An Unrealised Nation: A Political History of the Peranakan Chinese from Colony to Nation, 1945–1957

This thesis investigates the inclusive and multi-ethnic conception of nationhood held by the Peranakan Chinese community of the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca, and Singapore. Tracing the community's political activities from the end of World War II in 1945 to independence in 1957, it restores the political agency of the Peranakan and reconceptualises Malaysian history by challenging the teleological narratives that argue for the inevitability of the communal Malayan nation-state that achieved independence in 1957. By examining the stories of groups like the Peranakan that ‘lost’ in the process of decolonisation this thesis generates new insights on the complications of creating a representative nation-state in the transition between colony and nation.