二戰後共產勢力的擴張，直接影響到西方民主陣營在世界的支配地位與利益。為了防止共產陣營進一步的擴展，民主國家開始採取一系列的防堵策略。新馬地區的英殖民政府自然也擔心當地的共黨份子和親共人士，利用華文教育作為宣傳共產思想的工具。因此他們一改戰前對華文教育的鬆散管理方式，而採取了加強管制和規範的政策。另一方面，也禁止中國與新馬人民的往來，以此來防範共黨人員的滲透。殖民政府的防堵策略，明顯對華文教育造成許多負面的影響。針對性的教育法令已經壓縮了華文教育的發展空間，而禁止兩地人民來往的移民政策，更使華文教育面對師資短缺、學生升學無門的困境。培養本地師資和為華校畢業生尋求深造出路，便成為華文教育繼續生存的突破途徑。為此，福建幫領袖陳六使分別在1950年和1953年提出華人自辦大學的建議，以此來解決華文教育面對的窘境。這項提議震撼整個新馬社會，支援和反對之聲此起彼落。在新馬複雜的政治與種族環境底下，華人社會自辦大學從一開始就不是一個單純的教育課題，而被捲入政治、種族的漩渦當中。本文將透過南洋大學（簡稱「南大」）創立的過程，來看整個新馬社會對這項運動的反應，並以此來探討這中間延伸的政治、教育與種族的矛盾。本文主要分為三個部份：首先是探索促成南大成立的主要推力；第二部份是探討殖民政府反對南大創辦的立場與態度。最後則是深入瞭解馬來民族（亦稱巫族）對南大的反應，而透過這項課題，華族與馬來族是否達成諒解，還是產生更深一層的矛盾？筆者將就以上部份進行分析。

After the World War Ⅱ, the influence of the Communist Party had expanded rapidly. The colonist government in Singapore and Malaysia worried that the members of the Communist Party and the pro-communist public would utilize Chinese education as an apparatus to disseminate the Communist ideology. As a result, they changed their loose management on Chinese education and strengthened the management and controlling policies. On the other hand, the communication between the Chinese people and the people of Singapore and Malaysia had been prohibited so as to prevent the seepage of communists. The prevention measures taken by the colonist government had suppressed the development space for the Chinese education. The policy that inhibited the communication of the two countries caused the Chinese education facing with shortage of teachers, while the students were caught in a dilemma of finding no way for their Chinese education. Having seen students caught by this situation, the leader of Fujian Clan, Mr Tan Lark Sye proposed in 1950 and 1953 respectively that the Chinese should set up their university themselves to solve the predicament currently faced by the Chinese education. Under the complicated political and racial environment, the Chinese society to set up their university themselves was not only a simple education issue. It had become an issue involving a whirlpool of political and racial tension. Through an analysis of the process of the establishment of Nanyang University (herein after abbreviated as "NU"), this essay examines the reaction of the colonist government and the response of the other races, thereby discussing the political, educational and racial contradictions extended in between. This essay comprises three parts: Firstly, the key force urging the establishment of NU has been discussed; secondly, the contradictions between the colonist government and the Chinese society upon the setup of NU have been analyzed; lastly, the responses of the Malay and the discrepancies between the two races have been further elaborated.