Malayan Security Service

Last updated

The Malayan Security Service (MSS) (Malay: Cawangan Khas) was the domestic intelligence service of colonial Malaya and Singapore from 1939 to 1948. It was established to replace and centralize the operations of the individual intelligence agencies of the Federated Malay States and Straits Settlements under one, Pan-Malayan organization for the entire Peninsular. [1] It was modeled closely after the MI5, the United Kingdom’s domestic counter-intelligence service, in that it was primarily tasked with information gathering and had no executive powers to detain or arrest. [2] It was distinct and separate from the Criminal Investigational Division Branches (CID) of the Malayan or Singapore Police. [3]

Contents

The MSS faced much difficulty throughout its short existence. In the immediate years following its creation, its development was severely hampered by the Japanese occupation of Malaya which lasted until 1945. [4] Following the end of the war, the MSS was unable to recruit qualified officers and translators and remained chronically underpowered. [5] The organization was dissolved shortly after on August 23, 1948, just two months after the beginning of the Malayan Emeregency. It was replaced by the two Special Branches of Malaya and Singapore which both fell under the control of the respective Deputy Commissioner of Police in each territory. [6]

The MSS was headquartered on Robinson Road, Singapore and contained a Malayan branch in Kuala Lumpur. [7]

Charter and purpose

Charter

A Pan-Malayan Headquarters at present stationed in Singapore will obtain and collate all Security Intelligence emanating from MSS branches throughout the Peninsula and collect and collate information on subversive organisations and personalities in Malaya and Singapore. [8]

Purpose [9]

  1. To collect and collate information on subversive organisations and personalities in Malaya and Singapore.
  2. To advise, so far as they [sic] are able, the two Governments [Malaya and Singapore] as to the extent to which Internal Security is threatened by the activities of such an organisation [sic].
  3. To keep the two Governments informed of the trends of public opinion which affect, or are likely to affect the Security of Malaya.
  4. To maintain a Central Registry of Aliens.
  5. To maintain a close liaison with other Security Intelligence Organisations, and the Defence Security Officer [MI5].
  6. To exercise supervision of the Mecca Pilgrimage.

History and development

Establishment

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the British colonial government lacked a coordinated intelligence effort in the Malay Peninsula. In the Federated Malay States (FMS), an Intelligence Bureau was established and run by the Federated Malay States Police and was primarily tasked with collecting political and criminal intelligence. In contrast, the Straits Settlements had a Special Branch, while there was no organized coverage in the Unfederated Malay States. [10] Thus, upon the suggestion of the MI5 and the colonial governments in Malaya and Singapore, the MSS was established in September 1939 by Arthur Dickinson, the Inspector General of the Straits Settlements Police. [11] Dickinson was also worried about a potential war with Japan which further motivated his desire for the restructuring of the Peninsula’s intelligence services. Despite this, by the time of the Japanese invasion, the MSS was not yet fully operational. [12]

Pre-war

The service frequently liaised and cooperated with British Special Branch agencies in Hong Kong and Burma as well as Dutch intelligence agencies in the Dutch East Indies and French agencies in French Indochina. [13] It maintained a “Central Registry of Aliens” to surveil and monitor the activities of the increasing number of Japanese businessmen and tourists in Malaya and Singapore, many of whom were working for Japanese intelligence services. [14] [15] Finally, with reference to “supervision of the Mecca Pilgrimage”, the MSS would assign a Malay officer to escort pilgrims to the Mecca who would, upon return to Singapore, prepare a report for the MSS regarding whether pilgrims were exposed to any anti-British propaganda by Saudi Arabian authorities during the Hajj. [16]

World War II and the Japanese occupation of Malaya

During the occupation which officially began on December 8, 1941, the service’s operations were paused. However, by as early as 1943, the British government had decided that the MSS was to be re-established and have its operations resumed following the end of the war. [17]

Post-war

Following the end of the war, leadership of the MSS changed hands multiple times. When the British Military Administration of Malaya and Singapore (BMA) began on September 12, 1945, the MSS Singapore Division was headed by Major J.C. Berry while the Malaya Division was headed by J.M. McLean. [18] Both men, however, were declared medically unfit and retired to the UK, and Major Berry was replaced by Alan E.G. Blades. [19]

The service officially resumed on April 1, 1946 with the establishment of the Malayan Union and the ending of the British Military Administration. While Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley was appointed as MSS Director on the same day, he was still located in the UK and L.F. Knight was appointed as Acting Director. [20] Dalley finally returned to Singapore on February 5, 1947 and resumed his role as Director then. [21]

