Sarawak may leave Malaysia sooner than expected

Written by: Dr. John Brian
Anthony

Federal Government proposed
to have 1 additional Army
Division in Sabah and additional
Brigade strength for Sarawak.
What is the meaning and
implication of this proposal? Is
the Federal Gov’t worried
about the rising sentiment in
Sarawak to get out of
Malaysia? Sarawakian feel than
Kuala Lumpur is colonizing the
State in every sense of the
word.

Sarawak against the British
colony

Just the other day I had
discussion with some friends
who wanted to know whether
Sarawak is serious about getting
out of Malaysia as seen in many
blogs and Face Book discussion.
Frankly, Sarawakian felt colonize
by Malaya today. From History,
Sarawak responded negatively
towards Britain when Sarawak
was a colony that one of
Sarawak son killed the British
Government by plunging a knife
into the gentlemen while
inspecting a parade given in
honour of the Governor’s visit.
The British Governor
subsequently died.

Prior to being made a colony
under British rule many Dayak
War Chiefs fought wars with the
Brookes. Of all the War chiefs,
Rentap was the most famous
for being able to defeat the
Brooke army twice and made his
last stance at Bukit Sadok.

Is Sarawak a colony of Malaya?

If you look at the Federal
Government policies and their
approach towards taking
Sarawak natural resources
wealth and also the way
Sarawak is being develop at
snail pace into the “3rd
poorest state in Malaysia”,
these are evident enough. In the
Federal civil service, Federal
Government make sure that the
top post are held by their people
which is against the
Borneonization of the Civil
Service.

Politically, Sarawak reject UMNO
at all cost so as not to put the
last nail into the Sarawak coffin
of being made a colony of
Malaya.

Taib’s response to Prime
Minister political pressure

In the recent election in April
2012, Taib Mahmud has to
demand that the Governor
swore him to be the next Chief
Minister of Sarawak on the
evening that the State election
result was announced. Taib was
not ready to be replaced as the
chief Minister as demanded by
Najib. Actually, before the
election Taib “commit” to
step down as Chief Minister
after 2 years into the current
term. Will this happen we are
awaiting for the change by end
of 2012 or early 2013.

What was heard was that Taib
threaten to pull Sarawak out of
Malaysia if Federal Government
continue to undermined the
Government and politics within
Sarawak. Subsequently, Najib
left Taib alone and do not say a
word about Taib’s retirement.

Federal Government response

In Sabah, Dr. Jeffery Kitinggan
used the STAR party to agitate
for Sabah rights as agreed
through the 20 points
agreement signed before the
formation of Malaysia. The
document is signed under
United Nation Treaty
supervision.

In Sarawak, the spirit of anti-
Malaya due to its colonizing
approach is rising. Sarawak
today is being colonize in all
aspects, education, commerce,
religion, politics, social structure
and even government through
BN.

Malaya took the wealth of
Sarawak and gave back
“crumps” as development
fund. Malaya take all the
important Ministry, took all the
important post in the civil
service, dismantle Sarawak
Ranger and install Malay
regiment.

Just yesterday, the Army
threaten Sabah Sarawak by
proposing to put in another
Division of Army in Sabah and
Brigade strength in Sarawak.

This army is not to guard the
security of Sarawak / Sabah as
there is no external threat but
more to ensure that the Federal
Government can put down any
of Sarawak intention to leave
Malaysia.

In Sarawak, many of us sleep
through this new development
because as usual we do not
want to pay attention to what
Federal Government is doing to
Sarawak. By the time this event
of a brigade being placed in
Sarawak and the Brigade start
to take action then we find out
that we are being pro-actively
subdued by force in Sarawak.

Conclusion

The Federal Government will not
change its approach in dealing
with Sarawak. The revenue from
oil and gas for that matter
contributed to 40% of
Malaysia’s income and the
main source of corrupt money
for UMNO leaders. The BN
supporters in Sarawak thought
that UMNO really care for
Sarawak. The answer is NO,
Sarawak will continue to be
poor. If the Federal government
response by giving Sarawak
more development fund, then
Taib and his political cronies will
take it to keep.

