The political concept of the Malays was essentially a product of the society they lived in. Before the British intervened in the Malay States in 1874, the Malay society was a feudal society par excellence. The Ruler, known as the Sultan, was eminently feudal and autocratic. He was responsible to none. He was assisted, in his capacity as Ruler, by senior and minor chiefs whose number varied from State to State. For example, in Pahang, there were four Major Chiefs, known as Orang Besar Ber-Empat. Under them there were the Orang Besar Lapan, the Eight Chiefs, and this group was followed by that of sixteen and thirty two. This was essentially a Hindu political pattern. In other Malay States this regular arrangement did not exist, but the main principle remained, namely, that there ran in descending order, from the Sultan downwards to the Penghulu, the village headman, an absolute autocracy. Each chief or Penghulu in his respective capacity was a sultan miniature.

Dato Sir (now Tun) Cheng-lock Tan is best known today for his. leadership of the Malayan Chinese after the Second World War, in connection with the Federation of Malaya constitutional proposals, the Emergency, and the attainment of independence by Malaya. Even before the War, however, Dato Tan had established himself as a distinguished public figure and, in a sense, as a political leader.

On 10 October, 1945, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies announced in the House of Commons an outline of a new policy to be adopted in Malaya.

“His Majesty's Government have given careful consideration to the future of Malaya and the need to promote a sense of unity and common citizenship which will develop the country's strength and capacity in due course for self-government within the British Commonwealth. Our policy will call for a constitutional union of Malaya and for the institution of Malayan citizenship which will give equal citizenship rights to those who claim Malaya to be their homeland.”

The Malayan Union was to be made up of the nine Malay States and the two Straits Settlements of Malacca and Penang including the Province Wellesley; Singapore was exclude.