Page:Report of the Commission of Enquiry North Borneo & Sarawak.pdf/8

 7. An open invitation to appear before the Commission was extended to all persons who wished to give oral evidence. We are glad to be able to record that full advantage was taken of this invitation and that as a result we were able to meet and talk with large numbers of representative individuals and bodies, many of whom had submitted written memoranda which we were able to discuss with them. The willingness of the public to come forward and stale their views quietly and responsibly was almost everywhere impressive and gratifying. Our itinerary (Appendix A) had been so planned that representatives from every District in each Territory had an opportunity to meet the Commission at selected District centres. We thus held 50 hearings at 35 different centres (20 centres in Sarawak and 15 in North Borneo).

8. Over 4,000 persons appeared before us in some 690 groups which varied in size from 1 to over 50. Most groups appointed one or more of their number to act as spokesman, and we took pains to ensure as far as possible that anyone else who wished to state a different view, or to contribute additional points, was given full opportunity to do so. All our hearings were conducted in private. Assurances were given that evidence and memoranda submitted to us would be treated as confidential to the Commission; where views are attributed in this Report to particular organisations or bodies, they had already been made known in the Press by the organisations or bodies themselves.

9. During our tour we paid an informal courtesy call on His Highness the Sultan of Brunei, who graciously received us with his principal Ministers.