TWO weeks ago, a reporter from the print media, working on a supplement that his paper was planning to produce to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the birth of Malaysia, was asking me what role I played in the formation of Malaysia, and whether I knew about the Sarawak’s ‘18-points’ or heard of the ‘Kapit Resolutions’?
The first question should have been addressed to someone more important than I am. The second is difficult to answer; the third is easy to find. All documented.
I obliged him but had to be careful with the answers lest I got entangled in the web of the Sedition Act.
Formation of Malaysia
When the proposal to form the Federation of Malaysia consisting of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei was being mooted in 1961 and when it was finally formed – minus Brunei – two years later, I was thousands of miles away, studying.
Although most overseas students had no hand in its formation, yet many of them were quite aware of the Great Malaysia Project and quite concerned of its possible impact on their lives.
In 1962, Sardon Jubir of Malaya and Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Kheng Swee of Singapore were in New Zealand, to sell the Malaysia Concept to the students of Victoria University, urging them to support the formation of an enlarged federation in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Still unclear about details of the scheme, as president of the Borneo Students Association, I wrote to the Tunku, seeking assurances of preservation of native rights over land, of guaranteed usage of native languages, of their freedom to practise their own religions, of their positions in the civil service, and of the opportunities for them in the economic field.
I got no reply.
By the time I returned to Kuching, Malaysia had already been in existence for almost two years. The song ‘Malaysia Berjaya’ filled the air everywhere – from “Perlis sampailah ke Sabah”.
My input, for what it was worth, was my association with the federal Ministry for Sarawak Affairs. As the minister, Temenggong Jugah, was an indefatigable traveller. I accompanied him up and down the countryside, mostly walking and by boat.
Helicopters were seldom available at the time. Sending regular reports to the PM’s department involved making trips to KL, which became a second home. These confidential reports had to be personally handed over to the PM’s office.
I must say that I encountered no problems while working with the officers in the peninsula, some of whom I have maintained friendships with to this day.
What did Jugah and team achieve in all these efforts to make Malaysia work? Only history will tell.
As for the second question. I have not been able to locate any document called ‘Sarawak’s 18-points’ as such. Still searching for it. However, in the Report Of The Inter-Governmental Committee, 1962, there were subjects of great importance.
The Honourable Members of the Council Negri, while welcoming the decision in principle of the British and Malayan governments to establish Malaysia on Aug 31, 1963, had inserted a proviso that the special interests of Sarawak would be safeguarded.
The report also contained proposed constitutional arrangements in respect of religion, immigration, education, citizenship, federal legislature, State Constitution, distribution of legislative powers, land, National Council for Local Government, financial provisions, elections, the judiciary, public service, national language, special position of the indigenous races, constitutional safeguards, proceedings questioning the validity of a federal or state law, existing laws, emergency powers, transitional arrangements for federal departments, pending legal proceedings, international agreements for financial and technical aid, and consent of Conference of Rulers.
Please count. How many points are there?
The motion in two parts was moved and accepted without dissent. That sealed our fate in Malaysia.
The Kapit Resolutions
Now there’s a document which is not widely known to the general public: The Kapit Resolutions. On Feb 15, 1962 – before the Cobbold Commission reached Kapit to survey opinions regarding the Malaysia Project – Temenggong Jugah had initiated a conference for 51 chiefs of the district. They discussed the Malaysia Plan and passed 13 resolutions to accept Malaysia with several conditions, as follows:
-The Head of the state of Sarawak to be a native of Sarawak;
-The Head of each state in the Federation of Malaysia to be eligible in due course to be the Head of the Federation of Malaysia;
-Adat Lama (traditional customs) to remain under the control of the government of the state of Sarawak as it has until today;
-Land to be under the control of the state;
-English to remain the official language of the state of Sarawak and to continue to be one of the official languages of Malaysia;
-Freedom of religious worship;
-There is to be adequate representation for Sarawak in the federal government; British officers to remain until replaced by properly qualified local people. Natives to have a fair share of government employment;
-Sarawak natives to enjoy the same status and privileges as Malays in Malaya; education to be a federal subject and to be equalised throughout Malaysia as soon as possible. Sarawak natives to have a fair share of overseas scholarships; immigration to remain under the control of the state of Sarawak;
-Powers reserved in the Constitution of a state may not be changed without the agreement of the state;
-Development in Sarawak to be accelerated.
These were the demands of the 51 chiefs in Kapit, while those Iban chiefs and opinion leaders in the Second Division had also produced their own resolutions.Among their demands were that: “Malaysia would be made a republic and the Head of the Federation would be styled ‘president’ …English would be retained as the medium of instruction in schools, and Iban to be taught as a subject.
Sarawak be designated a secular state and that assistance from federal funds be given to all religious groups.”
The above will probably be subjects of conversation this week. Just don’t go overboard with extreme views; treat these submissions as views of people who sincerely gave their opinions without fear – during the colonial rule.
As many of the proposals have been incorporated in the Federal Constitution and even enacted as law (Immigration Act), the rest of the proposals were obviously not considered. They may be of academic interest and kept in the archive to gather dust.
Now, on Tuesday, we will celebrate Malaysia Day on a grander scale – a far cry from the small gathering organised by the former state legislator Dominique Ng at the Central Padang a few years ago.
The day has finally been recognised as important in the history of Malaysia.
Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].