Snippets

Malaysia Day in Sandakan

A/N: I am quite frequently asked about the background photograph on my profile page of a platoon of soldiers marching past  in line abreast. This was taken at Sandakan in British North Borneo on the day it ceased to be a colony and became the state of Sabah, in the Federation of Malaysia.

Yes, I am there! I am the the 'right marker' on which the others are dressing (keeping the line straight). That's me on the extreme left of the front rank as you look at the picture.

The following is an article on the day that I wrote for 'Swift and Bold' magazine. The jourmal of the Royal Green Jackets. It was quite a day!

MALAYSIA DAY IN SANDAKAN

By Peter Thomson

Britain emerged from WW2 economically and physically exhausted, but victorious and with its empire intact.

The austerity of Britain under wartime siege continued until the promise of prosperity emerged in the early 1960’s. 

This period also marked the dismantling of the greater part of the British Empire in which former colonies attained independence with the frequency of an oak tree shedding leaves in late autumn.

Malaya had achieved its own independence in 1957, and it’s visionary premier, Tunku Abdul Rahman sought to hasten independence for Singapore and the British Borneo colonies of Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo by mooting the concept of Malaysia. These territories wanted their independence, but Britain, thought they were too small and unready for self-rule. However, by joining Malaya to create the Federation of Malaysia, the objection to self-determination was removed.

The tiny Borneo colonial territories sat on the north-eastern corner of the world’s 3rd largest island.  The remainder of which belonged to Indonesia, one of the world’s most populous nations. The borders between the states were lines on a map, but on the ground were mostly unmarked and indistinct under the rainforest canopy.

With the exception of some rubber and oil palm plantations, little had changed with time in the colonies. They existed largely as they had for decades before. The centres of population were all in coastal conurbations with no continuous  trunk road connections between them.  In 1963, they were linked directly by sea transport, and a single DC3 (Dakota) aircraft of Borneo Airways. 

The hinterland was populated by primitive tribesmen who lived their lives in the forests much as their ancestors had done before them. 

But these domains were endowed with enormous natural resources in their fishing grounds, hardwood timber, oil and mineral deposits. After some preliminary exploitation during the Japanese occupation, they were now ripe for development. 

The geographic proximity of the soon to be independent states to the burgeoning industrial economy of Japan, with its insatiable appetite for raw materials, provided a ready market to stimulate further growth of industries to garner their latent riches.

The MacMillan government despatched a commission under Lord Cobbold in 1962 to investigate the feasibility of granting the colonies their independence according to the Rahman plan. He reported back that the majority of the peoples of these territories were in favour of the formation of Malaysia. The Cabinet fell in with the idea, and it became government policy. Britain would support the formation of Malaysia and grant the minor territories their independence into the newly created Federation of Malaysia. 

Although this suited Britain and the provinces that the plan directly involved; it was less enthusiastically beheld by other nations in the region. 

The Philippines upheld an ancient claim on British North Borneo (Sabah) from the time it was leased to a British Chartered company by US interests in the late 19th century. It had become the crown colony of British North Borneo only in 1946.