The people of Sarawak are now
being squeeze between a hard
surface and granite rock. Dayak
poverty is good as a source of
BN support. Sarawak being poor
is reason enough that the
Federal Government think that
they know what is best for
Sarawak and they will continue
not to hand back Sarawak oil
and gas wealth to Sarawak.
In the coming PRU 13, when you
vote for BN you are voting for
continued poverty of Sarawak
and to allow our oil and gas
money to be in the hand of
UMNO / BN.

UBAH meh! Change WE Must.

dayakbaru.com/weblog08/2012/02/11/sarawak-may-leave-malaysia-sooner-than-expected/#more-11517

KEJAYAAN MALAYA, KEHANCURAN SABAH

Oleh : JAMES AIT

SETELAH Perjanjian Malaysia
ditandatangani oleh wilayah
Singapura, Malaya, Sabah dan
Sarawak, maka dunia
mencipta satu lagi sejarah
selepas perang dunia di asia,
ia itu penyatuan wilayah
menjadi sebuah negara
bernama Malaysia.

Agak sedih kerana tanpa
pengetahuan Sabah dan
Sarawak, Singapura sama
ada dikeluarkan atau
menarik balik atau
sememangnya telah bermain
wayang untuk memikat
Sabah dan Sarawak supaya
bersetuju membentuk
Malaysia kini menjadi satu
tanda tanya yang tidak
pernah terjawab sama ada
oleh Singapura atau Malaya,
ialah kenapa wilayah rakan
kongsi Sabah dan Sarawak
tidak dijemput berbincang
mengenai Singapura tidak
bersama-sama Malaysia.

Peristiwa demi peristiwa
selepas itu, seolah-olah
menjadi jawapan kenapa
Singapura tidak bersama-
sama Malaysia dan kenapa
Sabah dan Sarawak tidak
dijemput bersama mengenai
hasrat Singapura tidak lagi
bersama-sama Malaysia.

Malaya telah berjaya
mendesak Sabah menghalau
pegawai-pegawai British di
Borneo dan menggantikan
dengan pegawai-pegawai
daripada Malaya yang
sepatutnya diisi oleh rakyat
Sabah sendiri.

Apabila Tun Mustapha tidak
bersetuju dengan perjanjian
petroleum cadangan Malaya,
Tun Mohd. Fuad Stephens
dijadikan alat untuk
menjatuhkan USNO pimpinan
Tun Mustapha melalui parti
BERJAYA. Menyedari bahawa
Tun Mohd. Fuad Stephens
juga tidak bersetuju dengan
perjanjian petroleum itu,
maka terjadilah Peristiwa
Double Six yang
mengorbankan enam orang
pemimpin Sabah termasuk
Tun Mohd. Fuad Stephens.

Belum pun habis masa
berkabung rakyat Sabah
kepada pemimpin yang
telibat dalam Tragedy Double
Six, perjanjian petroleum
telah pun ditandatangani di
mana Sabah berhak
memperolehi 5% hasil
petroleum Sabah sementara
95% adalah untuk Malaya.

Tidak lama selepas itu, Pulau
Labuan telah bertukar nama
Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan.
Kebanjiran pendatang asing
mulai terasa. Tanda-tanda
ekonomi Sabah mula dikuasai
orang asing juga mula
kelihatan.

AWISS (Anak Warisan India
Seluruh Sabah) adalah bas
express pertama di Sabah
yang beroperasi dari Sabah
ke Beaufort. Apabila rakyat
Sabah memilih PBS (Parti
Bersatu Sabah) menerajui
kepimpinan Sabah, Malaya
telah memecahbelahkan para
pemimpinnya dan menyertai
UMNO yang telah memujuk
Tun Mustapha supaya USNO
dimusnahkan.

