The Dewan Undangan Negeri Negeri or State Legislative Assemby, which sits in the iconic building of Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Complex towering Sungei Sarawak and easily recognisable throughout Malaysia, can trace its humble root to an insignificant building in Bintulu 150 years ago.
It was in this building that Charles Brooke chaired a meeting, which was referred to a General Council on 8 September 1867 for him and his officers to brief the members on matters relating to policies, actions and works being carried out by the Government of the day.
The meeting, chaired by Charles Brooke as the President of the General Council, served only as a forum for members to exchange views on matters relating to the State, which was then only a stretch of land along the coasts.
There were no any representatives from legal, judicial and executive authorities during the meeting. The DUN Sarawak celebrated its 150th anniversary on January 30, 2018 with a special sitting, which was addressed by the Yang di Pertua Negeri, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud. The Head of State in his speech, said Sarawak could celebrate the 150th anniversary of DUN with a special sitting as it has been blessed with goodwill, peace and harmony of the people.
Tun Taib, who served as a Member of Council Negeri, for about 40 years, said the 150th anniversary celebration is very important as it helps to remind the rakyat of the significance of this august house as the symbol of integrity of the State of Sarawak through the process of law, which is fair and just.
This celebration is also for the rakyat to acknowledge the contribution of individuals, who had been involved with the formation of the legislative system in Sarawak, which is unique, different and contemporary.
Tun Taib said the State Legislative Assembly, which is the oldest legislative institutuion in Malaysia, had been founded on the practices of self – government based on parliamentary democracy. The first meeting was called general council, which was chaired by Charles Brooke as the President of the General Council, which had 21 members comprising five expatriates and 16 Malays and Melanaus.
The first meeting decided on the format of the meeting, which was adopted during subsequent meetings. The first meeting, which only served as a forum for members to listen to briefings by the Rajah and his officers on matters relating to policies, actions and works being carried out by the Government of the did not have any representatives from legal, judicial and executive authorities.
The second meeting held in Sibu on June 15, 1868 was joined by by a number of additional members. The Third sitting was held in Kuching on October 11, 1870.
From thence on Kuching became the permanent venue for the sitting until today. All selected members had to attend a meeting of the General Council then comprised community leaders, who assisted in the administration of regions under Brooke’s rule then mainly in coastal areas.
Tun Taib said the General Council towards the year 1903 changed the structure to provide the legislative basis to administer the State of Sarawak that gave emphasis to social justice, rule of law and legislation. The General council, with the change in the structure was renamed Council Negeri, which was more popularly known by the local communities as Council Negeri.
He said economic development started to get attention when agriculture and financial matters once Lawas became part of Sarawak in 1904.
The composition of members of the Council was being diverasified in terms of ethnicities, religions and strata. The Orang Ulu started to become a member of the Council in 1867. Later seven Chinese community leaders and two community leaders from the interior of Baram were appointed members of the council in 1897.
The membership of the council continued to increase with the appointment of two “Mubaligh”or missionaries and four more representatives of the Chinese community on November 17, 1941. Tun Taib said a Constitutional Order called “ The 1941 Constitutional Order” was being drafted in conjunction with 100 years of rule by the Brooke family. The written Constitution presented by Rajah Sir Charles Vyner Brooke also brought about changes to the role Council Negeri.
It ended the sole authority of the Rajah to make any law or expenditure without the agreement of the Council Negeri. Later the Council Neger i, chaired by the Chief Secretary and held outside Astana Brooke at the old Court Building in Kuching. The implementation of the new constitution on December 16, 1941 but the meeting was interrupted by the presence of the Japanese Army in Sarawak. Tun Taib said the sitting of Council Negeri resumed as soon as the rule by the Japanese Army came to an end. Then Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke declared the handing over of the Administration of Sarawak to the British Colonial Government on February 1946.
A total of 18 members, mostly expatriate officers, supported the resolution as compared to 16, who opposed it. After the handing over of Sarawak to the British Colonial Government, a new Constitution was drafted in 1956. The membership of Council Negeri increased to 24 non official elected members while 14 members were based on appointments, four on nomination and three as permanent members. Tun Taib said the first the general election was held in Sarawak in 1959 was through the three-tier voting system of the local councils.
A total of 24 non official members were elected to become members of the Council Negeri. The election brought about a political realization among the local people as proven by the emergence of a number of poilitcal parties. He said the Constituttion of the State of Sarawak underwent an important change on March 1963 following the announcement of the Concept of the Formation of Malaysia Raya in 1961. The change made by Council Negeri was to ensure Sarawak would have a fully democratic legislature and a ministerial system of government before Malaysia could be formed together.
He said the number of elected representatives of the people would increase to 36 and the membership be based on posts and nominations would be reduced to three persons. The new development would enable Sarawak to have its own government based Ministerial system with a Cabinet or Supreme Council of six members and to be headed by the Chief Minister for a start.
Three members based on the posts were the State Secretary, the State Attorney General and the State Financial Secretary. Sarawak was led by Cabinet with members being elected by the people on August 31, 1963.
