Rajah Vyner Brooke declared his plans for devolution of power from the Rajah to the people of Sarawak on Sarawak Centenary in an address to the nation, 31st March, 1941.
I will open my address by reminding you that one hundred years have all but passed since the establishment of the Brooke Rule in Sarawak. And today, I am going to commemorate this Centenary Year by making a public announcement of declaring the Heir to the Raj of Sarawak, by proclaiming the termination of the era of Absolute Rule of the Rajahs of Sarawak and by instituting measures designed to divest myself of the Absolute legislative power. I am signing an Order which will vest the legislative power in the Committee of Administration for a period of not more than one year. To this Committee I have entrusted the duty of forming a Constitition which will provide for a future Legislative and for adequate representation in that Legislature, of all Native and other Peoples who dwell in Sarawak. When this Constitution is promulgated, the Rajah will thereafter legislate by and with the advice of the representative Legislature. By voluntarily surrendering these great powers, I feel that I shall be making a contribution towards the interests and welfare of the people commensurate with the spirit in which the first Rajah received the Government of this country, and the auspiciousness of this Centenary Year.
I wish to say that for long, I have felt the need and desirability of ending the period of Autocratic Rule and substituting for it a liberal Constitution. But now only do I feel that the time is ripe for effecting this great change in the traditional method of Government in Sarawak. I have always been positive, as was my father, that it was never the intention of Sir James Brooke to establish a line of Absolute Rulers. What he set out to do was to protect the natives of Sarawak, the real but backward owners of this land, from exploitation and oppression, until such time as they could govern themselves. I hope that it may be fairly said that this worthy aim has in large measure been achieved. And now I am taking a step forward towards the ultimate aim, laid down by the First Rajah which was to safeguard the Rights of the Native Population, a duty well discharged by my Father and, I trust, by myself.
Commentary: In 1941, the 3rd Rajah celebrated 100 years of Brooke dynastic rule in Sarawak. Charles Vyner Brooke led the historic occasion by announcing that an Order outlining the cardinal principles in guiding the new Consitution would be proclaimed to achieve the ultimate attainment of governance of the people by themselves. The times of London lauded this ‘liberal’ move as reported in its 7th April publication. However, the new Constitution had barely taken effect when in a strange twist of fate intervention came in the form of the Japanese invasion of Sarawak on 24th December, 1941.
