MacDonald, Malcolm (1901-1981), was the United Kingdom’s administrator and chief representative in Southeast Asia in the years following World War II (1939-1945).
Malcolm John Macdonald was born on Aug. 17, 1901, in Lossiemouth in Scotland. He was the son of former Labour prime minister James Ramsay MacDonald. He became a Labour member of Parliament in 1929. In 1935 and 1938, he was appointed colonial secretary.
From 1941 until 1946, MacDonald was high commissioner in Canada. He then served as governor general of Malaya (now part of Malaysia), Singapore, and British Borneo (now Brunei and part of Malaysia) until 1948. In that year, he was appointed commissioner general for Southeast Asia. He retained that post until 1955. From 1949 to 1961, he also served as chancellor of the University of Malaya. He died on Jan. 11, 1981, in London.