Tun Taib said members of Council Negeri increased according to the changing time. On May 25, an enactment to the Ordinance of Separation of Duties of the Secretary of the Council Negeri stated the principle of parliamentary practices was to separate legislative duties and executive duties. The number of Cabinet Ministers has increased with the members comprising the Chief Minister and eight Cabinet Ministers. In 1968 the membership of Council Negeri increased to 48 after the amendment to its constitution.
Three members of the Dewan based on posts and nominated members were revoked. Tun Taib said after the General Elections in 1969, all elected members of the Council Negeri as elected representatives of the people were based on the principle of one representative one constituency in accordance with the universal practice. The Members of Council Negeri increased to 56 on April 1987. It increased again to 62 in 1966 and 71 in 2006.
As the result of the delineation of the electrol bounderies in 2014, the number of elected representatives of the people as members of Council Negeri now stands at 82. The delineation of electorol bounderies was and would continue to be an important exercise to ensure greater effectiveness in the administration and development, said Tun Taib .
Sarawak can be proud to be able to have the most number of people’s elected representatives as compared to other states in Malaysia. The composition of members is also diverse from the aspects of political ideologies, ethnicities and strata. The usage of local dialects during the deliberation is something unique, which reflects the spirit of compromise and mutual respect of dialect and culture of the people of Sarawak.
He said the maturity of Council Negeri is also being reflected in topics of debates, which are thorough and touching local, national and global issues. The debates focus on intrerests of the State from the aspects of political stability, balanced economy, social justice for the people in a society of diversity in Sarawak. He said the Council Negeri is the symbol of honour and sovereignty of the State of Sarawak.
The history of the sovereignity of a nation is connected closely with the spirit of patriotism in defending the pride of the people, the race, religion and the nation.
He said the spirit of patriotism refers to the struggle and sacrifices based on the value of love, loyalty, pride, sincerity, the readiness and commitment of a person to the religion, race and the nation. Tun Taib said history has shown that the spirit of patriotism can be considered as main pre-conditions in the formation of a successful nation and race. History has also proven that a race that betrays his own nation will be colonised and eventually experience destruction. Let’s look back at history while Sarawak was being colonised by foreigners.
All the wealth of natural resources were being exploited by colonialists for their own interests. On the contrary, the local people had to live in hardship and shortages and could only witness the sources of wealth of the State being exploited by other people, by outsiders.
After Sarawak achieved Independence, the people could manage the resources for the their own progress and prosperity. The people could plan their own development according to own curves. They no longer have to depend on people from outside to determine the future direction of the development of the State. More importantly, the people were no longer tied to the demands of foreign powers because the State was already soverign and independent. Now the people can see the success of the Government and the prosperity and advancement of the beloved state.
Tun Taib called on the people to continue working together defending the independence and integrity of the State. He is happy that the people comprising diverse ethnic and religious groups and other different backgrounds can live in the environment of peace and unity among them.
DUN is the symbol of unity among the various races with the elected members comprising various races and backgrounds, he said. The situation reflects that the practice of democracy is healthy in a struggle to meet the aspiration of the rakyat The Members may have differences in ideologies and political struggle but they can still debate in a disciplined and orderly manner in the spirit of mutual respect, which serves as the foundation of the State’s unity.
Tun Taib called on the people to continue promoting the spirit of unity regardless of the backgrounds, cultures and religious beliefs. Unity in diversity has become the strength of the state in facing bigger and more complex challenges especially in the era of globalisation and intensive development of technology. He also appealed to the people not to be easily misled by any efforts to undermine the unity and harmony in the State.
He is happy with efforts of the Government in strengthening the existing unity and solidarity among the people in the State. He said the role of DUN has increasingly become complex. Apart from its legislative functions, the Dewan also functions to protect the sovereignty and uphold the Constittutional rights of the State and the people.
He said DUN serves as a forum for the members to provide advisory services, evaluate policies and supervise the implementation of development programs of the Government. For example, the Dewan is responsible to approve the allocations and ensure that the public money is being spent based on approvals for the benefits of the state and prosperity of the Rakyat.
Generally, the DUN serves as a forum for members to voice their opinions and discuss in an open manner on matters relating to the welfare and needs of the people and issues relating to the interests of the State.
He appealed to all members to carry out their duties, roles and responsibilities in all sincerity in defending the sovereignty of the beloved State, preserving peace and unity of the people and in serving their welfare and interests. He also called on the people to remember and celebrate the services and contribution made by previous leaders as they celebrate the 150th anniversary of DUN Sarawak with the special sitting today.
Sarawak was led by the late Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan, as the first Chief Minister after Independence from July 22, 1963 to September 1966. He had to face the confrontation from Indonesia, which was against the formation of Malaysia.
He was succeeded by Datuk Penghulu Tawi Sli as the second Chief Minister of Sarawak. The leadership of the State was led by Datuk Patinggi Haji (later Tun) Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, as the third Chief Minister of Sarawak after the first direct election in 1970. The State Government being led by him successfully eliminated the armed threats by the communists through the peace deal of Sri Aman Declaration. Subsequently, Simanggang town, an idyllic town along Batang Lupar was changed to Sri Aman to mark the historical event. The success brought about peace and political stability not only Sri Aman but the whole State of Sarawak.
