WHEN Datuk Amar James Wong Kim Min who was a member of the Sarawak Council Negeri for 45 years takes a look back and compiles his recollection of his speeches made at the Council in a book, anyone interested in the history of the state and nation should take notice.
Wong was already a member of the Sarawak Council Negeri in 1956 when the state was still under British colonial rule and it was only natural that the then young rising star in the state’s politics was chosen to be one of the pioneer members of the Council when Sarawak achieved independence through the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
He was involved in the formation of the nation even before its birth as he was member of the Sarawak delegation in the Malaysia Consultative Committee formed in 1962 to negotiate the terms of independence through the formation of Malaysia.
Wong is the only surviving member of that committee in Malaysia and the only other person involved in the committee still alive is former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew. (Singapore pulled out of Malaysia in 1965)
In the foreword of his book ‘Memories of Speeches made at the Council Negeri (From the Hansard) 1960-2001’ launched recently, Wong aptly wrote: “ … this publication is a valuable record for the younger generations to peep into the history of the work and activities of past leaders who had helped shaped the history, development and fate of the state.”
Indeed this book is an important reference for those studying the history of Sarawak and as a reminder of circumstances and conditions that led to the birth of Malaysia. This book is not a dry boring collection of political speeches, it is unexpectedly easy to read punctuated with patches of humour.
You would not have to go far into the book to raise your eyebrow and smile.
Wong began his recollection with the 66th meeting of the Council Negeri held on 23 March 1960 somewhat surprisingly with the maiden speech of the first lady member of the Council Negeri, Mrs Tra Zehnder (now Datuk Sri).
In her speech Tra Zehnder objected to the semi-nude postcards of Dayak women being sold in towns and airports. Back then it was not uncommon and socially accepted for women in the interior to go around bare breasted but by 1960 this custom was frowned upon by educated indigenous natives of Sarawak.
Her speech reflected this change in social norm, “People who have not travelled to the Ulu or do not know anything about the Dayak custom, get false impressions from these pictures. The pictures are not art in any sense. They are degrading to womanhood.”
That speech gives a fair indication of what follows in the rest of the book… a collection of opinions, arguments and decisions that played a vital role in shaping Sarawak’s social, economic and political transformation.
Of particular interest is the collection of speeches made during the sittings in 1962 when the idea of forming a new nation, Malaysia, that would encompass Sarawak as one of its regions was debated.
There was significant gap in his attendance of the sittings in the Council Negeri from 1974 to 1976 when Wong was incarcerated under Internal Security Act by the Federal government at Kamunting in Taiping Perak.
He had written a book on his experience under detention in one of his earlier books, ‘The Price of Loyalty’.
In this book he filled that gap with excerpts from that book in the last chapter, The Lost Years, which gives a poignant picture of the loneliness in the camp.
But true to his strong character Wong also wrote of pleasant moments and friendship forged during his detention.
His latest book also includes a brief history on Sarawak’s Legislative Council which held its first meeting on 8 September 1867 in Bintulu making it the oldest in Malaysia. It also includes a chapter on Wong’s personal experience in the events that led to the formation of Malaysia.
Shifting through the mountain of documents and selecting the speeches to be included in the book was a mammoth task and the spadework was admirably carried out by Hajah Rosenah Ahmad with the help of Lim Kian Hock, a former Secretary of the Dewan Undangan Negeri.
This recollection of political speeches of someone who played such a big role in the development of our state and formation of our nation must be valued by all Sarawakians.
This is a book that should be included in our reference libraries.