To gather political and security intelligence, the MSS posted a Local Security Officer (LSO) to each state except in Kelantan, Terengganu, Melaka, and Pahang due to a shortage of officers. In these states, intelligence gathering was done by the Criminal Investigation Departments (CID) of the local police. Each LSO would then produce intelligence reports to be sent to the Chief Police Officers of the concerned states in addition to MSS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. [22]

To share the information had been gathered by LSOs, the MSS began releasing a fortnightly report named the Political Intelligence Journal (PIJ). [23] This lasted from the MSS’s re-establishment in April 1946 to the month leading up to its dissolution in 1948. These reports largely focused on potential Indonesian expansion and political activities in Malaya, Malay nationalism, Communism, and labor unrest. [24] [25]

Dissolution

The service was dissolved on August 23, 1948 and its functions were taken over by the newly-resuscitated Special Branches of Malaya and Singapore. [26] Following this, former MSS Director Dalley returned to Britain, thus ending his 28-year long career in Malaya that had begun in 1920. [27]

Problems faced by the MSS

The service faced a shortage of qualified staff throughout the Emergency. For example, the authorized establishment for LSOs was 11 in Malaya and 7 in Singapore, but at the peak of its strength, there were only 6 and 3 LSOs respectively. [28] In addition, of the 9 LSOs, only one, Ian S. Wylie of Selangor, could speak Chinese (more specifically the Cantonese dialect). [29] This impeded the MSS from gathering information about the Malayan Communist Party which was predominantly Chinese in membership. [30] The MSS also severely lacked assistant LSOs, enquiry staff, and translators. [31]

All this was much to the concern of Lieutenant Colonel Dalley who wrote to the Governor Sir Edward Gent in March 1947 and stated the MSS was short of thirteen European officers. In his letter, he also stated

“I wish to state now, that M.S.S. is unable to perform its [sic] duties under these conditions. No matter how willing their service, no matter how hard they work, the officers now in the M.S.S. are unable to cover all the ground that needs to be covered.” [32]

In addition to this, Dalley also approached the two Commissioners of Police in Malaya “to supply suitable staff for Malaya Security Service from their strength to bring M.S.S up to establishment”, but was rejected. [32] In reality, both the MSS and the police forces of Malaya and Singapore were short-staffed following the end of the war. This phenomenon was to remain up until the service’s dissolution in August 1948.

Criticism of the MSS

The service received heavy criticism from High Commission Sir Edward Gent and Commissioner-General Malcolm MacDonald for not predicting or forewarning the MCP’s violent uprising in June 1948. [33] Historian Leon Comber contends that Dalley did indeed provide sufficient information about the MCP but "did not actually spell out the actual scale and timing of the CPM’s decision to resort to an armed struggle". [34] In addition, he states that “the information he provided in the MSS’s Political Intelligence Journal was diffuse and spread over a wide range of topics, without necessarily singling out the CPM as the main target.” [34]

Gazetted Officers of the MSS

Gazetted Officers, Malayan Security Service 1948 [35]
NameRankLocation
J.D. DalleyDirector, Pan-MalayaSingapore
N.G. MorrisActing Deputy DirectorSingapore
A.E.G. BlakesAssistant DirectorSingapore
C.M.J. KirkeActing Deputy DirectorKuala Lumpur
I.S. WylieLocal Security OfficerSelangor
W. ElphinstoneLocal Security OfficerJohor
D.N. LivingstoneLocal Security OfficerKedah/Perlis
H.T.B. RyvesLocal Security OfficerPerak
K.B. LarbyLocal Security OfficerPenang
R.W. QuixleyLocal Security OfficerNegeri Sembilan
J.E. FairbairnLocal Security OfficerSingapore
R.B. CorridonLocal Security OfficerSingapore
H.J. WoolnoughLocal Security OfficerSingapore

