Formation of Malaysia

Review

• The formation of the new federation was planned to occur on 1 June 1963, but was later postponed to 31 August 1963, to coincide with the sixth Hari Merdeka.

• Several issues related to objections of neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines to the formation of Malaysia delayed the declaration to 16 September of the same year.

• The formation of Malaysia was made possible with

the signing of the International Treaty the Malaysia

Agreement 1963 between the United Kingdom, the

Federation of Malaya (constituted by 11 states

created under the Federation of Malaya Agreement

1957 ; as one component); Sarawak, North Borneo

(renamed Sabah) and Singapore of the remaining

component States.

Review

• The Malaysia Agreement 1963 set out the

terms and conditions for the component

States to be federated under a new

constitution into one new nation called

Malaysia.

Review

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

1. Independence through unification

Only Malaya was an independent nation while

Singapore, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak were still under

British control.

These territories were considered too small to be

independent entities. It was felt that a merger with

Malaya would bring early independence to these

territories.

The British were agreeable to a merger of these

territories and granting

independence as there were many similarities

between Malaya, Singapore, Sabah,

Sarawak and Brunei, in terms of the legal system,

economy, history, financial

structure and people.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

2. Ethnic balance and unity

Alliance government in Malaya realized merger must not be

only with Singapore

because the ethnic balance will change with Malays losing the

majority.

The merger proposal was to also bring in Sabah, Sarawak and

Brunei to protect the

indigenous people, preserve the ethnic balance and maintain

their majority.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

Union encompassing the states of Brunei, Sabah,

Sarawak & Singapore will ensure the preservation

of ethnic balance.

Maintaining a balance between bumiputras &

non-bumiputras (inhabitants of Malay descent and

native tribal groups) would ensure peace &

stability in the region.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

3. Collective fight against communist.

Political uncertainty in Singapore with the Socialist

Front posing serious challenge to PAP’s dominance.

The governments of Malaya and Britain were not in

favour of the socialist forces winning in the elections

and taking over Singapore’s administration.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

Rising communist threat in these territories.

Malaya was constantly exposed to communist threat even

though the communist terrorist was over.

Brunei & Singapore was also facing the spread of communism.

There was a great danger for Malaya and Singapore if the

communists in these places join forces.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

• The British too, were concerned over the problem for the sake of their investment in South East Asia.

• The task of fighting communism would be greater for a country to handle it alone.

• By merging and granting independence to these territories, the communists could be easily defeated.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

4. Economic cooperation

The British were confident their economic and social

interests in these territories would be protected with

the merger and independence of these territories.

Member states of Malaysia will be able to cooperate

in economic terms for the benefit of each other.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

Each country had certain resources that could be developed:

Singapore’s international trade, industry and tourism,

Brunei’s oil products,

The forestry products of Sabah and Sarawak

Malaya’s mineral and agricultural products

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

Sharing of economic recourses for mutual benefit.

Through merger, these member states will have better

economic and trade cooperation which was expected to

benefit all.

In particular, it was expected to bring progress to the

economically less developed Sabah and Sarawak.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

5. United in international relations.

Kuala Lumpur wanted to reinforce the pact among

regional countries to make them strong internally and

also in the international arena.

If the countries within the plan were to unite under one

government and political system, their position as one

new nation would be stronger in international arena.

Factors leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963

Other events before the formation of Malaysiaa) Internal opposition: - Though there was general agreement for the merger,

some groups within these territories were against the move.

b) External opposition: - Indonesia and Philippines were against the merger.

c) Cobbold Commission was formed to investigate the views of the people in Sabah and Sarawak towards the merger. Commission reported that 80 per cent of residents in the two states were in favour of the merger.

d) A referendum was held in Singapore with 71 per cent of the residentsfavouring a merger.

e) Inter-government committee (Landsdowne Committee) was formed to prepare the basic framework of a new Malaysian Constitution.

f) Malaysia agreement signed in July 1963.

A

1. Singapore would retain autonomy in educational and labour issues.2. Singapore would also get to keep its language policies with English, Malay, Chinese

and Tamil as official languages.3. Singapore would have a reduced representation in theParliament of Malaysia,

being allocated fifteen seats in theDewan Rakyat in the first post-merger Parliament.

