British Propaganda in Malaya during The World War One (1914-1916)

During the World War One, British administration in the Malay States faced propaganda threats from Turkey and German. This is due to their involvement in the war which dragged British's colonies and protectorates to support British and their allies. As a result, the Malay States, which was a Crown Colony and Protectorates States faced propaganda threats from British's enemies. To counter these threatening propaganda, the British also utilised propaganda to communicate and gain public support in Malaya. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to identify British's efforts in spreading propaganda as the main communication medium to garner public support in Malaya during the period of World War One. Qualitative research methods were used to study primary sources such as the Colonial Office files - C.O. 323/720/40660 in 1916 and the State Secretary 37/1915 file in 1915. This study also analysed Selangor Secretariat files such as Selangor Secretariat 5414/1914 file in 1914 and Selangor Secretariat 3737/1915 file in 1915. This study proves that the British used propaganda as the main medium of communication to gain public support. It was also used to banish the support towards Turkey and German in Malaya during the World War One. The propaganga used were similar to those which have been utilized on Europe.