 19131133

CHAPTER 4: FROM COLONIES TO COUNTRIES ( Cont )

I. Summary

Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore and Malaysia share a history of British colonization and are close in geographic
proximity—Singapore is connected to the mainland by a short causeway . Malaysia was
considered an economic treasure chest, with rich stores of rubber, tin, and many other
valuable resources.
Singapore housed an important British naval base that was built in 1923 with the partial
intent of providing a regional counterforce to Japan.
During the 1950s, the British took steps to increase Singapore’s autonomy and self-rule.
Full independence was not granted until 1965, after a failed two-year experiment that
included having Singapore in the Federation of Malaysia. With the Federation being
unsalvageable, Lee Kuan Yew helped lead Singapore to independence. He also served as
the country’s first prime minister. He stepped down as prime minister in 1990, but the
country has continued to prosper.
Malaysian nationalism increased greatly after World War II because the British were no
longer viewed as invincible. Tunku Abdul Rahman helped lead the colony forward in its
resistance to the British, and independence was realized in 1957. He was the first prime
minister in the Federation of Malaya (1957–1963) and of Malaysia (1963–1970). In the
early 1960s, he tried to create a federation with Singapore that failed in 1965. This effort
had threatened Indonesia’s regional quest for lands under Sukarno and resulted in raids on
Sarawak and Sabah, both of which wanted to join Malaysia. This, along with other factors,
helped convince the Federation partners that the union with Singapore was untenable.
Malaysia moved forward significantly in the economic realm under Prime Minister
Mahathir bin Mohammed, who served from 1981 to 2003. His vision and actions helped
transform Malaysia from a natural resource provider to a provider of world-class
technology.
The Philippines

The impetus for Philippine independence was the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was
passed by the United States Congress in 1934. Under the terms of this act, the Philippines
was to receive its independence a decade later. Japanese occupation of the islands during
World War II delayed this transition until 1946, when the country became self-governing.
The United States had a strong strategic interest in the Pacific region because of the rising
Communist tide in Indochina and other areas of Southeast Asia . However, a number of
incidents in the late 1960s, related to Marcos’ support of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and
the stationing of U.S. troops in the Philippines, started turning Filipino attitudes against the
U.S. presence. By 1991, all American bases in the Philippines had been closed. Democratic
rule prevailed in the Philippines until the arrival of Ferdinand Marcos, who was elected
president in 1965.
In 1969, he became the first Filipino president reelected to the office. Political opponents,
including Benigno Aquino, and journalists were arrested and jailed as martial rule
continued from 1972 to 1981.Benigno Aquino likely would have been elected president in
1972 if elections had taken place. Instead, he was locked up for seven years, until he was
allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment in 1980 People Power forced
Marcos to resign from office in 1986, andAquino’s wife, Corazon, took office as the
seventh president of the Philippines. Democratic elections have been conducted in
the country since her election.
Burma and Thailand
Burma was a major stage for fighting during World War IIThe Burmese people supported
the British during the war.They had been promised independence prior to the war with the
establishment of the protectorate. Thus, Burma became independent soon after the war in
1948. A parliamentary government ruled until 1962, when the military under the leadership
of General Ne Win staged a coup. The general threw out the democratically elected leaders
and established a one-party socialist state. Finally, in 1988, massive public demonstrations
forced Ne Win to resign from office. Life under Ne Win’s regime had been horrible.. In the
elections, Aung San Suu Kyi won an overwhelming victory. Instead of taking office, she
and other party leaders were promptly placed under house arrest by the military
regime.Thailand traveled a course unlike any other country in Southeast Asia during World
War II. Thailand’s declaration of war on the United States came in 1942. The Thai
ambassador in Washington, D.C., refused to deliver the declaration to the U.S. government,
however; therefore, the United States never retaliated by declaring war on Thailand. This
strange turn of events meant that the Allies never invaded Thailand. This turned public
opinion against the military-tainted Thai government of Luang Plaek Phibunsongkhram
(Phibun for short), who had served as prime minister since 1938. In 1944, Phibun was
thrown out of office and replaced by a civilian government led by an intellectual named
Pridi Phanomyong. A new constitution created in 1997 made Thailand much more
democratic. Thailand had the world’s highest economic growth rate from 1985 to 1995 but
then suffered a brief, steep economic downturn during 1997 and
1998. Steady growth has taken place since that time as political stability has enhanced
Thailand’s economic opportunities Much of history has been influenced by how people
have used the seas. The past shows that people have used the seas for both cooperation and
conflict, as well as for trade and terror. With the rise of ASEAN and various other interna-
tional agreements, perhaps the future will allow for continued cooperation without
seaborne conflicts.
II . POINT OF INTEREST: WHY IS LIFE UNDER NE WIN’S REGIME HAD BEEN
HORRIBLE ?
In his subsequent rule, Ne Win combined a repressive military dictatorship with a socialist
economic program, the cornerstone of which was the nationalization of Burma’s major
economic enterprises. His government broke the control of Indian, Chinese, and Pakistani
traders over the country’s economy and embarked on an ambitious though unsuccessful
program of rapid industrialization. Ne Win steered a neutralist course in foreign policy and
isolated Burma from contacts with the outside world. His regime made Burma into a one-
party state in 1964; the sole party permitted to exist was the Burmese Socialist Program
Party (BSPP), which had been founded by Ne Win and which was dominated by military
officers. Ne Win and his colleagues formulated a new constitution in 1972–73 that
provided for a one-party state in Burma. A new government was elected in 1974 with Ne
Win as president (1974–81). He subsequently retained the post of chairman of the BSPP,
remaining the country’s preeminent leader.
By the late 1980s Ne Win’s socialist and isolationist policies had turned Burma into one of
the world’s poorest countries. Governmental corruption and mismanagement had driven
much of the country’s economic activity underground into the black market, and Burma,
which had once been a leading rice exporter, was beginning to experience food shortages.
In late 1987 widespread antigovernment rioting broke out in the major cities and was
followed in the spring and summer of 1988 by even larger student-led protests. In both
instances the government resorted to brutal measures to supress the uprisings that included
killing hundreds of demonstrators and jailing thousands more.

The disturbances prompted Ne Win in July 1988 to resign from the BSPP chairmanship.
The BSPP subsequently fell from power in the government and was replaced in September
by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which was also headed by military
officers. Ne Win is largely thought to have remained active behind the scenes, at least into
the 1990s. In March 2002, however, he was placed under house arrest following the
imprisonment of several family members who were accused of plotting a coup against the
country’s military junta. Although no charges were brought against Ne Win, he remained
under house arrrest until his death.