Untuk menguatkan
kedudukan UMNO di Sabah,
maka berlakulah pemberian
kad pengenalan kepada
orang asing yang mencari
makan di Sabah dan
mendaftarkan mereka
sebagai pengundi. Banyak
perkara berlaku untuk
kepentingan Malaya di Sabah.

Kejayaan Malaya menjajah
Sabah melalui UMNO dalan
Barisan Nasional, telah
mengubah perlembagaan
untuk kepentingan Malaya,
termasuk penambahan
kerusi Parlimen dan DUN di
mana hampir keseluruhan
kerusi tambahan diambil oleh
UMNO.

Walau pun calon daripada
parti UMNO adalah Orang
Sabah (sama ada hasil projek
IC) sokongan mereka adalah
kepada Malaya dan bukan
kepada kepentingan rakyat
Sabah.

Hari ini, rakyat Sabah telah
menyedari perkara ini.
Rakyat Sabah sedang
berhadapan dengan cabaran.
Warga asing yang telah
mendapat kad pengenalan
projek UMNO, berusaha
mempertahankan UMNO.
Rakyat Sabah tidak ada
pilihan, selain bersatu tanpa
mengira fahaman politik,
anutan agama dan suku
bangsa. Sabah adalah milik
rakyat Sabah. Rakyat Sabah
berhak menikmati kekayaan
dan hak kemerdekaannya
yang diperlolehi pada 31
Ogos 1963. Rakyat Sabah
berhak mempertahankan
tanah airnya dan maruah
bangsanya demi untuk
generasi bangsa Sabah.

sabahkinimirror.blogspot.com/2012/02/kejayaan-malaya-kehancuran-sabah.html

Not easy for philippines to claim Sabah

Another interesting Thesis
written by Filipino Scholar
Ruben G. Domingo, for his
Master of Science in
Resource Planning and
Management for
International Defence
Degree at Philippine Military
Academy entitled “The
Muslim Secessionist
Movement in The Philippines
issues and
prospects" (1995) reads
"The Sultan of Brunei who
originally ruled Sabah ceded
it to the Sultan of Sulu in
1704 as a reward for
helping suppress an
uprising in his domain. In
1878, the Sultan's
successor, Jamalul Azam,
leased the territory to
William Cowie and Baron
von Overbeck for 5,000
Malaysian Dollars.

Overbeck was then the
Austrian consul at Hong
Kong and former local
manager of the British
opium firm of Dent and
Company. Whether the
terms of the deal were that
Sabah was ceded or leased
would become the bone of
contention between
Malaysia and the Philippines.
Soon after the agreement,
the British North Borneo
was formed and awarded a
royal charter.

A treaty signed in 1930 by
the United States and the
British Crown circumscribed
the future territorial
jurisdiction of the soon to
be established Philippines
Republic. This treaty DID
NOT INCLUDE SABAH within
the boundaries of Spanish,
American or Philippines
jurisdiction. Then, six days
after the Philippines was
granted independence, the
British North Borneo
Company turned all its
rights and obligations to
the British Government,
which in turn asserted full
sovereign rights over Sabah
through the North Borneo
Cession Order.

www.malaysia-today.net
/mt
colum
ns/letterssurat/
47039-the-
establishment-of-the-philippine-charges-daffair
s-in-sabah-has-long
-been-overdue

To philippines:don't easyly to claim Sabah!if Sabah want to secede out from malaysia,that's not to be a part of philippines!.that because we want to rule our own country!don't disturb us!stop your claim now!

To sabahan:we no need to worry.we have back up as a commonwealth country.

‘Give us equality; give us freedom’

I saw this ‘Sabah and Sarawak
should get out of Malaysia’
caption on social network
Facebook and was drawn to its
prominence.

It is, I believe, an indication that
the sentiment is gathering
steam and I wondered how this
could happen to the younger
generation of Sabah and
Sarawak.

