The Malayan Communist Party, or MCP, claimed to control many labour unions. During the occupation of Malaya by Japan (1942-1945), the Chinese-dominated Malayan Communist Party (MCP) had been in the forefront of resistance to the Japanese. After the war, the MCP expected to assume a leading role in shaping Malaya's future. In the immediate postwar years, however, the party found itself increasingly marginalized. The MCP refused to lay down their arms and carried out a struggle against the British during the Malayan Emergency (1949- 1959) and lost.
