Kota Kinabalu: Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei were weeks away from forming their own independent nation under the Borneo Federation when British intervention ended the plan, said Tun Fuad Stephens’ former political secretary, Tan Sri Abdul Majid Khan.
He claimed the late Chief Minister was the last Sabah leader to agree to the formation of Malaysia at a recent family-hosted lunch reception to commemorate 50 years since the Double Six air tragedy.
The reception, hosted by the Stephens’ family at the Le Meridien Hotel, was attended by families and friends who lost loved ones in the Sembulan air crash on June 6, 1976.
“Donald was the last to come on board with the formation of Malaysia,” said Majid, who served as personal aide to Fuad and later political secretary.
“He played a very significant role. He was the founding father of Malaysia. Not many people know,” he said.
Majid said the push for a Borneo federation grew directly from a frank assessment that North Borneo (Sabah) could not survive as an independent state.
“The British had made clear they were withdrawing from all their colonies East of Suez, with Hong Kong the sole exception, under pressure from the United Nations Decolonisation Committee.
“The British Governor told Donald that they are going to give unilateral independence to North Borneo. Whether we like it or not, they were going to give independence, period,” Majid recalled.
He said an ad hoc committee set up to study the viability of North Borneo’s independence delivered a damning finding.
“The territory had a population of roughly 420,000 but only around 300 graduates, of whom 90 per cent were foreigners from Burma, Sri Lanka and India, with just two local Bumiputera graduates in the entire territory.
“We did not have the money, we did not have the people to run the State, we did not have the security to guard our 1,400-kilometre seashore. And at the same time, the Philippines has indicated their intention to claim Sabah,” he said.
He said Fuad led delegations to Kuching and later Labuan to explore whether a federated Borneo arrangement was viable.
“In Kuching, the Sabah team met Sarawak political leaders including the Malay leaders of the day, among them the father of current Sarawak Premier Abang Johari
Openg, as well as Temenggong Jugah and representatives of the Sarawak United People’s Party.
“Both sides reached the same conclusion that neither territory could stand alone, but together with Brunei, a federated Borneo was economically viable.
“Sarawak also cannot be independent on its own. They have done their study, the British have told them also, ‘We are going to give you up,’” Majid said.
Fuad then reached out to Sheikh Ahmad M Azahari Sheikh Mahmud, the president and secretary general of Parti Rakyat Brunei, requesting a meeting in Labuan.
“The party had at the time won 51 of 52 state assembly seats in Brunei. Despite that mandate, Azahari told Fuad he needed to consult the Sultan before committing.
Three months later, he returned with the Sultan’s acceptance.
“As a federated territory of Borneo, Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, it is a viable entity, economically,” Majid recalled Fuad telling the Brunei delegation.
Majid said the security climate in Brunei at the time was unstable.
“Indonesian forces had landed in the territory and it was Sabah police and British troops deployed from Singapore who repelled them and preserved the Sultanate,” he said, adding that the Sultan, the father of the current Sultan of Brunei, moved everywhere armed with two pistols.
“He (referring to the then Sultan) did not trust anyone,” Majid said.
He said with the Sultan’s agreement secured, Fuad’s team began formalising plans for a Federation of Borneo Territories with the Sultan as head of government, briefing the British government, who signalled approval.
“We started the ball rolling,” Majid said.
He said what ended the Borneo Federation plan was a political crisis unfolding in Singapore.
“Around 11 members of the ruling People’s Action Party had defected to the opposition Barisan Sosialis, leaving Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in a precarious position.
“Lee approached Tunku Abdul Rahman with request to accelerate Malaysia’s formation with Singapore included. Tunku, however, had reservations about Singapore’s demographic weight.
“The Chinese population was too overwhelming, so that when they merge together, the Muslim and the Malay majority would be very slim. They did not feel very comfortable about it,” Majid said.
He said Tunku then conveyed to the British government that he could not accept Singapore, he proposed an alternative - a new nation comprising Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Singapore together with Malaya.
“The then British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan agreed and the British government promptly told Fuad and the Sarawak leaders that the Borneo federation plan was over. Brunei ultimately opted out of Malaysia altogether,” Majid said.
Majid said Fuad, however, remained reluctant to join, pointing out that he (Fuad) feared that the more developed peninsula states would economically marginalise Sabahans, most of whom were farmers.
“The ones who resisted very strongly was Sodomon and Donald initially. Donald was very concerned that if we join this Federation, the people are more developed, they come and take our business. Our people are farmers, we are not ready for it,” Majid said.
“It was Lee who eventually flew to Kota Kinabalu to persuade him (Fuad).
“I served him, know him from age of 13 and served him until the last day,” Majid said of his relationship with Fuad, adding this closeness led Lee to seek him out as an intermediary.
“Lee contacted me personally, aware of my ties to Fuad and asked me to arrange a meeting,” he said.
When Majid relayed the request, Fuad’s response was firm. “Donald told me, ‘If he (Lee) wants to see me, he must come here. I am not going there all the way,’” Majid recalled.
He said Lee flew in under an assumed name via a DC-3 aircraft that took 12 hours from Singapore, with only one night before he had to return.
Majid received him at the airport and drove him directly to Fuad’s home, where the two men held a private dinner that Majid attended as butler.
“During that dinner, Fuad laid out his objections plainly to Lee saying, “We cannot be independent on our own, because we do not have the resources and we do not have the people and we do not have the security,” Majid recalled Fuad telling Lee.
