DEC 8 — The Federation of Malaya, which was formed on 31st August 1957 in accordance with the Federation of Malaya Agreement, did not initially include Sabah, Sarawak, and briefly Singapore.

This inclusion came about later, which was then set out under the Malaysia Agreement 1963(MA1963). These 3 states then agreed to merge under the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia.

Given the fact, MA63 is an international agreement which is registered under the United Nations, the agreement cannot be amended or varied. However, what Malaysia can do is amend or pass new laws to give its legal effect to MA63.

Hence, this brings back why the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2021 related to Malaysia Agreement 1963 was passed with a two-thirds majority. It has since been gazetted. The amendment was made to Article 1, Article 160, and Article 161A.

It was a historical moment, as it was the moment when the Federal Constitution amendments were made pursuant to honor MA63.

The 20 Points Agreement

Malaysia Agreement 1963 is an important agreement for Sabah and Sarawak as it lays out the conditions of their incorporation with the Federation. It was supposed to give them a higher degree of autonomy in the Federation.

The main item under the 20-point, safeguards basically:

1) Islam’s status as a national religion was not applicable to Sarawak and Sabah;

2) Language, where Malay should be the national language of the federation. However, English should continue to be used for a period of 10 years after Malaysia Day, English should be the official language of Sarawak for all purposes, with no limitation of time;

3) Immigration control is vested in the state government;

4) Borneanisations of the civil service;

5) Representation in Parliament;

6) Land, forest, local government, etc.;

7) There would be no right to secede from the Federation.

8) The indigenous people of both Sarawak and Sabah shall enjoy the same special position given to the Malay community in Malaya;

9) Sabah and Sarawak were to be given a high degree of autonomy over their financial affairs. They would retain some control of their own finance, development expenditure, and tariffs.

From the above, only a handful of promises were incorporated into the Federal Constitution. However, most of the time, the promises were still breached by the federal government.

A significant issue that can be drawn is the oil and gas royalty, where 5% is given to the state and balance s to the federal government.

The promise of inclusiveness

Many agree, amending the Federal Constitution was indeed the very first step in including Sabah and Sarawak in the Federal planning.

The passing of the constitutional amendments was one step closer for Malaysia to restoring the promise in MA63 of having an equal footing in the government.

As easy as it is to say, for such changes to take place, political will, the willingness to put differences aside and bring reformation to the country must be there.

Sabah and Sarawak must have the right to be represented in the unity government, and this was evidently seen in the recent cabinet under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim.

Fadillah Yusof, who is the Deputy Prime Minister, has been tasked to deal with matters pertaining to MA63. His appointment sends a significant message that the Federal government is committed to bringing Malaysia together, which may also mean reviewing the agreement to give the promised autonomy power, which has been long overdue.

As such, the inclusiveness of Anwar’s unity government must be praised when there is definitely a strong political will from both Sabah and Sarawak in making their mark in Parliamentary sitting.

Thus, just like I said, Malaysia means inclusive of Sabah and Sarawak!

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.