Notes

  1. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 25. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  2. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. pp. 34–35. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  3. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 3. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  4. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 2. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  5. ↑ Arditti, Roger C. (30 April 2019). Counterinsurgency intellignece and the emergency in Malaya. Cham, Switzerland. p. 67. ISBN   978-3-030-16695-3. OCLC   1099675424.
  6. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 7. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  7. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 2. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  8. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 4. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  9. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 40. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  10. ↑ Roger C. Arditti (30 April 2019). Counterinsurgency intellignece and the emergency in Malaya. Cham, Switzerland. p. 60. ISBN   978-3-030-16695-3. OCLC   1099675424.
  11. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 26. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  12. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 2. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  13. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 26. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  14. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 3. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  15. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 26. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  16. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 40. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  17. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 3. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  18. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 14. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  19. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 15. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  20. ↑ Roger C. Arditti (30 April 2019). Counterinsurgency intellignece and the emergency in Malaya. Cham, Switzerland. p. 61. ISBN   978-3-030-16695-3. OCLC   1099675424.
  21. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. pp. v. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  22. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 8. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  23. ↑ Roger C. Arditti (30 April 2019). Counterinsurgency intellignece and the emergency in Malaya. Cham, Switzerland. p. 87. ISBN   978-3-030-16695-3. OCLC   1099675424.
  24. ↑ Roger C. Arditti (30 April 2019). Counterinsurgency intellignece and the emergency in Malaya. Cham, Switzerland. p. 88. ISBN   978-3-030-16695-3. OCLC   1099675424.
  25. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 59. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  26. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 43. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  27. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 28. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  28. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 11. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  29. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 50. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  30. ↑ Arditti, Roger; Davies, Philip H. J. (2014-09-26). "Rethinking the Rise and Fall of the Malayan Security Service, 1946–48". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 43 (2): 292–316. doi:10.1080/03086534.2014.941157. ISSN   0308-6534. S2CID   145544675.
  31. ↑ Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 32. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  32. 1 2 Roger C. Arditti (30 April 2019). Counterinsurgency intellignece and the emergency in Malaya. Cham, Switzerland. p. 67. ISBN   978-3-030-16695-3. OCLC   1099675424.
  33. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 47. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.
  34. 1 2 Comber, Leon (2008-12-31). Malaya's Secret Police 1945-60. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 39. doi:10.1355/9789812308306. ISBN   978-981-230-830-6.
  35. ↑ Comber, Leon (2018-12-31). Dalley and the Malayan Security Service, 1945–48. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore. p. 6. doi:10.1355/9789814818742. ISBN   978-981-4818-74-2. S2CID   169146218.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malayan Emergency</span> 1948–1960 conflict in British Malaya

The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War(1948–1960), was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces of the Federation of Malaya, British Empire and Commonwealth. The communists fought to win independence for Malaya from the British Empire and to establish a socialist economy, while the Malayan Federation and Commonwealth forces fought to combat communism and protect British economic and colonial interests. The term "Emergency" was used by the British to characterise the conflict in order to avoid referring to it as a war, because London-based insurers would not pay out in instances of civil wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian Chinese</span> Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese ancestry

Malaysian Chinese, alternatively Chinese Malaysians, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group, after the Malay majority, and are 22.4% of the Malaysian population. Most of them are descendants of Southern Chinese immigrants who arrived in Malaysia between the early 19th and the mid-20th centuries. Malaysian Chinese form the second largest community of Overseas Chinese in the world, after Thai Chinese. Malaysian Chinese are traditionally dominant in the business sector of the Malaysian economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wang Gungwu</span> Singaporean academic

Wang Gungwu, is an Australian historian, sinologist, and writer specialising in the history of China and Southeast Asia. He has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, but he has objected to the use of the word diaspora to describe the migration of Chinese from China because both it mistakenly implies that all overseas Chinese are the same and has been used to perpetuate fears of a "Chinese threat", under the control of the Chinese government. An expert on the Chinese tianxia concept, he was the first to suggest its application to the contemporary world as an American Tianxia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Cheng Lock</span> Malaysian politician, 1st President of the Malaysian Chinese Association

Tan Cheng Lock KBE JP was a Malaysian Peranakan businessman and a key public figure who devoted his life to fighting for the rights and the social welfare of the Chinese community in Malaya. Tan was also the founder and the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), which advocated his cause for the Malayan Chinese population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yusof Ishak</span> 1st President of Singapore (1910–1970)

Yusof bin Ishak was a Singaporean politician and journalist who served as the first president of Singapore between 1965 and 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Indian International School, Singapore</span> Private school in Singapore

Global Indian International School (GIIS) is a Singapore-based international school established in 2002.

The Min Yuen was the civilian branch of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), in resisting the British colonial occupation of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency, The Min Yuen was mainly charged with supplying communist revolutionaries with food, information, and medical supplies.