What did the Sabah and
Sarawak youths see and
experience in Malaysia today
that have made them so angry.
Isn’t the Barisan Nasional (BN)
government trying to make
them happy?

I can only conclude that many of
these young educated minds are
able to collect information from
all sources, analyze it and make
their own conclusions.

They have concluded that Sabah
and Sarawak have lost their
inalienable right to be free. They
are now nothing but a colony of
Malaya.

The postings seem to sum up
the pent up frustrations and
anger of the youths.
To give you an insight into their
thoughts, I’ve posted some of
their views below:

Colonised states

“Sabah and Sarawak joined
Malaya and Singapore to form
Malaysia in the hope of a better
future.

“In the end all they see are
land grabs and powerful illegal
immigrants who can vote the
government they want.

“They see job opportunities
lost to Malayan people and their
natural resources raped and
channelled to Malaya.

“They see themselves bullied
by officials who run the
religious department and
interfere in their faith.

“They see themselves deprived
of premier education
opportunity and made poor by a
government that could not care
less.

“They see quite simply that all
in all the future of Sabah and
Sarawak is not going to be
better under the colonial
policies (ketuanan melayu) of
Malaya.”

‘We are building a nation, not
a race’

Another posting reads:

“Unfortunately the current
state leaders are corrupt to the
bone.

“The whole BN component
parties members are longing for
fast short term financial gains.

“They have left the poor
people with little or nothing to
enjoy. The “racialist” policy
of BN Umno are bringing
disunity instead of a strong a
united country.

“But the leaders of BN refused
to acknowledge their folly. BN
think that they are all powerful
and whatever they say goes.

“Educated young people do
not agree to such approach. We
are building a nation – not a
race, or making a religion
supreme.

“Our history and identity are
different; how are you going to
make that homogeneous. As
citizen of Malaysia we should
have equal rights.

“It seems Malaysia is practicing
‘Animal Farm’ politics as
written by George Owell.

“In Animal Farm, Orwell wrote
that “all animals are equal but
some animals are more equal
then others”.

“That statement seemed to
describe what is Malaysia today
very well”.

Take us out of Malaysia

Yet another posting further
affirms that youths of Sabah
and Sarawak are resisting this
colonization policy of the
federal government.

Says this posting: “Many
people have been put under the
Internal Security Act (ISA)
detention because they
advocate the idea that Sabah
and Sarawak should get out of
Malaysia if they want to
progress.

“Sabah and Sarawak are
prohibited to get out of Malaysia
by law.

“If you want Sabah and
Sarawak to get out of Malaysia,
you have to hold a referendum
or get ready to fight a civil war
with Malaya as the “colonial
master”.

“But we do not need to resort
to fight. The 18 and 20 points
agreement posses all the
element to make Sabah and
Sarawak autonomous.

“Some of the points have been
incorporated in the Federal
Constitution but (past and
present) BN leaders either out of
greed or simple ignorance if not
plain stupidity did not take
these historical circumstances
seriously.

“The “National Integration”
policy pushed for Ketuanan
Melayu ideas and by doing so
marginalized the people of
Sabah and Sarawak.

“It has deprived us of equal
rights and opportunities”.

Ruling governments forewarned
Succint views. It seems the
youths of Sabah and Sarawak
have decided to change
themselves and defend the
autonomy principle as
embedded in the 18 and 20
point agreements inked with
the Federation of Malaya in
1963.

It is BN federal government’s
choice whether to turn a blind
eye and put cotton wool in their
ears so that the voices of the
Sabah and Sarawak Youth would
not be heard.

