10 Oct 2016 . Monday . 230pm . Malaysia Studies Chapter 3 : The Formation Of Malaysia

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Introduction
To protect the British interests. The British Cabinet had discussed the issue in 1888.

First move came in 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman annouced in idea

British's View

• To grant Singapore independence for fear of the communist's growing power on the island
• Singapore was too small to be entirely on its own
• Willing to allow the Tunku to take overall responsibility for Singapore's security within Malaysia

Malaysia's View

• Tunku was worried that the communists in Singapore would become too powerful
• A communist goverment at its doorstep would be extremly dangerous for Malaya
• If Malaya merged with Singapore, Tunku Abdul Rahman's government could control the communist activities. 
• In the 1957 Census for Malaya, the racial balance was fairly equal between the Malays and the "non-Malays"
• But in the enlarged federation of Malaysia, the Malays and "natives" of Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo would slightly outnumber the Chinese, Indians and "other non-Malays"
• The Tunku Dropped his opposition to the proposed merger with predominantly Chinese Singapore only after the British assured him that the three Borneo territories of Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo could join Malaysia. 

Emergency Law 1948

• Gave power to the poice and soldiers to arrest and detain communist suspect without trial 

Singapore's View

• The Singapore goverment felt that the best way to solve the country's unemployment problem would be to join or merge with Malaya
• Singapore did not have any raw materials, so it had to depend on industries to help the country grow and prosper.
• Seeking a merger with Malaya was so that Singapore could break completely free from British control
• Lee Kuan Yew needed the merger because the communists were creating problems for his ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in Singapore

 Factors For The Formation

• The communist threat
• Ethnic politics and ethnic balances
• Independence factor
• Decline of British power
• Economic cooperation and international relation in the region

Response
Federation of Malaya

• Pro-Tunku and the Alliance Party ( Parti Perikatan )
• Against - Parti Rakyat & Pan Malayan Islamic Party

Sabah and Sarawak

• Pro - Free from British, Communist Threat
• Against - " Malayan Domination" fear the status of religion and language would be threatened, Chinese afraid of economic competition with Chinese Singaporeans

Brunei

• Pro-Sultan
• Agaist - Brunei People's Party, A.M. Azahari
• Prefer to ounite North Borneo ( Sabah ) and Sarawak under the name of North Kalimantan
• Arm rebellion against the Sultan 

Indonesia's Critic

• President Sukarno, called it a " neo - colonial plot", arguing it was of Britain's "Grand Design" to decolonize the region and to exert influence by still having military bases and influence in these territories
• President Sukarno argued that Malaysia was a puppet of the British and that the consolidation of Malaysia would increase British control over the region, threatening Indonesia's independence
• As early as 1945, President Sukarno had visualize that the Malays Penisula would form the neck of an Indonesian archipelago encircling Singapore, all of the North Borneo states and the Philippines
• "Konfrontasi" campaign, troubled the Malayan people from 1963 to 1966 

The Philippines

• Philippines made a claim for Sabah, arguing that it had historic links with Philippines through the Sulu archipelago
• In a Manila summit, Philippines proposed the formation of a super-federation known as "Ma-Phil-Indo", incorporation Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesa

Important Events

• Visit to Sabah and Sarawak ( June 1961 )
• Tunku's visit to Brunei ( July 1961 )
• Negotiation with Singapore ( August 1961 )
• Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee ( Mid 1961 )
• Cobbold Commission ( report was published on Aug 1962) 
• Referendum Campaign ( Sep 1961 )
• UN commission ( June 1963 )

Brunei's Withdraw

• The Sultan of Brunei - Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin lost interest
• The reasons : Differences in opinions and reluctance to compromise on the part of Brunei and Kuala Lumpur
• Unsolved matters
• The position of the Sultan of Brunei within the Council of Rulers
• The status of Brunei with Malaysia
• The Matter of finance : royalty of oil
• By July 1963, Brunei indicated that she would not join the federation

Malaysia

• The Federation of Malaysia was formally established on Sep 16, 1963
• Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak

Singapore Split From Malaysia

• Both Malaya and Singapore had different reasons for wanting a merger
• Each country saw merger as a convenient way of solving its own problem
• Merger was therefore looked upon as a union of convenience
• This resulted in its eventual disintegration 
• Malaysia did not start off well
• Right from the beginning, the PAP and the Alliance Party did not get along well with each other
• The split in Singapore-Kuala Lumpur relation arose initially in the 1964 general election
• Eventually, the disagreement become so serious that riots broke out in Singapore in July and September 1964 . The riots were put down but the fire was not put out. 
• The PAP talk openly of equal treatment of all ethnics group in Malaysia " Malaysia for Malaysian "
• This made the Malay Alliance leaders even angrier because they believed that Malays had certain special rights
• The relationship between the PAP and the Malay Alliance leaders turned from bad to worse
• MAC leaders express a feeling of uneasiness over the Singapore's behaviour
• Effort were made to find solution ( June-Aug 1965 )
• On 9 Aug 1965, Singapore was separated from Malaysia

Member System 1951

• In April 1951, the British goverment introduced the Member System in the Federal Legislative Council to provdied local people the opportunity to be involved in the administrative system
• The purpose of the Member System is to appoint the local representatives to the post of head of department in the central government. 

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