J. M. Gullick and his life

J.M. Gullick is a British scholar of the Malayan/Malaysian history who was once a civil servant of British Malaya. I have read and bought some of his books and articles so far. As for the National Celebration of 50th Independence of Malaysia, he has given his thoughts that appeared on the New Straits Times Online . (Lily)
‘Merdeka Spotlight: Transition through the eyes of Gullick’　
by AISHAH ALI, 1 September 2007

This former Malayan Civil Service officer-turned-popular historian, was once secretary to Datuk Onn Jaafar and served on the Malayanisation Committee, writes AISHAH ALI. HE is mentioned in the same breath as Anthony Short, K.G. Tregonning, R.S. Milne, C.M. Turnbull and Gordon Means, all of whom are respected Western scholars of Malayan history. But John M. Gullick, at 92, still writes and is Net-savvy.
So, meeting him online is as remarkable as meeting the man in person, which I did during Malaysia Week in London in June. Gullick, looking dapper in a khaki trenchcoat, arrived at our appointed meeting place, the Royal Overseas League in Piccadilly, by train from Essex.
Distinguished and soft-spoken, Gullick was a prolific recorder of Malaysia's socio-economic development.
In the days before Merdeka, Gullick used to work as Datuk Onn Jaafar's secretary when Onn, the first president of Umno, was chairman of RIDA (Rural Industrial Development Authority). In 1955, two years before Malaya achieved independence, Gullick became secretary of the Malayanisation committee of the government services.
He came to Malaya as a young man of 30 with the British Military Administration, landing in Morib in 1945 as the second-in-command with the rank of major. Before this, he was in Uganda and several countries in the Indian Ocean. His posting to Malaya was to beef up the Malayan Civil Service. He stayed for 12 years until 1956, working in various capacities in the MCS.
Initially, he was assigned to a detachment in Negri Sembilan and throughout the period of the Malayan Union (1946-1948), he served as secretary to the Resident Commissioner and subsequently, British Adviser in Negri Sembilan.
In April 1948, he worked in the economic section of the Federal Secretariat, after which he went on a year's leave to study social anthropology at the London School of Economics.
His academic thesis became the basis of his book, Indigenous Political Systems of Western Malaya. This was followed by others that focused on the socio-economic and political development of Malaya and on the history of Kuala Lumpur.
Recently, Gullick was invited to write his recollections of Malaya before Merdeka. His five-part series appeared in the New Sunday Times・Merdeka Memoirs column in June and July. In one of his articles, Gullick disclosed how the British bureaucrats had difficulty accepting the end of colonialism. They had underrated the abilities of the Alliance leaders and "clung to the outmoded conviction that inter-communal conflict made independence impossible". Gullick wrote: "These moguls transmuted to be mere British Advisers wrote privately to each other, they'll never be able to cope. Within a month or two, it will all be back in our hands. But it wasn't. The Malay menteris were quite determined about that."
Smiling at the thought, Gullick said he enjoyed his time in Malaya and made many friends. Many had passed on, he said, mentioning in particular Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Said, a doctor in Negri Sembilan who was his constant buddy, and Tun Suffian Hashim, the former Chief Justice, and his wife Bunny.
He also recalled being a neighbour of Tunku Abdul Rahman when, in 1950, he lived at the end of Jalan Kia Peng and the junction of Jalan Tun Razak. During the Umno leadership crisis, we expatriates noticed the cars bringing the power brokers to confer with Tunku, quite unaware that Malaya was finding its man of destiny," he wrote.
While in Malaya, Gullick worked in many capacities. During the Emergency, he was Principal Assistant Secretary of Internal Security. When there was a crisis in the Police Mission force, he was appointed its secretary. After that, he was seconded to the Customs Department before taking up the post at RIDA between 1950 and 1952.
As the country edged towards independence, he said Tunku Abdul Rahman had to consider ways to implement the Alliance Manifesto for the 1955 elections which made a commitment to replace all expatriate government staff with Malayans within four years. "I thought the Malayanisation Committee struck the right balance. By the early 1960s, the changeover had been completed without any decline in the quality of the service."
Gullick was on leave in England when Malaya achieved independence. Since then, he had been back on short trips, six in all.

In the beginning (1957-62), he came as a representative of the Guthrie group to visit the plantations. He was eventually made a director. He returned in 1991 and 1998 to lecture at Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
In 2001, Gullick was awarded honorary doctorate by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
He took pride in being part of Malaysia's transition and he was under no delusion that his posting was to be a long one. "Within a year or two of arriving here, it was clear to me that our days are numbered," he said.
"The British government did well to a transfer power to a stable, friendly independent government."

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