4. All Singapore citizens would automatically become citizens of Malaysia.[2]

B

1. Singapore would enter on terms no less favourable than the former Strait Settlements of Penang (and Malacca). This would put Singapore on an equal footing as the otherMalayan states as set out in the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948,[7] with no more autonomy than the other Malayan states.

2. English and Malay would be the official languages.[2]

3. Only those born in Singapore or descended from the Singapore-born would automatically become citizens of Malaysia.

4. There would also be proportional representation in Parliament from Singapore.

C

1. Singapore would enter on terms no less favourable than the Borneo territories, North Borneo and Sarawak.[2]

2. Only those born in Singapore or descended from the Singapore-born would automatically become citizens of Malaysia.

Cobbold Commision • The Cobbold Commission, was a Commission of

Enquiry set up to determine whether the people of North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak supported the proposal to create the Federation of Malaysia consisting of Malaya, Brunei, Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak.

• It was also responsible for the subsequent drafting of the Constitution of Malaysia prior to the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

Members of the commission

The Commission was headed by former Bank of England governor, Lord Cobbold.

Members of the Commission were:

1. Lord Cobbold, former Governor of the Bank of England, chairman of

the Commission

2. Wong Pow Nee, Chief Minister of Penang,

3. Ghazali Shafie, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

4. Anthony Abell, former Governor of Sarawak

5. David Watherston, former Chief Secretary Of Malaya.

The report

• The Commission released its findings, report and recommendations on 1 August 1962. It concluded that the formation of Malaysia should be implemented. However, Lord Cobbold also stressed that all parties enter the federation as equal partners.Findings

1. 1/3 from both states supported the formation of Malaysia without any terms.

2. 1/3 also supported but with terms and warranty. 3. 1/3 want independence first before joining the federation 4. 20% rejected the federation because they wanted to stay

under the British administration.

Territorial disputes

• When the Federation of Malaysia was officially inaugurated on 16th September 1963, Indonesia and Philippines severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia;

• Indonesia intensified its attacks along the borders of Sarawak and British North Borneo (now renamed Sabah) and Indonesian troops made landings in Peninsular Malaysia to carry out acts of sabotage.

• But they were quickly foiled by the security forces.

Cont…

• In 1966, Sukarno was ousted from power and the new Indonesian regime wanted to end confrontation – negotiations settled the conflict.

• Philippines also dropped its claim on Sabah and recognized Malaysia.

• Meanwhile, political differences had surfaced between Malaysia and Singapore.

• On 9th August 1965, Singapore left the Federation and became an independent state.

Malaysia’s people

• When Malaysia was formed, its population stood at 10.4 million –

• Malays forming 47 percent;

• Chinese 34 percent;

• Indians, 9 percent;

• Dayaks, 4 percent;

• Kadazans, 2 percent;

• other indigenous groups, 3 percent; and

• Foreign immigrants, 2 percent.

Cont…

• Turning this medley of peoples into one nation was not an easy feat.

• Under colonial rule, economic roles tended to be identified with specific ethnic groups.

• In particular, the Chinese resented the Malays’ greater political power, while the Malays feared the greater economic strength of the Chinese.

Cont…

• The simmering racial tension erupted on 13 May 1969 in the wake of the general elections.

• Communal riots broke out, mainly in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, killing hundreds of people and destroying a considerable amount of property.

• As a result, the constitution was suspended and a Department of National Unity was set up to formulate a national ideology and social programmes.

• Finally, a statement of ideological principles, the Rukunegara, was produced to guide the national polity.

13 May 1969 incident

• The 13 May 1969 incident is the Sino-Malay sectarian violence in Kuala Lumpur (then part of the state of Selangor),Malaysia. Official report put the number of deaths due to the riots at 196

• Most of the victims Chinese

• The racial riots led to a declaration of a state of national emergency or Darurat by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong resulting in the suspension of the Parliament by the Malaysian government

Discussion – Curfew in Malaysia

• National Operations Council (NOC), also known as the Majlis Gerakan Negara, was established as a caretaker government to temporarily govern the country between 1969 and 1971.

• Curfew was announced.

Discussion - Racial Riot

What causes the racial riot

Effects of the racial riot

What is the lesson learnt from the national riot

Racial riot

Introduction • The 13th May incident was eventually not an incident

which happened / planned in sudden or due to spontaneous reasons but it was a trait out of incidents which happened previously.

• The Japanese occupation has been one of the causes of the racial riot.

• The impact of British colonization has also been the cause of the incident. Their discriminatory practices has loosen the relationship among the ethnics.

