By Remy Majangkim, MA63, activist, tutor, and historian
KOTA KINABALU: What does Malaysia Day mean to you as a Malaysian? Is it just another holiday or something more? It is interesting to note that Malaysia Day is celebrated alternately between Sabah and Sarawak, but the rest of the country declares it a national holiday. Does that imply that only the people of Borneo are considered Malaysian?
Historically, members of the Federation of Malaya adamantly opposed the admission of Singapore into a new federation, but the British insisted on including Singapore.
Our forefathers, the British, united us and relinquished their sovereignty to the new trustee, the Federation of Malaya, federating with the States of Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak to form Malaysia.
That is where the name and the country were born on 16 September 1963.
Malaysia faced its first hurdle when Singapore, under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, declared its exit from Malaysia. The Federal Government narrative, however, stated that Singapore was “kicked out” from Malaysia. This seemed strange, as at that time, Singapore was dubbed the Pearl of the Orient by the British. It was and still is the most profitable seaport in Southeast Asia.
Singapore declared its exit, which forced the British to react. The Federation of Malaya assumed it had the power to grant or kick out Singapore from Malaysia, but legally these lands belonged to the British, except the Borneo States, which were Crown Colonies owned by the British Monarch. The role of the Federation of Malaya here was that of a trusteeship.
One year after the Singapore declaration in 1965, the British Parliament granted their independence bill called the Singapore Act 1966. Lee Kuan Yew was said to have betrayed his friends from Borneo; the Singapore exits mean Borneos have lost their “big brother.”
Then in 1969, the Malaysia Agreement took a “back seat” after deadly racial riots forced the Federal Government to enact an Emergency Ordinance under Art. 150 of the Federal Constitution that lasted from 1969 to 2011 (42 years).
Before the emergency period, the Federal Government has been eyeing the wealth of our Continental Shelf, which is untapped oil and gas. During the emergency period, the Borneo Coastline has been shortened to 3 nautical miles in comparison to the full extent of our Continental Shelf. The Federal Government took it upon itself to claim this land under the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and gave it an entity to extract oils from it under the Petroleum Development Act 1974. This is done with the use of Essential Order No. 7.
Then in 2011, the then Prime Minister Najib Razak lifted the emergency; now, under Art. 150(7), all laws made during the emergency period notably should be null and void within 6 months. However, after 42 years, the Federal Government chose to ignore and enact the Territorial Sea Act 2012, which uses and upholds Essential Order No. 7. This is an unconstitutional move on a written Constitution that favours inconsistency within Art. 4 of the Supreme Law of the Federation.
Fast forward to today, and the current federal government is unyielding in maintaining the grip of our continental shelf. The Sarawak Government and Petronas at each other may end in court. Sabah State Government, however, keeps exceptionally quiet on the matter.
On the positive side, Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights (SABAR) intends to challenge the Territorial Sea Act 2011 in court. This will be a significant development for the people of Borneo as a whole.