This is an excerpt from the
writer’s Dayakbaru.com blog

www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/09/01/give-us-equality-give-us-freedom/

S'pore won't return, but if Umno keeps on bullying, Sabah and Sarawak may leave

Expelled Pas legislator Hassan
Ali’s theory that Dap will
eventually push for
Singapore’s return to Malaysia,
a scare-mongering tactic in
reverse, does not hold water.
This reminds us of Singapore
veteran Lee Kuan Yew warning
his people not so long ago that
the island may have to return to
Malaysia, literally on bended
knees, if it fails to make its way
in the world.
There are many reasons why
Singapore will not or cannot
return to Malaysia but a few
salient points will suffice for the
moment to put the point across.
By the end of 2010,
Singapore’s GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) overtook
Malaysia’s by US$ 5 billion to
reach US$ 210 billion. This is
despite the island state having
no natural resources, even
sufficient water, and very little
land and encircled by hostile,
fanatical populations.
The Singapore dollar, to which
the Brunei ringgit is linked and/
or pegged, is also going at RM
2.50 sen.
As one result, Malaysia had to
literally give away the Iskandar
Development Region in south-
east Johore to Singapore as an
extension of it to complement
and supplement continued
development, nay as a semi-
colony of sorts.
Still, Hassan’s hare-brained
theory is worth re-visiting but in
the reverse.
Sabah and Sarawak the time-
bombs
The more likely scenario is that
Sabah and Sarawak, on the other
side of the South China Sea, is
likely to exit the Malaysian
Federation within the next five
to 15 years.
The writing is on the wall
although Putrajaya has strived to
avert or at least delay this
inevitability, indefinitely, by not
allowing non-Muslims from the
Dusun – including Kadazan or
urban Dusun and Murut -- and
Dayak communities to be Chief
Minister of the respective states.
For added “security”,
Putrajaya has turned a blind eye
while hordes of impoverished
illegal immigrants continue to
flood into the two states and
enter the electoral rolls by the
backdoor.
Different from Penang
Some even postulate that the
Umno Government will kick out
Penang from Malaysia in the
same manner as it did in 1965
with Singapore. This is an
unlikely scenario since the
number of non-Chinese
residents in Penang, especially
Malay-speaking communities,
equal that of the Chinese.
In Singapore, in 1965, the
Chinese formed 75 per cent of
the island’s population and
this figure has relatively changed
little since then.
It’s a different scenario
altogether in Sabah and Sarawak
where the demographic make-
up doesn’t make a difference.
The increasing possibility that
Sabah and Sarawak will quit
Malaysia is in fact a continuation
of the story of Singapore’s
expulsion in 1965 from the
Federation and the refusal of
Brunei, at the 11th hour, to be a
member of the enlarged
Federation which emerged from
the Federation of Malaya.
Singapore’s exit saw the
definition of “Federation” in
the Federal Constitution changed
to reduce the status of Sabah
and Sarawak from being equal
partners of the States of Malaya
in the collective, as represented
by the old Federation of Malaya,
to being just one of the many
states in the “Federation”.
In short, the Federation of
Malaysia ceased to exist in 1965
following Singapore’s exit and
the defunct Federation of Malaya
re-emerged at the same time to
masquerade as the “new”
Federation of Malaysia.
The result of this dramatic shift
in fortunes has been that the
Federal Government refused
and/or saw no need to comply
with the terms of the 1963
Malaysia Agreement. It was
under this Agreement that Sabah
and Sarawak agreed, along with
Singapore, Brunei (opted out)
