Word: templers
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...were without citizenship. Believing this to be a basic cause of the unrest, the British Colonial Office pressed for Chinese citizenship, against the opposition of the Malays and some local British. The "emergency" had brought top-level Malays and Chinese together, but had left their communities coldly self-segregated. Templer threw his whole weight into the drive for common citizenship...
Collective Punishment. But he also had a police job to do. He had been in Malaya only two months when Communist guerrillas ambushed and killed a British patrol of twelve men near the small town of Tanjong Malim. Templer arrived in his armored car, glared at the town elders over his spectacles, and said: "It doesn't amuse me to punish innocent people, but many among you are not innocent. You have information which you are too cowardly to give. Have some guts and shoulder the responsibility of citizenship...
There was no response. Templer slapped a 2 2-hour curfew on Tanjong Malim and cut the rice ration. Work stopped. Villagers had only two hours a day in which to buy food. British soldiers went from house to house, handing out a questionnaire. In Chinese, Malay and Tamil, Templer wrote: "If you are a Communist I don't expect you to reply. If you aren't, I want you to give ... as much information as you can to help my forces catch the Communist terrorists in your area ..." He itemized the questions, then added...
...soldiers collected the questionnaires in sealed boxes, which Templer himself opened. Some of the letters contained only insults. But a few days later 28 people in Tanjong Malim and in a village near by were arrested. After 13 days the curfew was lifted, the rice ration restored, and the people of Tanjong Malim went back to work...
...Element of Morality? In London, Templer's action provoked a storm. "Lamentable," said the Observer. "Odious," said the Manchester Guardian. In the House of Lords, Lord Stansgate was reminded of the notorious Black & Tans, and said acidly: "It is not a bad idea to introduce an element of morality when you are trying to govern a country." Said Lord Listowel: "Collective punishment will turn many people, including the Chinese . . . into Communist sympathizers...