 The majority of Indians (90%) in Malaya at that time were South Indians, mainly from the labouring class.The Emergency (declared by the British in 1948 to battle communist insurgency) regulations and new trade union legislation also led to the leadership of the trade union movement passing from the Chinese, who were much better organised, to the Indians.This dilution of the MIC's objectives affected the status of Indian plantation workers in the Malaysian economy then and its repercussions are still being felt today.