 In Tanjung Malim, the British halved food rations on the town after the population refused to give them information on communist activities.The British resorted to collective punishment and enacted a 22-hour curfew on all civilians, then surrounded the town in barbed wire and sentry towers.The Briggs Plan and the New Village internment camps had succeeded in segregating the civilian population from the MNLA guerrillas in the jungles and severely damaged their ability to continue fighting.