Soo pens second book on Sarawak

SIBU: Lina Soo, activist and author, has released her second book on Sarawak titled ‘Sarawak Chronicle - Letters, Agreements, L aws a nd I n t e r nat iona l Treaties’.

Her first book was ‘ Sarawak – The Real Deal’ which gives an account of the formation of Malaysia from Sarawak’s perspective.

The soft release of ‘ Sarawak Chronicle’ was held here on Sept 24 in conjunction with the commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the founding of Sarawak organised by Sarawak Reform Party ( Reform), of which Soo is president.

At the press conference, Soo said the book provides comprehensive documentation of the chronological history of Sarawak based on constitutional documents and letters accessed from the Brit ish Nat ional Archives in London.

She related that the chronology of events started from Sept 24, 1841, the date when James Brooke signed the first agreement with Raja Muda Hassim, uncle of the Sultan of Brunei, when Brooke was given an area to rule from Tanjong Datu to Samarahan River.

Another important agreement was signed in 1846 when the Sultan of Brunei ceded Sarawak to Brooke and his heirs in perpetuity, she added.

Af ter that , there were no further payments to Brunei except a one- time payment of 4,000 Spanish dol lars when Sarawak was passed to an heir, she said, adding this was the earliest document of Sarawak’s independence and sovereignty.

She said the Brooke family rule ended in 1946 when the third Rajah ceded Sarawak to Britain to become a British Crown Colony on July 1, 1946, which extinguished Sarawak’s independence.

“These declassified documents are now public records and shed light on the history of Sarawak up to the 1960s when Sarawak merged with the Federation of Malaya, Sabah and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.

“T h e mo s t imp o r t a n t constitutional document of the Federation of Malaysia - the Malaysia Agreement 1963 – which is an international treaty signed on July 9, 1963 – is annexed to the book.

“Other signi f icant legal d o c u ment s s u c h a s the Intergovernmental Report and Manila Accord also form part of the book,” she said.

‘ S a r awak Ch r on ic le’ is currently available at Belle’s Bookshop in Mi r i . Those interested to get a copy may call Soo at 014- 5950511.