THE FORMATION OF

MALAYSIA
The Idea of Malaysia
♦David Marshall – Singapore unite with
Malaya – 1955
♦Ghazali Shafei - 1954
♦Tan Cheng Lock – 1955
♦Lee Kuan Yew – 1959
♦Tunku Abdul Rahman - 1955
♦ On 27 May 1961, Tunku revealed his aspiration to form
Malaysia, 5 years after his first open suggestion.
♦ The idea of unification announced by Tunku at the
meeting with the Press, was given wide coverage in the
regional newspapers.
♦ Brunei, British North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and
Singapore finally followed up the action.
♦ The consultation was lasted for almost two years.
Factors for the Formation of Malaysia
♦ Independence through unification
♦ Understanding for development
♦ Ethnic balance and Unity
♦ Collective fight against communism
♦ Economic cooperation
♦ United in international relations
Reaction Towards the Idea
♦ Singapore:Lee Kuan Yew apparently was most
interested.
♦ Political changes in early 1961 changed the mind
of part of the population.
♦ Had opposed by UPP (United People’s Party) –
socialist party.
♦ Other threat was also the Anson bye-election- a
left wing PAP (People’s Action Party) gave
support to Labour Party candidate.
♦ Brunei: Although a large section of population were agreed to join
Malaysia, many of them preferred to be independent.
♦ Azahari, leader of Party Rakyat Brunei (Brunei’s People Party) wanted
to unite with Sabah and Sarawak under the name of North Kalimantan.
♦ Sabah & Sarawak: They were aware the unification would mean they
would be free from British imperialism.
♦ They were also aware that the population structure would be different in
the new country.
♦ Contributing to the racial balance in Malaysia.
♦ Apprehensive about losing their position because of ‘Malayan
domination’ especially among the non-Malays.
♦ Malaya: the Malaysia concept was generally accepted.
♦ PAS (Malaysian Islamic Party)– strongly against the
formation of Malaysia and claimed the Malays would lose out
if Malaysia were established.
♦ They preferred MAPHILINDO concept, combined Malaya,
Philippines and Indonesia.
♦ Britain: On the whole, the British accepted even though they
would handed the countries back to the people.
 Steps Towards the Formation of
Malaysia
♦ Tunku and a specially-formed Committee made
visits to the countries to verify the uncertainty in
the people’s thinking.
♦ Singapore Referendum
♦ UN Investigation
♦ Consultation with Britain, the Philippines and
Indonesia.
♦ Settling the differences in the reports by the
Malayan and British representatives to the
Cobbold Comission.
 BRUNEI’S WITHDRAWAL
♦ Three fundamental reasons for Brunei to join Malaysia:
1. The speeding up of independence
2. The strengthening of the wall of defense against the
communist threat
3. The provision of help to the less developed parts

♦ Claims of Brunei:
1. The number of seats in the Legislature and in Parliament
2. The control on oil and other minerals
3. Monetary autonomy
4. Brunei’s earlier investment
5. Method of taxation
6. Authority in the area of education and welfare
7. Matters of religion
8. Citizenship
9. The security of Brunei
10. The position of the Sultan and the status of Brunei within
Malaysia