and Malaya, to form the
Federation of Malaysia.
Singapore's seats were grabbed,
so was oil
Singapore’s exit also saw
Malaya taking seven of the
island’s 15 seats in the
Malaysian Parliament instead of
all of them going to Sabah and
Sarawak.
The arrangement in 1963 was
that Malaya should have less
than two-thirds of the seats in
Parliament in order to ensure
that other territories in the
Federation – Sabah, Sarawak,
Brunei – would have veto power.
Today, Malaya has more than
two-thirds of the seats in
Parliament – 165 vs 57 including
Labuan – vis-à-vis Sabah and
Sarawak. Hence, the rationale for
Sabah and Sarawak to continue
to be in the so-called Federation
of Malaysia further falls apart.
When push comes to shove the
crunch will come when the
debate re-opens on the oil
royalty for Sabah and Sarawak.
A one-sided oil agreement of
1976 sees the Federal
Government and Petronas, the
national oil corporation, giving
only five per cent royalty for oil
and gas production from wells in
the inner waters – very few and
either dry or increasingly drying
– and none from the infinitely
vast number of wells in the outer
waters.
The result has been that Sabah
and Sarawak have been reduced
over the last nearly 50 years to
being the poorest and second
poorest states respectively in
Malaysia.
Now, even an upward review in
the presently measly five per
cent will be utterly meaningless
if the outer waters are excluded
in the calculation.
There also remains the fact that
any upward review of the oil
royalty would have to be, in all
fairness, backdated to 1976
when the virtual theft began,
and interest paid on the arrears
at the statutory 8 per cent per
annum, and compounded yearly.
For how long can they silence
Sabah and Sarawak
This is a situation which the
Umno-led Federal Government
will never accept in a million
years since the loot since 1976
has either disappeared into
private pockets in Peninsular
Malaysia or been squandered
away with no thought for
tomorrow and future
generations.
Malaysia will be bankrupt if
Sabah and Sarawak press their
legitimate claims on the oil
royalty issue. But that doesn’t
mean a stalemate on both sides.
The recent examples of Timor
Leste, Acheh, and South Sudan –
and the continuing issue of
Darfur and South Kordofan – all
on the oil issue, shows that
history and international law is
on the side of Sabah and
Sarawak. Timor Leste and South
Sudan both became independent
through the intervention of the
UN Security Council while Acheh
gained autonomy. Darfur and
South Kordofan are work in
progress.
It’s not true that only states
can bring applications to the UN
Security Council. Any party can
do so as illustrated by the
application from the Syrian
Opposition now under
discussion at the UN Security
Council. It’s only a matter of
time before Sabah and Sarawak
bring up their oil and gas
reserves at the UN Security
Council. Putrajaya cannot
continue to squat on Sabah and
Sarawak forever.
Now you know why Taib
Mahmud and Musa Aman are so
powerful
The inevitable result will be the
exit of Sabah and Sarawak, the
two poorest states, from the so-
called Federation of Malaysia.
Only independence from
Malaysia under UN supervision
will enable Sabah and Sarawak to
find their true destiny in the
international community of
nations.
Is it any wonder now, the likes of
Sarawk Chief Minister Taib
Mahmud and Sabah's Musa
Aman, have been given a free
hand in the running of the states,
despite a mountain of
complainst and blatant evidence
of corruption including land-
grabbing, timber abuse and rape
of indigenous women by
workers of crony firms.
Without them to suppress the
Sarawak and Sabah people, the
two states would have long fled
the Federation, unable to
withstand the bullying from
Umno.
Malaysia Chronicle

