CIA document reveals true intention

of Malaysia formation
admin-s
Malaysia Today | On Oct 4, 2017

(FMT) A declassified CIA document, entitled Implications of dispute over

Sarawak continental shelf, has raised questions on the formation of
Malaysia and oil and gas reserves belonging to Sabah and Sarawak.

Sarawak activist Zulfaqar Saadi told FMT the document had exposed the real
story of what happened in 1969 when Sarawak lost its territorial waters and with
it, rich natural resources to the federal government.

The five-page document was believed to have been written in the weeks leading
up to the day when the Continental Shelf Act 1966 was extended to the Bornean
states.

It noted that Kuala Lumpur was seen to be trying to stamp its power in order to
exploit resources beyond the three-mile limit.

Zulfaqar pointed out that even though Malaya had achieved independence in
1957, the federal government only found it necessary to enact the Continental
Shelf Act in 1966 after the formation of Malaysia and immediately after the
secession of Singapore.

Reading through the CIA document, it makes one wonder whether the
Federation of Malaya, acting as the federal government of Malaysia, engineered
the political situation from the beginning to ensure it could exploit the rich natural
resources of the Bornean territories.

He also recalled the words of Malaysias first prime minister Tunku Abdul
Rahman who openly said he wanted Sabah and Sarawak, and at the time,
Brunei, to be in the new country because the territories were resource-rich,
having stated earlier it would be good financially, they have oil.

Based on his research, Zulfaqar said the Malayan government at the time made
use of the British desperation to keep its obligations to the Bornean states and
safeguard its interests in Singapore to force a merger that would include all three
territories.

I am not saying it was deliberate, but without Singapore in the picture, Malaya
was free to exploit Sabah and Sarawak resources.

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Singapore would have objected vehemently to any attempt by Malaya to extend
the Continental Shelf Act to the three territories.

So after Singapore seceded, the federal government put its plan into action
almost immediately.

Nevertheless, Zulfaqar told FMT that the most poignant aspect of the document
was the fact that Sarawak leaders at the time knew that Malayas attempt was
against the agreement.

The Sarawak government, at the time under a caretaker government after Kuala
Lumpur ousted Stephen Kalong Ningkan, stood firm against the attempt to
extend the Act to Sabah and Sarawak.

However, Kuala Lumpur told Sarawak that it would be a democratic and wise
decision to accept because Sabah had assented to it.

The federal government also used the same excuse when they approached the
Sabah government later, saying that Sabah should accept because Sarawak had
already agreed to it, he said.

The CIA document revealed that using the Malaysia Agreement, acting state
attorney-general Jemuri Serjan outlined the rights of Sarawak on territorial
waters, which was decreed in 1954 through an Order In Council and further
established by the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958.

He argued that Article 1 of the Malaysia Constitution, which at that time was
based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (amended in 1976), provides the
definition of the territory of Sarawak and that includes the continental shelf.

This is new information because until today we never knew that the Sarawak
government was already aware and even employed this entire legal instrument
when they dealt with the federal government, he said.

The document also noted that the Sarawak government could actually stand
against Kuala Lumpur on the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and against the
exploitation of the Emergency power to take over Sarawaks territorial waters.

Instead, he said the Sarawak government accepted the Kuala Lumpur

proposition in return for minor concessions, which a few years later was sealed
through the Petroleum Development Act 1976, giving a cash payment, named
5% royalty, to the state.

In the end, Kuala Lumpur was able to establish its authority over the exploitation
of resources beyond the three-mile limit and shamefully exploited its Emergency

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powers and the weak caretaker government of Sarawak to achieve its
objective, he said.

Zulfaqar, however, believed that with new information and declassified

documents suddenly surfacing everywhere now, there was renewed enthusiasm
to revisit the history of the formation of Malaysia and to make things right again.

I am hoping that our Sarawak lawyers, who went to London recently, will
uncover more information that could give us a clearer picture of the formation of
Malaysia and thus help safeguard Sarawaks rights, he concluded.

Declassified CIA papers help people

know history, says ex-CM
freemalaysiatoday.com | October 5, 2017

KOTA KINABALU: The declassified CIA document that reveals how the Bornean
states lost their oil and gas resources to the federal government is just one of the
many disturbing documents that have surfaced lately, said Sabah Progressive
Party (SAPP).

Its president, Yong Teck Lee, said with so many secrets suddenly coming out
into the open, Sabahans should start thinking again about the history of the

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formation of the Federation of Malaysia, despite what the school books and
official media have been telling Malaysians all these years.

In this day and age, he said, people no longer relied only on the official version of
history as the internet has given access to new information and knowledge.

As more and more secrets of the formation of Malaysia are revealed with the
declassification of official documents, people can get a better understanding of
the events of the 1960s.

This includes the happenings behind the political curtain during the pre-Malaysia
era and the real reasons for the formation of Malaysia, he told FMT.

Much of the information, he said, had already been made public by the United
Kingdom since the country has a rule to declassify documents after 50 years.

These documents, he said, are invaluable to Sabahs struggle to understand its

own history and what has led to its current predicament.

As we all know, history explains why we are where we are. What we do today
will determine where we will be in the future, Yong said.

He added that the declassified CIA document would make Sabahans understand
their real history without the facts being fabricated by the authorities.

Moreover, he said, the CIA document lends credence to the claims of Sabahans
who demand full autonomy and control of their natural resources, including oil
and gas.

He added that it is his hope that one day the still classified official report into the
June 6 air crash that killed Sabahs most prominent leaders in 1976 will be
released.

With more and more secrets of the past emerging, the more justified our
struggle will be, he said.

On Wednesday, Sarawak activist Zulfaqar Saadi claimed the CIA document

entitled Implications of dispute over Sarawak continental shelf, written in the
weeks leading up to the extension of the Continental Shelf 1966 to Borneo,
revealed the real story of how Sabah and Sarawak lost their oil and gas rights.

Zulfaqar had said it was possible the federal government had engineered the
situation at the time, including the secession of Singapore, to ensure it could
exploit the rich natural resources of the Bornean territories.

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