Malaysia, before its independence from the British in 1957 was known as Malaya. The country continued with this name even after its independence until 1963 when it became known as Malaysia. In this book, the name ‘Malaya’ is used when referring to its British colonial period and ‘Malaysia’ is used when referring to the country after its independence.When the British gained control of the entire Malay Peninsula in 1930 and prior to the independence of Indonesia from Dutch colonial rule, many Dutch nationals who were living in Indonesia did not recognise the term Malaya. Instead they referred to the whole of the Malay Peninsula simply as Malakka, referring to the State of Malacca. Today, Malaysia is known in Dutch as Maleisië.