Dayak think-tank: New federal govt must heed Malaysia Agreement 1963
MIRI: Dayak Think-Tank Group ( DTTG) calls on Pakatan Harapan ( PH)-led government to heed the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63) as it is the agreement signed by Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak over 50 years ago to form the Federation of Malaysia.
“Until a decade ago, most people in Malaysia would not have heard of MA63.
“But it is a hot- button issue in Sarawak for all political parties because the majority of indigenous peoples in this state feel that they have received a bad deal from Kuala Lumpur,” said DTTG president and founder Wellie Henry Majang.
He said East Malaysians are especially annoyed that the country marks Malaysia’s Independence Day on Aug 31 – when the Federation of Malaysia came into being only on Sept 16, 1963 while Aug 31, 1957, is the date when Malaya received its independence from Britain.
He pointed out that another source of unhappiness were references in Malaysian secondary school history textbooks that Sarawak (and Singapore) ‘joined’ Malaysia.
Sarawakians insist that they established the federation as equal partners to Malaya.
To them, Sarawak was one of three entities forming Malaysia – it is not merely one of the 13 Malaysian states.
“The historical grievances centred on the ‘20 Points’ which is a set of 20 demands of the political leaders of Sarawak in return for agreeing to form the Malaysian Federation.
“These were essentially political guarantees for a very high degree of autonomy in a federal system.
“The East Malaysians felt, then and now, that they would be ‘ taken over’ by those in the peninsula if they did not retain a high degree of autonomy,” he pointed out.
Wellie added that one of the biggest upsets was the takeover of all the oil and gas resources in the Borneo states under the Petroleum Development Act in 1974.
“Today, the bulk of oil and gas revenue from Borneo ends up in the federal coffers with only five per cent going back to Sarawak.
“State nationalists argue that earnings from oil and gas were ‘stolen’ from East Malaysia, resulting in the states being underdeveloped compared with those in the peninsula.
“About 40 per cent of Sarawak’s population are Christians. The main indigenous people in Sarawak – the Dayaks – are largely nonMuslims. Sarawak is a state in Malaysia where Muslims, Christians and pagans can be found within the same family, living peacefully together.
“As such, East Malaysians are uncomfortable with the importance accorded to race and religion in Peninsular Malaysian politics, especially Umno’s ‘ Malay-First’ thrust,” said Wellie, adding that DTTG wants MA63 and Sarawak’s autonomy fully restored.