Page:Report of the Commission of Enquiry North Borneo & Sarawak.pdf/95




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The British and Malayan Governments have agreed that the creation of a "Federation of Malaysia", embracing the 11 States of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei  is a desirable aim. They have not gone beyond this. Before coming to any final decision the two Government agreed that it would be necessary to ascertain the views of the people of the North Borneo and Sarawak and decided to set up a Commission of Enquiry to carry out this task and to make recommendations. Within the next few weeks the Commission will be visiting North Borneo for the specific purpose of finding out opinion in this country by an enquiry on the spot. Opportunity will be afforded for all shades of opinion to have their say. It is indeed in everyone's interest to take advantage of this opportunity, as it will be in the light of what the Commission recommends that the final decision will be taken. The people of North Borneo should now think carefully about the future of this country so that they will be ready to express considered views to the Commission when it comes.

2. The declared aim of the British Government is to grant independence to all its Colonial territories as soon as they are ready for it. Hitherto this has been thought of simply as independence for North Borneo standing by itself, or, more recently, in association with Sarawak. But two stark political facts must be faced. These are:

(1) The real treat is presenting to South-East Asia. If any one territory in the Malaysia region should succumb to Communist domination it would only be a matter of time before the others would be placed in serious jeopardy of a similar fate. United, these territories would be in an immeasurably stronger position to contain and repel Communism.

(2) The ride of opinion in the world to-day is running strongly against Colonialism. Independence is accordingly likely to come sooner rather than later than has hitherto been anticipated. But the world into which an independent North Borneo would be plunged is a turbulent and predatory one, and there could only be a precarious future for North Borneo on its own, or even in association with Sarawak.

3. Against this background, it is the view of the British Government that, provided satisfactory terms of merger can be worked out, the plan for Malaysia offers the best chance of fulfilling its responsibility to guide the Borneo territories to self-government in conditions that will secure them against dangers from any quarter. This is the overriding political argument in favour of North Borneo and Sarawak joining Malaysia. The British Government is firmly of the opinion that from the standpoint of economic development and in general of the future welfare and happiness of their peoples the best hope of the Borneo territories lies in their forming part of a larger unit. Economically as well as politically, small countries are rapidly becoming out of place in the strenuous conditions of the modern world. Where nations are concerned, combination creates a unit that is much more powerful, more effective, more efficient and more capable of making life better for its members than the sum total of their individual strengths would ever suggest. By itself, or even in association with Sarawak, North Borneo would find it very expensive to exist as an independent territory, and its voice in the councils of the world would be small. The peoples of Malaya and Borneo have cultural, economic and historical ties which make them fit naturally together as a group. Malaysia offers for them all the prospect of sharing in the destiny of what the British Government believes will be a great, prosperous and stable independent State within the Commonwealth.

4. Within recent weeks there has been strong criticism, much of it analytical and constructive, in sectors of the local English and Chinese Press of the concept of Malaysia on the basis of North Borneo joining the Federation of Malaya as a State under the present Constitution of the Federation. As was made clear at the last meeting of the Legislative Council in December, the Commission of Enquiry is not committed to any detailed terms of merger already proposed, and there is no question of its