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An Old Belt With Snake Buckle From The Federated Malay States Police
From 1930 the Federated Malay States Police underwent some changes when the Government formed the Unified Colonia police service. The aim was to standardize the services of all the police forces in the British Colonies. Training for the Malay States Police and the Straits Settlements Police were centralized at the Bluff Road Depot, Selangor (now known as Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur).
The uniform consisted of:
Cream cap (tarboosh) with black tassel
Long-sleeved cream shirt with straight collar
Cream shirt trousers
Black leather belt with snake shaped buckle
High white anklets
Metal lanyard
Police number pinned on the collar
Buttons with FMS symbol
Black leather shoes.
The uniform changed again in 1948 as pressure from the people and the change the county’s name from the Malayan Union (formed 1946) to the Federation of Malaya. The snake buckled belt remained but there were other changes”
The cap was replaced by a round blue/black cap with bobble and badge
The shirt became short-sleeved
The short trousers were khaki
Blue stockings wee added
Anklets became brown
The rest remained as before.
The belt in our collection is well worn and the leather is cracking.