KUCHING: The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) must not be seen from the Sabah, Sarawak ‘angle’ alone but from the perspective of the Malaysian federation.
Senior Lecturer in Politics and Government Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Dr Arnold Puyok said MA63 was not just about Sarawak and Sabah issues.
While some people in Malaya perceived MA63 as a struggle to restore the rights of the two East Malaysian states, it is in fact about strengthening the spirit of the Malaysian federation.
“MA63 is about preserving the characters of each of the different entities in the federation. It is the bedrock of the Malaysian federalism. It lays the foundation of the federal constitution and outlines the relationship between the different territories in the federation.
“The Federal Constitution preserves the special position of Sarawak and Sabah. The rights and privileges for both states are clearly stated in the Federal Constitution,” he added in his observation of the MA63 from the perspective of a federation.
Puyok, who is currently working on a publication titled “Sarawak: Quest for Autonomy and Renegotiating the MA63 bargains” said MA63 was essentially a “hot button” issue in Sarawak and Sabah, adding: “It is an emotive issue just as the Malay rights and Islam to the Malays in Peninsular Malaysia”.
MA63 is an agreement between the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore to form a new nation called Malaysia.
Then special rights were given to Sarawak and Sabah as part of their conditions to be incorporated into the new country.
Puyok said most debates on MA63 were focused on the breaches to the assurances for Sarawak and Sabah.
The two states accused the federal government of undermining their autonomy and wanted their position as ‘equal partners’ and control over natural resources (oil and gas) be restored.
There were attempts by the state and federal governments to address the conflicts but federal-state relations continue to sour.
Puyok noted that one of the reasons for the persistence of the federal-state conflict was that very often the Sarawak and Sabah issues were exclusively seen from the perspectives of East Malaysia only.
The problem was compounded further when opportunist politicians used MA63 to pit East Malaysia against Peninsular Malaysia.
“Some are more interested in raising the anti-Malaya sentiment rather than solving the core problem of the federal-state conflict.
“This has to change. Sarawak and Sabah issues must be seen collectively as a national problem,” he stressed.
