It is a pity we are yet to have a definitive study on The March to Malaya Independence, unlike in India, where we have, among many others, the excellent Indian Summer by Alex von Tunzelmann.
What we have are slim monographs by writers who, having limited resources and time, interviewed only certain people. So we have a narrative from their perceptions only.
The danger is that any errors of fact or a particular narrative is then cited by academics in short essays. Readers will then come away subconsciously believing that that is the truth and the whole truth.
This book One Man’s Will on Onn Jaafar by Pamela Ong is based on interviews and research by the author.
I find it interesting. She has given us a more nuanced portrait of her subject.
While she has not cited the sources for her views, it is a welcome addition to the literature on a significant player in the March to Malaya Independence.
Readers who wish to learn more may wish to read the unfinished memoir of Tun Dr Ismail in Drifting in Politics An unfinished memoir of Tun Dr Ismail.
As it’s a raw first draft, it is an unvarnished story and contains frank views of his peers like Onn Jaafar, Harun, Tunku, etc.