1942 in Malaya

This article lists important figures and events in the public affairs of British Malaya during the year 1942, together with births and deaths of prominent Malayans. Malaya was occupied by Japanese forces at this time.

Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WW2" acronym
 * 6–8 January – WW2: Battle of Slim River
 * 11 January – WW2: Kuala Lumpur falls to the Imperial Japanese Army
 * 14 January – WW2: Battle of Gemas
 * 14–22 January – WW2: Battle of Muar
 * 23 January – WW2: Parit Sulong Massacre
 * 26–27 January – WW2: Battle off Endau
 * 31 January – WW2: By this date, all of Malaya was under Japanese control.
 * 12–15 February – WW2: Battle of Pasir Panjang
 * 18 February-8 March – WW2: Sook Ching Massacre

Births

 * 24 February – Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad – Politician
 * 20 March – Abdullah Hassan – Linguist
 * 26 March – Muhammad Haji Salleh – Writer and National Sasterawan
 * 15 April – Rais Yatim – Politician
 * 20 April – Khadijah Hashim – Writer and author
 * 28 April - Sarimah Ahmad – Actress
 * 5 May – Shamsuri Arshad – Former Deputy Inspector General of Police
 * 25 July – Wan Zahidi bin Wan Teh – Federal Territory mufti
 * 31 August – Mahyon Ismail – Actor (died 2011)
 * 15 December – Hashim Bin Hj. Karim – Former Economic Advisor to former Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
 * Unknown date – Hassan bin Ahmad – Penang mufti
 * Unknown date – S. Jibeng – Singer (died 2006)

Deaths

 * 14 February – Adnan Saidi – Malay warrior
 * 18 July – Lim Kang Sek – Communist commander of the Dalforce
 * 31 July – Adam Lim – Member of the Central Committee of the Malayan Communist Party
 * 9 August – Huang Cheng – Second highest ranking leader of the Malayan Communist Party
 * 1 September – Li Zhenzhong – Member of the Central Committee of the Malayan Communist Party