• 13th May phenomenon has caused negative effects economically especially to the Malays.

What causes the racial riot on 13th May 1969

13 May phenomenon was the worst racial riot in our nation’s history which occurred between the Malays and Chinese.

1. Biased treatment during Japanese occupation

During the Japanese occupation, people in Malaya were treated in different variations. The Chinese were the less lucky to be treated badly among the other races. This is due to the fact that Japanese had a war with China earlier and the sense of revenge and hatred were too high among them. This bias treatment had caused a enmity between the Chinese and Malays.

2. “Divide and Rule” policy of the British • British rulers had been performing this ruling

system to avoid the multi races in Malaya to interact with each other.

• The Chinese were working as businessmen and miners in the urban areas(cities). They also have the most valuable assets among the Malaysian people.

• The Indian were working as laborers in estates. • Whereas, the Malays were staying in the

villages and worked as famers and fishermen.

What causes the racial riot on 13th May 1969

Cont…

• The varied economic activity has caused imbalance socio-economy.

• There were no interactions among the people in Malaysia as they only meet each other in the government offices or at the market.

• This uneven relationship among the ethnics remained even after the independence.

• Lack of love and bonding between the people has been one of the reason which caused the 13th May incident.

3. Difference in education background • During the early days, the education system was not

systemized. There were different syllabuses in the schools.

• The Malays learnt to write, read and count up to their primary need only.

• The Chinese and Indian followed the syllabus in their native country. They had their teachers coming from China and India respectively. Additionally, only the Chinese and Indians who lived in the urban areas were able to enroll in the English medium schools.

• This had created a huge education difference level among the Malays and the other races.

What causes the racial riot on 13th May 1969

Cont…

• Absence of National education system results in lack of uniformity in terms of language, identity and understanding among the citizens.

• This had eventually been the major reason for the difficulty in forming unity among the races even though government has come up with new educational policies upon independence.

• Education Ordinance ( Ordinan Pelajaran ) was established in 1957. Malay language was recognized as the instructional language in the primary school.

• The non-Malays were not happy with it because the language used is malay .

• Whereas, Malay Peninsula Teachers Union ( Kesatuan Guru-Guru Melayu Semenanjung (KPGMS) were dissatisfied with the government because secondary schools and universities were not using malay language as the instructional language.

• The first university which uses Bahasa Melayu as instructional language was established on 18th May 1970. It was named Universiti Kebangsaan.

• Later, the Chinese appealed to the government to establish a university, ‘Universiti Merdeka’ for them.

• Since the election in year 1969 was nearing, MCA has indicated that government wouldn’t get the support from Chinese people if the university was not established.

• Therefore, government has permitted to build a university for them in order to sustain the believe of Chinese people on the government.

Cont…

Cont…

• MCA has then established Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman ( KTAR ).

• In this case, there were dissatisfication among the malays because establishment of KTAR is against the National Education Policy.

• The intermediate language used in KTAR was English.

• Government had to tolerate as much they possibly can to sustain the harmony among multi racial community in Malaysia.

4. Political parties disputeDuring the 1964, general election, Parti Perikatan

Rakyat ( PAP), have tried to poison the citizens by protesting about UMNO and the special privilege given to Malays.

The Malay community was offended by this because the special privileges to Malays have been agreed by everyone prior to formation of Malaysia.

The government did not succeed in getting much votes on the election which means the citizens have believed the protesting party and begin to against the government and the Malay rights.

What causes the racial riot on 13th May 1969

Cont…

• In Selangor and Perak, the government has won the election but has low majority of their people.

• The Chinese has then assumed that government would be lost and they held a parade in Kuala Lumpur.

• Their words and slogans during the parade made the Malays angry. In the evening of 13th May 1969, the Malays had gathered at Chief Minister of Selangor, Dato Harun Idris’s house to have a parade themselves to against the opposite team.

• This was when, the Malays and Chinese had fought and killed each other in Selangor, especially in Kuala Lumpur.

5. Economical issuesDifferent economy statuses is one of the major

cause of the racial riot. The imbalance in wealth between the races has

caused jealousy and dissatisfaction. The Malays were dissatisfied on the luxury assets

and success of the Chinese. On the other hand, the Chinese and Indian were

dissatisfied with the privilege given to the Malays in the administration services.

What causes the racial riot on 13th May 1969