Early developments Early organised political movements in Malaysia were organised along regional and ethnic groups and were not political parties in the modern sense. They generally were loose alliances of interest groups and individuals primarily concerned with
social welfare,
social progress and religious reform among the
Muslim Malay communities similar to
interest groups and
civil society organisations of today.
Religious reformers Religious reformers played a large role in developing and disseminating ideas with magazines and periodicals like
al-Imam published in Singapore by
Tahir Jalaluddin between 1906 and 1908, and
al-Munir published in
Penang by
Abdullah Ahmad between 1911 and 1916. These in turn were primarily influenced by the Egyptian Islamic reform magazine,
al-Manar published in Cairo by
Rashid Rida from 1898 to 1936. While these publications were primarily concerned with the
Islamic religion, it also touched extensively on the social, political and economic conditions of the Malays. One of the first such movements was the
New Hope Society () that was established in
Johor Bahru in 1916. On 14 September 1923, a movement was established in
Al-Azhar University in
Cairo,
Egypt by students from
British Malaya and the
Dutch East Indies known as the
Al-Jam'iyah Al-Khairiyah lit-tholabah Al-Azhariyah Al-Jawiyah (renamed in 1937 to the
Indonesia Malaya Convention or
Perhimpunan Indonesia Malaya;
PERPINDOM). Composed primarily of students influenced by the
Young Turks movement and later the
Muslim Brotherhood, the movement encouraged intentional political and religious discourse through periodicals like
Osman Abdullah's
Seruan Al-Azhar (
Al-Azhar Clarion) and
Pilehan Timur (
Oriental Choice).
Teachers' unions The
Sultan Idris Training College for Malay teachers in
Tanjung Malim was fertile ground for the exchange of ideas. The establishment of the
Selangor Malay Teachers Association () in 1921 by
Muhammad Yusof paved the way for similar organisations to be set up in the other
Federated Malay States and a magazine known as
Majalah Guru (''Teacher's Magazine'') was published in 1923. This magazine allowed for the discussion of larger socio-economic issues as well political issues, establishing itself as one of the influences in the development of Malay nationalism.
Self-help societies Various self-help societies like the
Maharani Company in
Muar,
Johor and the
Serikat Pembaikan Hidup () organised by
Mohamad Eunos Abdullah of the
Singapore Malay Union () established
co-operatives and
communes to help improve the socio-economic conditions of the Malay peasants and smallholders. They too utilised newspapers and periodicals like the Maharani Company published
Perjumpaan Melayu (
Malay Convergence) to disseminate ideas and encourage discourse on issues pertaining to the social, political and economic conditions of the Malay people.
Early political organisations Malay Union The
Malay Union (;
KM) was established in 1926 by
Mohamad Eunos Abdullah,
Tengku Kadir Ali and
Ambo Sooloh with the aim of increasing the role of Malays in public life, upholding Malay interests with the colonial authorities, and promote higher and technical education for Malays. Eunos himself was a
Justice of Peace, a member of the
Muslim Advisory Board set up by the colonial administration during
World War I and a member of the
Singapore Municipal Council. In his capacity as the chairman of the KM, he became the first Malay member of the
Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements. One of the first issues championed by the KM was the appeal for land to be set aside for a Malay settlement. The appeal was granted and a sum of
$ 700,000 was set aside for the KM to purchase and develop the land. This settlement has evolved and is now part of the
Eunos neighbourhood in Singapore. The KM also became the catalyst for the establishment of similar organisations in the other states of the British Malaya such as the
Penang Malay Association (founded in 1927) and the
Perak Malay Association (founded in 1937).
Communist Party of Malaya The first political party to be organised with a pan-Malayan outlook was the
Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) established in 1930. The CPM was originally set up as a branch of the
Comintern supervised by the Far Eastern Bureau of the
Chinese Communist Party in 1926, then known as the
South Seas Communist Party. The fraternal
Communist Party of Indonesia (established in 1924) was forced underground and in exile due to their abortive
revolt in 1926, which resulted in the CPM becoming exclusively dominated by people of Chinese descent . Efforts to establish a broader based representation were made especially in the 1935 representative conferences between the CPM and the
General Labour Union as well as the establishment of contact with Communist cells in
Siam and the
Dutch East Indies in 1936. Nonetheless, the CPM remained an organisation that was predominantly Chinese in composition until the
Japanese occupation of Malaya which saw a larger participation of people from other ethnicities.
Young Malay Union The
Young Malay Union (;
KMM) was established in
Kuala Lumpur in 1938 under the leadership of
Ibrahim Yaacob. While registered as a social organisation working to improve Malay youths in sports, education, agriculture, health and other recreational pursuits, the primary aim of the KMM was to struggle for the political independence of all the Malayan states from Britain and oppose British
imperialism. While gaining significant support from the larger Malay community, the KMM failed to gain support from the Malay aristocrats and bureaucracy and on the eve of the
Japanese invasion of Malaya, more than 100 KMM members were arrested by the authorities for collaboration. All were released after the
fall of Singapore in February 1942. On 14 January 1942, a KMM delegation led by vice-president,
Mustapha Hussain, met with the Japanese authorities to negotiate for the independence of Malaya. The Japanese authorities instead disbanded KMM and established the
Pembela Tanah Ayer (also known as the
Malai Giyu Gun or by its
Malay acronym
PETA) militia in its stead. Most who joined PETA were also part of the underground KMM Youth League who continued to struggle for an independent Malaya and some cooperated with the CPM sponsored
Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army and other anti-Japanese guerilla units like
Force 136 and
Wataniah. With the
surrender of Japan in August 1945, former KMM cadres formed the nucleus of the emerging political movements like the
Malay Nationalist Party,
Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, and
Angkatan Wanita Sedar. ==Political conditions==