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4. DISCUSS THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA AND THE OPPOSITION IT FACED.

The concept of Malaysia, a merger of four territories of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak,

had its beginnings on 27 May 1961. It was announced by Tunku Abdul Rahman to a group of foreign

correspondents at the Adelphi Hotel in Singapore. It was widely supported, especially by Singapore

and the British Borneo territories.

Malaysia was a model of the successful balancing the many needs of its diverse population and

cultures. It was a timely strategy that would ease concerns of the worldwide balance of power within

the framework of the Cold War. Thus it was no surprise that the concept of Malaysia had general

international approval with only a few countries dissenting it at the United Nations.

The idea of merging was warmly endorsed by the Malaysian Solidarity Consultative Committee formed

to collect and collate views and opinions concerning the creation of a Federation of Malaysia. A series

of 4 such meetings were held to work out the constitutional, political and economic aspects of the new

nation.

With everyone putting forward their ideas, many doubts were resolved, especially Bumiputra special

rights for the indigenous peoples and the safeguarding of the legitimate interest of all other

communities. Finally on 3 February 1962, a realistic framework for the formation of Malaysia was

ironed out with the signing of a 44-point Memorandum agreed by all.

The final task involved the forming of a joint Anglo-Malayan Commission of Inquiry, headed by Lord

Cobbold, the former Governor of the Bank of England. Known as The Cobbold Commission, it was

tasked in February 1962 to ascertain the views of the people of North Borneo and Sarawak on the

formation of Malaysia and to make its recommendation. The Commission found overwhelming support

for Malaysia.

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*Brunei however, declined to join the new federation.

Crucial talks were held in London. Led by Tunku Abdul Rahman and British Prime Minister, Harold

Macmillan, this led to the conclusion of the Anglo-Malayan Agreement on Malaysia with specific targets

to be achieved.

When Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Father of Malaysia or Bapa Malaysia, retruned from London, he

announced that the birth of the new, independent and sovereign state of Malaysia had been set for 16

September 1963. He declared that in the new nation, there would be no distinction between race,

religion, class or creed.

Tension followed the formation of Malaysia with

Philippines braking off diplomatic relations with Malaysia, and

Indonesia declared a Confrontation with Malaysia

Singapore split from Malaysia to become an independent state in 1965.

Pragmatic diplomatic solution led to an agreement signed in Bangkok in 1966. This has allowed the

neighbours to enjoy the best of relations ever since.

The fact that Malaysia has survived and infact thrived is proof that the spirit of harmony lives in

Malaysia.

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EVENTS LEADING UP TO INDEPENDENCE The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of

Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the

British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese

Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress Tun

V.T. Sambanthan. Once it became increasingly clear that the Communist threat posed during the

Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on February 8, 1956, for Malaya to

gain independence from the British Empire. However, for a number of logistical and administrative

reasons, it was decided that the official proclamation of independence would only be made the next

year, on August 31, 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur.

AUGUST 31, 1957

On the night of August 30, 1957, crowds gathered at the Royal Selangor Club Padang in Kuala

Lumpur to witness the handover of power from the British. Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul

Rahman arrived at 11:58 pm and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing

two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and the Union

Flag in the square was lowered. The new Flag of Malaya was raised as the national anthem Negaraku

was played. This was followed by seven chants of 'Merdeka' by the crowd. Tunku Abdul Rahman gave

a speech hailing the ceremony as "greatest moment in the life of the Malayan people".

On the morning of Saturday, August 31, 1957, the festivities moved to the newly-completed Merdeka

Stadium. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony, which began at 9:30 am. Those in

attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet and

citizens. The Queen's representative, the Duke of Gloucester presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the

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instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence, which

culminated in the chanting of 'Merdeka' seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued

with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played and a

21-gun salute, followed by an azan call and a thanksgiving prayer in honor of this great occasion.

THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA

The Federation of Malaysia, comprising the States of Malaya, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah),

Sarawak and Singapore was to be officially declared on the date August 31, 1963, on the 6th

anniversary of Malayan independence. However, it was postponed to September 16, 1963, mainly due

to Indonesian and the Philippines' opposition to the formation of Malaysia. Nevertheless, North Borneo

and Singapore declared sovereignty on August 31, 1963. Indonesian opposition later escalated to a

military conflict. Indonesia considered Malaysia as a new form of colonization on the provinces of

Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo (bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia), which they laid claim

on. To assure Indonesia that Malaysia was not a form of neo-colonialism, a referendum, organized by

the United Nations, and the Cobbold Commission, led by Lord Cobbold, were formed to determine

whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak wished to join Malaysia. Their eventual findings which

indicated substantial support for Malaysia among the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, cleared the way

for the final proclamation of Malaysia.

The formation of the Federation of Malaysia was then announced on September 16, 1963 as

Malaysia Day. The nationwide Independence Day celebration is still held on August 31, the original

independence date of Malaya, while Malaysia Day was a public holiday only in East Malaysia.

However, this has caused some minor discontent among East Malaysians in particular since it has

been argued that celebrating the national day on August 31 is too Malaya-centric. In 2009, it was

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decided that starting 2010, Malaysia Day would be a nationwide public holiday in addition to Hari

Merdeka on August 31.

TOWARDS MALAYSIA

Chinese reaction against the MCP was shown by the formation of the Malayan Chinese Association

(MCA) in 1949 as a vehicle for moderate Chinese political opinion. Its leader, Tan Cheng Lock,

favoured a policy of collaboration with UMNO to win Malayan independence on a policy of equal

citizenship, but with sufficient concessions to Malay sensitivities to ease nationalist fears. Tan formed a

close collaboration with Tunku (Prince) Abdul Rahman, the Chief Minister of Kedah and from 1951

successor to Datuk Onn as leader of UMNO. Since the British had announced in 1949 that Malaya

would soon become independent whether the Malayans liked it or not, both leaders were determined to

forge an agreement their communities could live with as a basis for a stable independent state. The

UMNO-MCA Alliance (which was later joined by the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC)), won convincing

victories in local and state elections in both Malay and Chinese areas between 1952 and 1955.

The introduction of elected local government was another important step in defeating the Communists.

After Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, there was a split in the MCP leadership over the wisdom of

continuing the armed struggle. Many MCP militants lost heart and went home, and by the time Templer

left Malaya in 1954 the Emergency was over, although Chin Peng led a diehard group that lurked in the

inaccessible country along the Thai border for many years. The Emergency left a lasting legacy of

bitterness between Malays and Chinese.

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During 1955 and 1956 UMNO, the MCA and the British hammered out a constitutional settlement for a

principle of equal citizenship for all races. In exchange, the MCA agreed that Malaya’s head of state

would be drawn from the ranks of the Malay Sultans, that Malay would be the official language, and

that Malay education and economic development would be promoted and subsidised. In effect this

meant that Malaya would be run by the Malays, particularly since they continued to dominate the civil

service, the army and the police, but that the Chinese and Indians would have proportionate

representation in the Cabinet and the parliament, would run those states where they were the majority,

and would have their economic position protected. The difficult issue of who would control the

education system was deferred until after independence. This came on August 31, 1957, when Tunku

Abdul Rahman became the first Prime Minister of independent Malaya.

This left the unfinished business of the other British-ruled territories in the region. After the Japanese

surrender the Brooke family and the British North Borneo Company gave up their control of Sarawak

and Sabah respectively, and these became British Crown Colonies. They were much less economically

developed than Malaya, and their local political leaderships were too weak to demand independence.

Singapore, with its large Chinese majority, achieved autonomy in 1955, and in 1959 the young socialist

leader Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister. The Sultan of Brunei remained as a British client in his

oil-rich enclave. Between 1959 and 1962 the British government orchestrated complex negotiations

between these local leaders and the Malayan government.

In 1961, Abdul Rahman mooted the idea of forming "Malaysia", which would consist of Brunei, Malaya,

Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, all of which had been British colonies. The reasoning behind this was

that this would allow the central government to control and combat communist activities, especially in

Singapore. It was also feared that if Singapore achieved independence, it would become a base for

Chinese chauvinists to threaten Malayan sovereignty. To balance out the ethnic composition of the new

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nation, the other states, whose Malay and indigenous populations would cancel out the Singaporean

Chinese majority, were also included.