MALAYSIA AGREEMENT, SUBSTRATUM OF THE FEDERATION

By : DATUK PATRICK SINDU
THE MALAYSIA Agreement is a
legally binding agreement
which was duly signed by the
representatives of the five
parties [namely, The united
Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, The
Federation of Malay, North
Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and
Singapore ] to the Agreement.
The sole objective of the
Agreement is the formation of
the Federation of Malaysia
among Malaya, North Borneo
(Sabah), Sarawak and
Singapore as equal partners.
The inclusion of the United
Kingdom as party and a
signatory to the Agreement
seems only to be a father
figure especially in respect of
the Borneo states of Sabah and
Sarawak and the state of
Singapore over whose
sovereigntiesand jurisdictions
were still vested with it.
It can also be said that the
United King dom was a
necessary witness to the
Agreement to see that when it
has finally relinquished its
sovereignity and jurisdiction
over Sabah, Sarawak and the
state of Singapore the vital
conditions, such as the ’20
Points’ safeguards for Sabah,
upon which they agreed to be
federated with Malaya to form
the Federation of Malaysia are
observed, incorporated,
implemented and respected.
The Malaysia Agreement
incorporated various
documents (as annexed to it)
including the Malaysia Bill,
which would then be the
Malaysia Act, 1968. These
incorporated documents
include the terms of
participationand constitutional
arrangements upon which
Sabah and Sarawak were
enticed to form Malaysia.
The Malaysia Agreement should
also be subject to the
intentions of the signatories to
it made before it was legally
concluded. Such intentions
include the understanding that
the four signatories to the
Agreement, namely the
Federation of Malay, Sabah,
Sarawak and Singapore are
forming Malaysia as equal
partners.
This is by virtue of the fact hat
Malaysia was regarded by all
concerned as merely an
association of the above
partners, combining in their
common interests to create a
new nation but retaining their
won individualities.
When Singapore was Expelled
from the Federation of
Malaysia in 1965 the
immediate question that arises
is what happened to the
Malaysia Agreement which it
had duly signed? The expulsion
of Singapore no doubt affected
the constitutional
arrangements as well as the
constitutional position of
Sabah and Sarawak within the
Federation of Malaysia.
The Malaysia Agreement should
have been in validated and
follows that the legal entity of
Federation of Malaysia is a
nullity because the expulsion
of Singapore, one of the
signatories of the above
Agreement, affected the
substratum of the Federation
itself.
Neither the Malaysia
Agreement nor the Federal
Constitutional of Malaysia
provides for the expulsion of
any partners of the Federation
of Malaysia. Has the Prime
Minister or the Parliament of
Malaysia the power to expel
Singapore?
The expulsion of Singapore
could not be subject to the
resolution of the Malaysia
Parliament for that would be
entitling (which they were not)
the dominant 104 Members of
Parliament of the eleven (11)
States of Malaya to decide it as
against the minority thirty-six
(36) Members of Parliament
from Sabah and Sarawak.
Even if Sabah and Sarawak
disapproved the expulsion
(which is doubted whether
they had been given the chance
to) the States of Malaya would
still have obtained a two-thirds
majority or more to make the
decision of Sabah and Sarawak
to disapprove the expulsion a
futility.
The respective states of Malaya
should have no right to decide
whether or not Singapore
should be expelled from
Federation of Malaysia. This is
because they did not form
Malaysia Agreement,
individually as partners or
signatories of the Agreement.
They formed Malaysia as a
Federation of Malaya with
Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak.
And since these four
signatories of the Malaysia
Agreement entered into it as
equal ans single independent
signatories /partners it should
have been only appropriate
that each signatory/partner
had an equal vote (e.g. one
vote each) to decide whether
or not to expel anyone of them
from the Federation of
Malaysia.
This could be in the form of
representation by the leaders
of the respective partners. For
this purpose, the repective
state of Malaya should not
have the right or power to
decide the fate of Singapore in
the Federation of Malaysia.
Their voting right or power to
do so is only one vote each.
This view is in accord with their
equal and independent status
as signatories of the Malaysia
Agreement.
Accordingly, the decision to
expel Singapore should have
been left to the above three
remaining signatories of the
above Agreement, each having
equal voting right or power.
The expulsion affected the vital
things which Sabah and
Sarawak really bargained for
before they were persuaded to
form Malaysia. It affected their
respective representation in
Parliament.
