18 - Wooing North Borneo

Summary

Raja pored over the map of the imagined Malaysia as a suitor might gaze at the photograph of his intended beloved. These days, he could think of little else but Malaysia. He traced its contours. The island of Borneo lies to the east of Singapore. The southern section of the island, Kalimantan, was part of Sukarno's Indonesia. Above it sat the states of Sarawak, Brunei, and Sabah — the three North Borneo territories invited to give up their colonial status to join Malaya and Singapore in matrimony to form the union of Malaysia. But as in love, nothing was certain.

Raja was concerned about the reluctance shown by the North Borneo territories to the Malaysia plan. These territories, covered mostly in jungle, were fearful of being subjected to the control of Malaya, which they regarded as a foreign power. Relatively backward in their development, they were particularly apprehensive that their people — especially their indigenous groups — would be subjugated by Malay dominance under the pro-Malay government in Kuala Lumpur. Their suspicions posed more than a hitch: Should they refuse to join Malaysia, Singapore would be left in a lurch. For the Tunku would almost certainly walk away from merger with Singapore on its own.

Unwilling to submit Singapore's fate to the impersonal forces of history, Raja set out to woo North Borneo to embrace Malaysia. The effort would take all his ardour and ingenuity. His opportunity came when Singapore hosted the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) on 21 July 1961. As leader of the Singapore delegation, he called on his reservoir of diplomatic charm to persuade the leaders in the Borneo territories to view Malaysia in a more positive light.

He spent much time with the likes of Donald Stephens, a Kadazan Eurasian proprietor and editor of the Sabah Times and founding leader of the newly-formed United National Kadazan Organisation (UNKO), and Ong Kee Hui, chairman of the Chinesedominated Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP). He built a good rapport with them.