The Communities Liaison Committee (CLC) was established in 1949Christie, Clive J. (1998) ''Southeast Asia in the Twentieth Century: A Reader'' Tauris, London, p. 192 by the British rulers of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, comprising the top echelon of Malayan politicians from different communities, to address sensitive issues, especially those related to

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

. Compromises on a number of issues, including citizenship, education,

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, and

Malay supremacy ''Ketuanan Melayu'' (Jawi script, Jawi: ; "Malay wikt:overlordship, Overlordship" or "Malay Supremacism#Racial, Supremacy") is a political concept that emphasises Malaysian Malays, Malay Power (social and political), power and preeminence ...

, were agreed on and set the stage for Malayan independence.Christie, Clive J. (1998) ''Southeast Asia in the Twentieth Century: A Reader'' Tauris, London, p. 183 The CLC was chaired by

Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm John MacDonald (17 August 1901 – 11 January 1981) was a British politician and diplomat. He was initially a Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP), but in 1931 followed his father ...

, the British Commissioner-General for

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. The Communities Liaison Committee was a prototype for

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

political cooperation.

Composition

Notes

References

*"Colonial Office Records relating to the meetings of the Communities Liaison Committee, April 1949 to September 1949: CO 717/183" ''In'' Christie, Clive J. (1998) ''Southeast Asia in the Twentieth Century: A Reader'' Tauris, London, pp. 193–198 *"Communities Liaison Committee Communiqué, 16 September 1949 - Public Relations, Singapore, Press Release No. SE49/168" ''In'' Christie, Clive J. (1998) ''Southeast Asia in the Twentieth Century: A Reader'' Tauris, London, pp. 199–201 *"Statement on Federal Citizenship issued by the Communities Liaison Committee, 18 April 1950" ''In'' Gott, Richard; Major, John and Warner, Geoffrey (eds.) (1973) ''Documents on International Affairs''

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

, Oxford University Press, London, p. 592
OCLC 1566847
Malaysian Independence 1949 establishments in Malaya {{Malaysia-stub