For instance, to amend any of
the special privileges (mainly
the subjects of the 20 points)
granted to Sabah as enshrined
in the Federal Constitution
Parliament needs a two-birds
majority in the House of
Parliament. Before the
expulsion of Singapore the
combined states of West
Malaysia (Malaya) could never
obtained the two-thirds
majority without support from
either Sabah, Sarawak or
Singapore.
However, with the expulsion of
Singapore there was no need
for West Malaysia to get the
support from Sabah or
Sarawak for then they could
always obtained a two-thirds
majority or even more, and, it
means is easier for them to
make amendments of
modifications on the Federal
Constitution as.
When they wish to “With
Singapore’s departure the
ethnic equation returned to
one of peninsula Malay
dominance. This episode is a
clear case of the failure of
Federalism and national
integration” [Ref.
“Reflection on the Malaysian
Constitution” by Shafruddin
Hashim in ALIRAN 1986]
It is for these reasons that at
least there should have been a
review or re-examination of
Sabah and Sarawak’s terms
of entry into Malaysia. Yet,
Sabah was not even consulted
when Singapore was
unceremoniously expelled
from the Federationof
Malaysia. The withholding of
consultation is in itself a
breach of the Agreement in
that in deprived Sabahto
participate in making decision
for Malaysia of which it is an
equal partner
The need for Consultation
regarding the expulsion of
Singapore is more pressing for
Sabah when it is remembered
that it was Lee Kuan Yew
“who really worked hard to
establish rapport with the
mostly suspicious Borneo
leaders in an attempt to
persuade them to form the
Federation of Malaysia”.
At the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association
conference in Singapore in July,
1961 the Borneo leaders (no
British were present) met Lee
Kuan Yew who was the
greatest supporter of the
Malaysia idea. Lee Kuan Yew
used all his Power of
Persuasion to try to convince
the Borneo leaders to support
Tunku’s proposal. [Ref.
Interview of Datuk Ong Kee Hui
by j.p Ongkili in his book
‘Nation-building in Malaysia
1946-1974]’
The Federation of Malaya and
the state of Singapore wanted
Malaysia more than Sabah and
Sarawak wanted it. To them
Malaysia is a form of political
and economic survival. This is
evidenced by speeches of the
Tunku and Lee Kuan Yew made
before the formation of
Malaysia.
For instance, in the course of a
luncheon speech to the Foreign
Correspondents’ association
of South-East Asia in Singapore
on 27 May 1961, the Tunku
said ‘Malaya could not stand
alone in isolation44’ and
suggested that sooner or later
Malaya should have an
understanding with Britain and
the peoples of the territories of
Singapore, North Borneo
(Sabah), Brunei and Sarawak.
On Lee Kuan Yew, he made a
statement in 1961 that merger
is going to take place not just
because it is the desire of the
Peoples’ ActionParty or
merely because it is the wish of
the Federation Alliance
Government. It is as inevitable
as the rising and setting of the
sun.
To a certain extend, the
formation of Malaysia was also
a need for the United Kingdom.
As reported by “The Times”
dated 28 July 1961, it said
“British Strategic interest in
the are is shared by Australia
and New Zealand and some
common policy will have to be
evolved”.
The ‘area’ referred to is
South-East Asia and the
mentioned of ‘common
policy is in fact, in the form of
Malaysia where, perhaps, they
could preserve their influence
despite the rise of nasionalism
among colonial states and the
pressure from the United to
gice independence to such
colonial states.
The chairman of the COBBOLD
Comission made a pertinent
observation, which should be a
necessary condition that, “
from the outses, Malaysia
should be regarded by all
concerned as an association of
partners, combining in the
common interest to create a
new nation but retaining their
own individualities.
If any idea were to take root
that Malaysia would involve a
‘take over’ of the Borneo
territories by the Federation of
Malaya and the submersion of
the individualitiesof North
Borneo and Sarawak, Malaysia
would not, in my judgement,
be generally acceptable or
successful.(Ongkili, 1985).
In actual fact, the gradual
erosianof the Safeguards for
the Borneo States by the
Federal government seems to
be an act of submersion of
their respective individualities.
Therefore, if the Malaysia
Agreement is invalid, then
Malaysia as a nation is invalid,
void and lost is legal entity.
Malaysia is still in operation 48
years after the separation od
Singapore.
As has been presented earlier,
political developments within
the period did not permit
parties to the Malaysia
Agreement to review or
arguefor its review. Today as
the prevailing political
situation is changing for the
worse; it calls for a review of
the terms and condition of the
agreement. Meaning a
revalidation of the agreement
is necessary.
- Sabahkini