Since 2010, 16 September has been celebrated as a public holiday, known as the Malaysia Day.
It marks the date when the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo (today’s Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia.
Prior to the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak gained transitional administration from British Colonial rule on 22 July 1963, while Singapore and North Borneo began its transitional administration on 31 August that same year, coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the Malayan independence.
For the past 50 years, Sarawak has made great progress through its social and economic development.
Today we reap the fruits of development championed by our visionary leaders. Their resilience, enterprise and determination have made Sarawak what it is today – progressive, modern and welldeveloped.
As Sarawak moves forward in the next phase of its development, it is timely for us to look back at our past and to see how far we have come.
THE EARLY DAYS …
Santubong – home to the legendary Mount Santubong and the weekend getaway beach resorts today, was once an important trading centre at the Sarawak River Delta.
Archaeological evidence suggests early humans lived in Sarawak as far back as 40,000 years ago; 30,000 years earlier than in Peninsular Malaysia. It is believed that a settlement thrived for about 500 years in the early 10th century. Traders travelled with their products of iron tools, ceramics and pounded glass in exchange for bird’s nests, hornbill beaks, rhinoceros horns, camphor, and bird feathers.
In the early 15th century, European Colonialism led the Portuguese merchants to travel further east to search for spices.
They were told of a large island called Brunei, and in 1507 a ship captained by an Italian landed in an unidentified spot located at the southwest coast of Borneo.
Other Portuguese ships began arriving in later years, thus beginning a two-century trading relationship with Brunei.
During the 17th century, Sarawak was self-governed under Sultan Tengah.
Despite it being a dependency of the Brunei Sultanate since the 15th century, Sarawak enjoy a great deal of autonomy, until turmoil surfaced in the early 19th century with the appointment of Pengiran Mahkota as the Rajah or Governor of Sarawak.
Pengiran Mahkota proved unpopular with the Malays and Land Dayaks of Sarawak.
Politically, the country was in a state of chaos with the locals constantly in rebellion against Brunei’s authority. They staged an uprising to declare independence from the Brunei Sultanate. In response to this, the newly-appointed Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin sent his uncle, Pengiran Muda Hashim to stop the revolt without recalling Pengiran Mahkota back to Brunei. This resulted in a power struggle between the supporters of both Pengiran Mahkota led by Datuk Patinggi Ali and Pengiran Muda Hashim; causing increased tension in an already bad situation.
It was during this time that Sir James Brooke arrived in Sarawak. Setting off on a voyage of discovery, and aided by a sizable inheritance and well-armed ship, Brooke came to Sarawak in search of adventure. He befriended Pengiran Muda Hashim and agreed to provide assistance in the matter. Equipped with the experience after serving in the army for the East India Company, Brooke duly suppressed the rebellion. As a reward for his success in pacifying the revolts, Pengiran Muda Hashim bestowed the title Governor to James Brooke on 24 September 1841. Brooke effectively became the Rajah of Sarawak, and thus began the reign of the White Rajahs under the Brooke family for more than a century until 1946.
THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE
During the reign of the White Rajahs, Sarawak’s territories were greatly expanded and foreign protection was sought to ensure Sarawak’s political and economic survival and independence.
However, during the reign of the third Rajah – Charles Vyner Brooke – the Japanese invaded Sarawak and occupied Miri and Kuching in December 1941, holding both territories for the duration of World War II until the area was secured by Australian forces in 1945. Charles
Vyner Brooke, who had fled to Sydney, formally ceded sovereignty to the British Crown on 1 July 1946.
Turning Sarawak into a British Colony did not prove favourable to a lot of Sarawakians. Tensions brewed, which culminated in the assassination of the second British Governor of Sarawak, Sir Duncan Stewart in 1949 and the hanging of his killers.
The British reaction to this attack was swift and the protest movement virtually died by 1950. The colonial rule resumed.
Later in the late 1950s, changes began to take shape. Talk of a formation of a Federation of Malaysia was the hot topic and the idea of a Singapore-Malaya merger for political and economic purposes was proposed in 1959 by the then Chief Minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew.
Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei were asked to join the federation to form a wider federation. However Brunei was opposed to the idea and so did Indonesia which later led to the infamous ‘Indonesian Confrontation’ in Sarawak in the early sixties.
Following this incident, Sarawak’s then Governor, Sir Alexander Waddell, his counterpart in North Borneo, Sir William Goode and D.C White, High Commissioner for Brunei were called for a meeting with Lord Selkirt, Britain’s Commissioner-General in South East Asia. A two-step process was suggested to prepare and ensure that the federation move was what the people wanted.
Initially opposed to the idea of a federation, Sarawak’s leaders like Datu Bandar Abang Haji Mustapha and Temenggong Jugah anak Barieng were later impressed with the Malayan Government’s achievement in the rural areas.
Sarawak’s leaders however, stressed the need to protect the rights and interests of the peoples of Sarawak including matters of autonomy relating to immigration. It became crucial for the people of Sarawak to be sufficiently informed of the advantages of joining Malaysia against the uncertainties of the future as a single nation, the dangers of communism, and the threats of unfriendly neighbours.
THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA
In making a critical decision for the nation, the ‘Cobbold Commission’ was set-up to determine whether the people agreed to join Malaysia and whether they understood the benefits and advantages. In short, they were formed to determine the opinion of the people regarding the formation of Malaysia. Hearings were held between 19 February and 17 April 1962, and members had to attend to about 1,600 letters and memoranda submitted by individuals, organisations and political parties.
The findings were published in August 1962, and there were mixed reactions to the idea of forming Malaysia.
About one-third of the population strongly favoured early realisation of Malaysia without too much concerns about terms and conditions. The other third favoured the Malaysia Project; with varying degrees of emphasis for conditions and safeguards, differing in nature and extent.
The remaining third was divided – between those who insisted on independence before Malaysia was considered, and those who would strongly prefer to see British rule continue for some years to come.
The decision to form Malaysia was finally agreed but with careful considerations to special safeguards which included religious freedom, status of the English language, immigration, land, representations in the Federal House of Representatives and Senate, special status and privileges of indigenous tribes, and disbursement of development grants.
In June 1963, the Local Council Election was held to ‘clear’ the issue of Sarawak’s decision to form Malaysia. Only one party was opposed to the Federation.
In order to strengthen the decision for Sarawak to form Malaysia, another assessment of public opinion was undertaken by the United Nations Malaysia Mission led by Laurence Michelmore from 16 August to 5 September 1963. The finding was made public on 13 September 1963, confirming Sarawak’s entry into the proposed Federation of Malaysia.
As stated, it was “… the ‘result’ of the freely expressed wishes of the territory’s peoples acting with full knowledge of the change in their status, their wishes having expressed through informed and democratic processes, impartially conducted and based on universal adult suffrage.”
On 16 September 1963 – exactly 50 years ago, Sarawak declared her independence from British Colonial rule through the formation of Malaysia, and from there embarked on a new journey of endless possibilities.