The Special Branch or SB is an intelligence agency attached to the Royal Malaysia Police. The SB is empowered to acquire and develop intelligence on internal and external threats to the nation, subversive activities, extremist activities and activities of sabotage and spying. The SB has also been accused of carrying out unlawful enforced disappearances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kesatuan Melayu Muda</span> 1938–1945 Malayan left-wing nationalist organisation

Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) was the first leftist and national political establishment in British Malaya. Founded by Ibrahim Yaacob and Ishak Haji Muhammad, KMM grew into a prominent pre-war nationalist movement, notable for its leftist political stance and willingness to use violence, a sharp break with their contemporaries in the Malay nationalist movement.

Abdul Aziz bin Ishak (1914–1999) was a Malaysian freedom fighter, politician and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance Party (Malaysia)</span> Political coalition in Malaysia

The Alliance Party was a political coalition in Malaysia. The Alliance Party, whose membership comprised United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), was formally registered as a political organisation on 30 October 1957. It was the ruling coalition of Malaya from 1957 to 1963, and Malaysia from 1963 to 1973. The coalition became the Barisan Nasional in 1973.

León María Ignacio Agapito Guerrero y Francisco, GCrM KGCR, better known simply as Leon Ma. Guerrero III, was a Filipino diplomat and novelist, and was one of the foremost Filipino nationalists of his era. A partner in the law practice of senator Claro M. Recto, he became Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs during the Magsaysay administration. His then controversial advocacy of Asia for the Asians and espousal of a realistic re-examination of relations with the United States are now commonly accepted as being ahead of their time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Meng</span> Malaysian Chinese communist guerrilla (1926–2012)

Lee Meng, also romanised as Lee Min, was a Malaysian Chinese communist guerrilla and a leading member of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). She took part in guerrilla resistance against the Japanese occupation of Malaya as a member of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) and later joined the Malayan National Liberation Army during the Malayan Emergency to fight against British rule in Malaya. She was described as one of the most capable members of the local communist movement, and was also the leader of the "Kepayang Gang" in Perak.

Rodolfo Certeza Severino Jr. was a Filipino diplomat who served as the tenth secretary-general of ASEAN between 1998 and 2002.

The 4th Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), officially the Political Bureau of the 4th Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, was elected in 1986 by the 1st Plenary Session of the 4th Central Committee, in the immediate aftermath of the 4th National Congress.

Leonard Francis Comber was a British military and police officer, and later book publisher, operating in British India, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. He was also an editor and author of books relating to South-East Asia.

Security Intelligence Far East (SIFE) was a British intelligence organization created in 1946 as the Far Eastern regional headquarters of the Security Service, MI5. It was based in British-controlled Singapore and established by Colonel Cyril Egerton Dixon, a career MI5 officer with a great deal of war time counter intelligence experience in Britain and India. SIFE was also a MI5 controlled organisation, which partially merged its counterintelligence section with the regional headquarters of MI6 in 1950. SIFE controlled a number of MI5 Defence Security Officers in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya and across the Far East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Branch Bureau</span>

The Special Branch Bureau or SBB is a Law enforcement agency under the Royal Thai Police Headquarters. Special Branch Bureau has major security functions to the king, queen and all the royal family along with the action on the intelligence of the person or group that acts as a threat to national security. The agency was established on 17 November 1932 by Royal Decree of His Majesty King Prajadhipok's by the advice of The House of Representatives. As a result, the department is divided into four divisions. Sometimes referred to by critics as the "political police", it is responsible for controlling subversive activities and serves as the Thai Police's major intelligence organization, as well as the unit responsible for VIP protection.

The Templer Plan was a political directive which laid out High Commissioner General Gerald Templer’s plan for the political and economic development of Malaya in the 1950s. It was outlined in a fifty-minute speech delivered on 19 March 1952, by General Templer to the Federal Legislative Council of Malaya. The Plan contained eighteen points on various social, economic, and political issues facing Malaya in light of the Malayan Emergency and as the nation prepared itself for self-government and eventually independence from the British. Several of the points were already covered in The Draft Development Plan of the Federation of Malaya 1950–55 which failed to be implemented due to The Malayan Emergency. It would serve as General Templer’s blueprint for governing the country during his two-year tenure as High Commissioner and Director of Operations of Malaya from 1952 to 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesian Women's Congress</span> Federation of womens organizations in Indonesia

The Indonesian Women's Congress, often known by its Indonesian acronym Kowani, is a federation of Indonesian women's organizations which was founded in 1946. Its headquarters are located in Jakarta. The name also refers to national congresses which have taken place regularly since 1928. Since its founding the Congress has included women from various political and religious backgrounds; it has generally allowed independence and autonomy for its member organizations.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.