Tunku’s Merger Proposal and Sarawak’s Responses, 1961 to 1962.
|
THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
|
Title :
Tunku’s Merger Proposal and Sarawak’s Responses, 1961 to 1962. |
|
Author :
David Tham |
|
Abstract:
This paper seeks to describe some of the responses and agitations of the newly established political parties and their representatives in Sarawak that stemmed from Tunku Abdul Rahman’s speech on merger in May 1961 till the arrival of the Cobbold Commission in February 1962. The rationale for Tunku’s speech will be briefly touched on and the underlyingreasons for the initial unwillingness of the participants to be receptive to this new idea will be discussed. On 26th May 1961 Tunku cut short plans for a vacation to South Vietnam. Instead he flew south to Singapore and on 27th May 1961 at a lunche on held in his honour at the Adelphi Hotel, he described his plans' to merge the three British territories in Borneo with the Malayan Federation and Singapore, to the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of South East Asia. Among other things, Tunku mentions that, “Sooner or later Malaya should have an understanding with Borneo and the peoples of Singapore, North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak. It is premature for me to say now how this close understanding can be brought about but it is inevitable that we should look ahead to this objective and think of a plan whereby these territories can be brought together in political and economic cooperation.”
|
| DOI: XXXX |
|
How to cite:
David Tham. (1998). Tunku’s Merger Proposal and Sarawak’s Responses, 1961 to 1962. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LIII (74): 67-94 |
|
References
|
