A Multicultural and Liberal Malaysia

Few Malaysians, especially from Malaya, are aware that Sarawak and Sabah were briefly independent before joining Malaya and Singapore to form Malaysia. (The MP for Tuaran, Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau wrote a great article regarding the above on 22 July 2023, Malaysiakini. These are excerpts from  that article) 

For 56 days from July 22, 1963, to Sept 15, 1963, the British relinquished control and Sarawak was in self-rule under her first chief minister, Stephen Kalong Ningkan. Likewise, for 16 days from Aug 31, 1963, to Sept 15, 1963, Sabah was in self-rule under her first chief minister, Donald Stephens. This is a reminder that we had different colonial experiences and decolonisation trajectories and we must not take for granted the merger of three countries as one federation. 

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org

We could have been three different countries as Brunei is to us now. We must consciously avoid developments that make the alternative path necessary and more desirable than the status quo.

The toughest challenge in reconceptualising an inclusive Malaysia lies in overcoming the anti-colonial hangover. This requires an honest recognition of three important facts. 

First, Malaysia is a post-colonial state with British rule as the single most important commonality.

Second, persevering the liberal political system we inherited from the British – the Federal Constitution, constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, civil and political liberties including religious freedom, judiciary independence, common laws, and an impartial and professional bureaucracy – is at the core of the social contract that produces and maintains Malaysia, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Third, decolonisation is not the restoration of the precolonial indigenous political system but the realisation of democracy.

There can be no colonisation when every citizen is politically equal and the government exercises its power on the consent of the governed.

In the opposite direction, Sabah and Sarawak suffered internal colonisation when one-party rule crippled our liberal institutions and disabled democracy.

For Malaysia to stay decolonised, we must pursue decentralisation of power for all 13 states to prevent the re-emergence of power concentration that, in the worst case, would empower Malayan extremists.

Those who love multiethnic, multifaith, and free post-colonial Malaysia promised by MA63 must fight off the extremists who want to revert Malaysia back to a monoethnic, monofaith, and authoritarian pre-colonial Tanah Melayu.

This is a honest, detailed and heartfelt account of our journey as Malaysia. There must be a discourse of like-minded people and the current leadership to re-set our course. It is common for that to happen. Every country, organisation and family go through this process, in what is called a ‘retreat’ – a re-discovery of the ties that bind us and the differences that we can overlook. We need to move from tolerance, acceptance to celebration of our diversity. May God bless Malaysia!

Reference:

MP Speaks: A nusantara, multicultural, and liberal Malaysia, Wilfred Madius Tangau, Malaysiakini, 22 July 2023