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Malayan People's Republic
Official Name: Malayan People's Republic
Ruling Party: Parti Komunis Malaya - Lǎo Tóngzhìnote
Ideology: Mao Zedong Thoughtnote
When Malaya liberated itself from Japanese imperialism during the closing chapters of the Great Asian War, the future seemed bright. Sadly, the future had different plans. The new order in post-Japanese Asia found itself at odds with Malaya's new regime, and Secretary-General Chin Peng continued to centralize power in his hands to ensure the survival of the people's Malaya. But the Secretary-General's time has long gone, and Malaya will soon be marching to a different tune. General Tropes
- The Alliance: Malaya is a Comintern partner.
- Allohistorical Allusion: The relationship between Malaya and Singapore bear a passing resemblance to the China-Taiwan dispute in OTL. Like China, Malaya is a communist dictatorship that controls much of the mainland and doesn't recognize its capitalist counterpart.
- Crapsack World: At the beginning of MTNO, Malaya is being embargoed by Japan and the Asian Development Organization, cutting it off from trading with anyone other than the Soviet Union. This, combined with Peng's opposition to Soviet-style market reform, has left Malaya in a poor state. Malaya's economy is still largely agrarian and has barely seen any growth whatsoever, the country is reliant on Comintern aid, and the PKM rules over a brutal dictatorship that has become alienated from its people.
- Divided We Fall: If the PKM is unable to choose a Secretary-General after Peng's death, the regime will remain stuck in a limbo and will slowly disintegrate as discontent boils into revolution.
- Dystopia Is Hard: The introduction of State Atheism to Malaya was met with significant pushback from religious Malays, and the PKM continues struggling to enforce it decades later. In some of the more remote regions, people continue practicing their faith in public as if nothing has changed.
- Far East Asian Terrorists: Islamist terrorist groups are active in Malaya, organizing deadly attacks against the communist regime and counting on the support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Malaya has bad relations with all of its neighbors, who either oppose it for its ideology, dictatorial government, irredentist claims or its infringement of religious liberties.
- Foreign Ruling Class: Since independence, ethnic Chinese people have, unintentionally, become the ruling class of Malaya. There is a disproportionate Chinese majority in the upper echelons of the party, and most Malay politicians are practically forced to learn Chinese if they want to rise through the party ranks.
- Outside-Context Problem: Puzzingly, some factions of the Malayan Communist Party are written in Chinese rather than Malay, making the party names bilingual. The reason for this is because Malaya, both in real life and in MTNO, has a substantial Chinese minority, and the PKM's upper ranks are dominated by said Chinese minority, just like in real life.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: The Malayan People's Republic is a communist dictatorship with a poor record on religious freedoms and human rights in general, and is riddled with social and economic issues.
- Politically Correct Villain: Despite the disproportionate demographics in the PKM's leadership, the communists have actively promoted racial harmony, resulting in Malaya having much better racial relations than its OTL counterpart.
- Realpolitik: Despite being a communist dictatorship, Malaya can abandon its ties to the Comintern and turn to a more convenient ally in the form of the United States or China.
- We ARE Struggling Together: With Peng losing his grip over the party, factionalism has become a serious problem for the PKM. This becomes evident as the party splits into three large cliques following Peng's death, vying for power in the ensuing power struggle.
Secretary-General
Chin Peng
Role: Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Malaya
Party: Parti Komunis Malaya - Lǎo Tóngzhìnote
Ideology: Mao Zedong Thoughtnote
Secretary-General Chin Peng, hero of the Anti-Japanese National Liberation War, founder of the People's Republic, and the voice of the party. Malaya has been defined by Peng's four-decade rule, but the Secretary-General's old age and worsening health indicates that his time is rapidly coming to pass.- Clueless Boss: Peng has no concrete influence over party politics anymore, and isn't fully aware of the extent of the rivalries and internal divisions within the PKM. Additionally, Peng isn't aware of the struggles his people face on a daily basis.
- Founder of the Kingdom: He founded the Malayan People's Republic after driving out the collaborators, and has ruled over it ever since.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Peng had to resort to purging the UMAJF of non-communists and asserting his control over it to defeat the elitist and equally dictatoral collaborator regime. While he succeeded in liberating Malaya, he would go on to build a dictatorship that became even more repressive than the one he destroyed.
- I Did What I Had to Do: To defeat the Japanese, Peng saw it as necessary to divert from the UMAJF's original political program and assert the dominance of the Communists over the Front. The result was that Malaya became a communist dictatorship after independence, betraying its more noble goals for the sake of maintaining their power, and Peng doesn't feel any remorse over becoming a dictator.
- Inadequate Inheritor: At the start of MTNO, Peng is in his deathbed and is yet to give up his position as Secretary-General. To Peng, none of the top figures of the CPM are capable of leading the country with the same capacity as him.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Peng's death is what kickstarts the chain of events leading to Malaya's paths, as the factions of the PKM begin vying to put their candidates in power.
- The Remnant: Peng is the last living member of the "Old Comrades", a faction composed of former guerrillas who led the struggle against Japanese colonialism.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Peng was the man responsible for driving the Japanese and their reactionary collaborators out of Malaya and giving it independence, and has remained a respected leader in the eyes of his people. However, younger Malayans are becoming disillusioned with the regime while ethnic Malays and Muslims feel Peng hasn't done enough for them.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Despite being an authoritarian dictator responsible for his country's domestic ills, Peng is still respected as the founding father of Malaya and for his legacy as an anti-Japanese freedom fighter.
- War Hero: He led the UMAJF guerrillas for over 30 years and eventually succeeded in routing the Japanese-backed puppet government from Malaya.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He dies only a year into MTNO's timeframe.