Although Lee Kuan Yew supported the proposal, his opponents from the Singaporean Socialist Front

resisted, arguing that this was a ploy for the British to continue controlling the region. Most political

parties in Sarawak were also against the merger, and in Sabah, where there were no political parties,

community representatives also stated their opposition. Although the Sultan of Brunei supported the

merger, the Parti Rakyat Brunei opposed it as well. At the Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference

in 1961, Abdul Rahman explained his proposal further to its opponents. In October, he obtained

agreement from the British government to the plan, provided that feedback be obtained from the

communities involved in the merger. The Cobbold Commission, named after its head, Lord Cobbold,

conducted a study in the Borneo territories and approved a merger with Sabah and Sarawak; however,

it was found that a substantial number of Bruneians opposed merger. A referendum was conducted in

Singapore to gauge opinion, and 70% supported merger with substantial autonomy given to the state

government. The Sultanate of Brunei withdrew from the planned merger due to opposition from certain

segments of its population as well as arguments over the payment of oil royalties and the status of the

Sultan in the planned merger. Additionally, the Bruneian Parti Rakyat Brunei staged an armed revolt,

which, though it was put down, was viewed as potentially destabilising to the new nation.

After reviewing the Cobbold Commission's findings, the British government appointed the Landsdowne

Commission to draft a constitution for Malaysia. The eventual constitution was essentially the same as

the 1957 constitution, albeit with some rewording. For instance, giving recognition to the special

position of the natives of the Borneo States. Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore were also granted some

autonomy unavailable to the states of Malaya. After negotiations in July 1963, it was agreed that

Malaysia would come into being on 31 August 1963, consisting of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and

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Singapore. The date was to coincide with the independence day of Malaya and the British giving self-

rule to Sarawak and Sabah. However, the Philippines and Indonesia strenuously objected to this

development, with Indonesia claiming Malaysia represented a form of "neocolonialism" and the

Philippines claiming Sabah as its territory. The opposition from the Indonesian government led by

Sukarno and attempts by the Sarawak United People's Party delayed the formation of Malaysia. Due to

these factors, an 8-member United Nations team had to be formed to re-ascertain whether Sabah and

Sarawak truly wanted to join Malaysia. Malaysia formally came into being on 16 September 1963,

consisting of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. In 1963 the total population of Malaysia was

about 10 million.

CHALLENGES OF INDEPENDENCE

At the time of independence Malaya had great economic advantages. It was among the world’s

leading producers of three valuable commodities, rubber, tin and palm oil, and also a significant iron

ore producer. These export industries gave the Malayan government a healthy surplus to invest in

industrial development and infrastructure projects. Like other developing nations in the 1950s and '60s,

Malaya (and later Malaysia) placed great stress on state planning, although UMNO was never a

socialist party. The First and Second Malayan Plans (1956–60 and 1961-65 respectively) stimulated

economic growth through state investment in industry and repairing infrastructure such as roads and

ports, which had been damaged and neglected during the war and the Emergency. The government

was keen to reduce Malaya’s dependence on commodity exports, which put the country at the mercy of

fluctuating prices. The government was also aware that demand for natural rubber was bound to fall as

the production and use of synthetic rubber expanded. Since a third of the Malay workforce worked in

the rubber industry it was important to develop alternative sources of employment. Competition for

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Malaya’s rubber markets meant that the profitability of the rubber industry increasingly depended on

keeping wages low, which perpetuated rural Malay poverty.

FOREIGN OBJECTION

Indonesian President Sukarno, backed by the powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), chose to

regard Malaysia as a "neocolonialist" plot against his country, and backed a Communist insurgency in

Sarawak, mainly involving elements of the local Chinese community. Indonesian irregular forces were

infiltrated into Sarawak, where they were contained by Malaysian and Commonwealth of Nations

forces. This period of Konfrontasi, an economic, political, and military confrontation lasted until the

downfall of Sukarno in 1966. The Philippines objected to the formation of the federation, claiming North

Borneo was part of Sulu, and thus the Philippines.In 1966 the new president, Ferdinand Marcos,

dropped the claim, although it has since been revived and is still a point of contention marring

Philippine-Malaysian relations

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