"In this period, the balance of Chinese versus Malay consciousness reached a watershed," writes Hou Kok-chung, head of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya. When the Chinese discovered that the British couldn't protect them, they not only wanted to fight for far-off China, but also for their home, Malaya.
「這段期間也是華人的『中國意識』和『馬來亞意識』消長的分水嶺，」馬來亞大學中國研究所所長何國忠指出，由於華人發現英殖民政府沒有辦法保護馬來亞，他們不只要為遙遠的祖國中國而戰，也要為自己身家所繫的馬來亞而戰。