Review historical facts on Malaysia formation – LDP By Nancy Lai
KOTA KINABALU: There is a need to amend the history syllabus taught in Malaysian schools so that the younger generation have a clearer and more accurate picture on facts relating to the formation of Malaysia.
According to Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, the historical facts surrounding the formation of Malaysia are still causing some confusion among the younger generation, especially on the significance of the dates August 31, 1957 and September 16, 1963.
“So, there is a need for us to re-look into the history syllabus in schools to ensure that all these relevant historical facts are inserted. History cannot be denied,” he said in his speech when officiating LDP’s Hari Malaysia and Mooncake festival celebration here on Saturday night.
The corrected history syllabus would ensure that the younger generation knows what actually happened before the formation of Malaysia, the Minister of Special Tasks added.
Teo pointed out that August 31 is Hari Kebangsaan whereas September 16 is Hari Malaysia or Malaysia Day.
He disclosed that according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963, Malaysia was supposed to be formed on August 31, 1963 but because of the objections recorded by the Philippines and Indonesia to the United Nations, there was a delay to the formation date.
On September 5, 1963, as a result of a complaint lodged with the United Nations (UN), a UN Malaysia Mission was sent to North Borneo and Sarawak to find out whether the formation for Malaysia was what is truly desired by the people here and in Sarawak, he said.
“Within about a week they conducted their survey and came up with the report on September 15, the eve of the formation of Malaysia, confirming that that is what the people wanted and therefore we have the formation of Malaysia.
“So, because of that which is not intentional, and according to the Malaysia Agreement, it was intended for Malaysia to be formed on August 31, there was a delay of 16 days and Sabah actually achieved self-government status.
“This is not what I say, this is not what our Sabahan leaders say, this was actually in the United Nations Malaysia Mission report. So these are the historical facts that we must have in mind as Sabahans,” he stressed.
Teo also spoke about LDP not being a seasonal party as it has been serving the people all the while.
“In the last general election, LDP was entrusted by BN to stand in Likas but we lost.
“However, our sincerity to serve the people never ended. In fact, our team in the PPM office, our Likas division as well as the west coast divisions have never stopped serving the people. Every month without fail we still have our service centre providing free services to the people such as health screening.
“We are not a seasonal political party in a sense that we only come out to serve the people when election is approaching. Although we lost, we continued to serve the people unlike some other political parties who may just appear as the general election is approaching and thereafter if they lose the election they will just disappear or go into hibernation until such time election is around the corner they will reappear, we are not like that,” he said.