These 2 books examined the road to Malayan independence.
Joseph M. Fernando wrote The Making of the Malayan Constitution in 2002 and The Alliance Road to Independence in 2008.
At the time of writing The Alliance, he was an academic with University Malaya. The Making is a revised version of his earlier doctoral thesis.
His books are well- researched based on colonial archives in UK, the papers of Tan Cheng Lock and Tun Dr Ismail were all deposited in Singapore.
In the Making, he examined the role played by UMNO in alliance with MCA to force the British to grant independence. He also examined the deliberations of the Reid Commission which drafted the Malayan Constitution and the amendments made to it post- drafting arising from the inputs of the Malay Rulers, UMNO, MCA, MIC etc.
In The Alliance Road to Independence, which is actually part of The Making, his main thesis is that the cooperation between Umno, led by Tunku, and the MCA thwarted British intent to delay the granting of full independence to Malaya.
His findings are that post-Ww2 Malaya was a cash cow for the strapped British economy [p 63], Templar was dead against independence [p 43]; and the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP) led by Onn Jaafar was agreeable to a longer time frame for independence [p 39].
His findings show that the British thought the Malays feared the Chinese and vice versa, and the British thought both races needed British protection and so wouldn’t push for independence. (p 68).
Thus, the British were forced to agree to earlier independence when UMNO and MCA formed a pack called loosely ‘Alliance Party’. (p 26).
The rest is history.
Ps: Fernando used the term Alliance party in his book. There is no such party. It is just an alliance between UMNO and MCA to achieve common objectives.