QUIET FURY OVER 55-YEARS MERDEKA CLAIM

By : JOE FERNANDEZ

THE INSENSITIVE ignoramuses have done it again! The buntings and billboards, shipped in from Putrajaya, brazenly proclaim 55 years of Merdeka throughout the length and breadth of Sabah and Sarawak. This is the Mother of All Bullshit in Sabah and Sarawak.

Whose Merdeka?

Obviously, it’s Merdeka for Peninsular Malaysia or Malaya which became independent of British colonial rule of a sort on 31 Aug, 1957. The revisionists are claiming that the British never really colonised Malaya – the land of the Orang Asal i.e. the Orang Asli -- which they in fact hacked away from the Thai kingdom, after two wars with Bangkok, to plant rubber and mine tin. But that’s another story.

That i.e. 1957 being the case, why flaunt it in Sabah and Sarawak and expect the long-suffering people there to share in the joy of the people of Malaya in being free of colonialism and imperialism?

Putrajaya maintains the fiction that Sabah, Sarawak free in 1957

If Putrajaya wants to maintain the fiction that Sabah and Sarawak too became free on 31 Aug, 1957, the history books tell us otherwise.

Sabah in fact became independent only six years later i.e. on 31 Aug, 1963 while Sarawak a little earlier than its neighbouring sister country in Borneo i.e. on 22 July, 1963. This was in line with the recommendations of the 24-Nation UN Decolonization Committee.

Both countries wanted to enjoy a period of freedom before considering again the idea of a new Federation including Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. The idea was being relented pushed in their faces by the British and the Malayans acting in cahoots to protect the former’s commercial empire in the territories.

On 16 Sept, 1963, a Black Day known as Malaysia Day, the two Borneo states were dragged into a so-called Malaysia without a referendum being held to ascertain the wishes of the people.

The history books have subsequently gone on to claim that “Sabah dan Sarawak mencapai Merdeka melalui Malaysia”. How can that be the case when both states were already independent on 31 Aug, 1963 and 22 July, 1963 respectively before the advent of Malaysia?

Singapore became a member of this so-called Malaysia as well but apparently willingly since it was already a part of Malaya in every sense of the term and divided only by a narrow causeway.

Brunei stayed out at the 11th hour, insisting on genuine independence first, before considering if at all the idea of the Malaysia concept.

Sabah, Sarawak not allowed to leave “Malaysia” like Singapore

Brunei only became independent on 1 Jan, 1984 after much pushing by Putrajaya who, eyeing the oil and gas riches of the sultanate, hoped it would became a member of the Malaysian Federation. Bandar Seri Begawan would have none of it, considering the tragic fate of Sabah and Sarawak in “Malaysia”, and began holding regular joint military exercises with Singapore which was allowed to train for jungle warfare in the sultanate.

The fate of Sabah and Sarawak, briefly, were sealed in 1965 when Singapore left the Federation. The two states were not allowed to exercise any option like Singapore on whether to stay or leave the Federation. Sabah Chief Minister Donald Stephens, who raised the issue, was packed off into exile in Australia as High Commissioner to that country.

The 1965 exit of Singapore from the enlarged Malayan Federation, masquerading as Malaysia, confirmed to the world that Sabah and Sarawak were colonies of Malaya.

The British abandoned Sabah and Sarawak to Malayan colonialism after Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Malayan Prime Minister, publicly pledged in 1963 that Malaya would not colonize Sabah and Sarawak after the British left. Janji Janji Manis! Janji Janji Kosong!

In fact, re-colonisation is what happened. Internal colonisation is going on. Janji Tidak DiTepati! Janji DiTepikan.

The promise of a written Constitution for Malaysia – an equal partnership of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak – never materialized.

Instead, Sabah and Sarawak are lowly states, the 12th and 13th states, in the enlarged Malaya – Singapore having left – as Malaya Raya went on to masquerade as Malaysia with an unwritten Constitution based on the written Malayan  Constitution.

The unwritten Constitution is supposed to include five constitutional documents and/or conventions on the Malaysia concept as it was originally envisaged but Putrajaya has been in non-compliance.

The basis for Sabah, Sarawak to be in Malaysia in the dustbin.

The said five documents/conventions which were supposed to be the basis for Sabah and Sarawak to be in Malaysia as originally envisaged: the 1963 Malaysia Agreement; the Inter-Governmental Committee Report; the Cobbold Commission Report; the 20/18 Points (Sabah, Sarawak respectively); Batu Sumpah in Keningau, Sabah.

Therein the matter lies! Non-compliance! No Constitution written especially for Malaysia.

So, Putrajaya should not shamelessly proclaim to the whole world that Sabah and Sarawak have been independent for 55 years. Stop lying to the schoolchildren learning history, Malaysian Studies

We cannot tell such blatant lies to the schoolchildren studying history and Malaysian Studies in the schools, colleges and universities.

The fact is Sabah and Sarawak lost their self-determination status of 31 Aug, 1963 and 22 July, 1963 respectively on 16 Sept, 1963 when they were colonised by Malaya after the British left.

The proof lies in the fact that Sabah and Sarawak are not equal partners of Malaya as envisaged under the original Malaysia concept but the lowly 12th and 13th states respectively in an enlarged Malaya which continues to masquerade as Malaysia.

The proof lies in the fact that Sabah and Sarawak are today the poorest and 2nd poorest states in Malaysia respectively as announced at the end of 2010 in Kota Kinabalu by the World Bank in a Report. Meanwhile, Brunei which produces even less oil and gas than Sabah and Sarawak has became richer than ever and Singapore will soon proclaim itself as the richest country in the world on a per capita basis.

So, what next?

The 24-Nation UN Decolonization Committee has been disbanded. Class action suit to make British pay, suffer for their sins.

Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPi MaFo), a Trust set up this week in the United Kingdom, intends to file a class action suit in London against the British Government for abandoning Sabah and Sarawak to Malayan colonialism in 1963.

The imminent class action suit will press for the payment of compensation and damages equivalent to Sterling one million pounds for each man, woman and child in Sabah and Sarawak who are citizens of the two states.

The suit will also enable the British Government to make the Government in Putrajaya a party to the suit to resolve the internal colonisation of Sabah and Sarawak. (Malaysia Chronicle)