Formation of Malaysia- notes

1. Formation
of
Malaysia

2. • 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.

3. • 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.

4. • 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. • 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.

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. a) 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 residents
favouring 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.

17. 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.

18. • 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.

19. 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.

20. • 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.

21. • 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.

22. 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.

23. • 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. • 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

27. • 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.

28. Discussion - Racial Riot
 What causes the racial riot
 Effects of the racial riot
 What is the lesson learnt from the
national riot

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. • 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…

36. 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.

37. 4. Political parties dispute
During 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.

38. 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.

39. 5. Economical issues
Different 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.