THE POLITICAL ROLE OF THE SUARA RAKYAT NEWSPAPER 1945–48

The era following the Second World War saw a number of Perak youths publish a local newspaper. They were Ahmad Boestamam, Abdul Samad Ahmad, Muhammad Hanif, Zulkifli Ownie, Dahari Ali, Musa Ahmad and Haji Ramli Said. In the spirit of defending the Malay race, they took drastic action by seizing and taking over the printing office of the Perak Shimbun in August 1945. With the takeover, the Suara Rakyat newspaper was established for the radical Malay group in Perak on 8 September 1945, in Ipoh, Perak. The newspaper advocated political awareness among the Malay community in the Malay Peninsula with its focus on Melayu Raya and played an important role in setting up the Malay National Party (MNP). In spite of its short existence, it succeeded in raising the awareness of the Malays through the establishment of MNP branches throughout the Malay Peninsula and destabilized the colonial power as well as its supporters.