Events

• 1 February - The Federation of Malaya
  Federation of Malaya
  The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
  
   is established replacing the Malayan Union
  Malayan Union
  The Malayan Union was a federation of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government so as to simplify administration. The Malayan Union later became the independent...
  
  
• 16 June - 3 European estate managers are murdered at Sg. Siput, Perak
  Perak
  Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
  
  , which led to the events on 19 June.
• 19 June - A state of emergency is declared in Malaya following Communist rebellions
• June - Leading CPM member Lau Yew is killed
• 6 October - Sir Henry Gurney is appointed High Commissioner of Malaya
• 12 December - 25 civilians are killed by British soldiers at Batang Kali, Selangor
• December - Kachau Village in Selangor is torched by the British to smoke out Communist guerillas