（ September 9, 1962 ）
The three most representative parties in North Borneo, Brunei, and Sarawak, which are also actively leading the opposition to the Malaysia plan, submitted a memorandum to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on September 9, 1962, requesting the United Nations to intervene in the transfer of sovereignty of these regions from Britain to the Federation of Malaya, denying the rights of the local people and their independence.
In a letter accompanying this memorandum addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the chairmen of these three parties had requested the United Nations to promptly to provide them with an opportunity to testify orally before the Decolonization Committee or other appropriate bodies within the United Nations. The following is the full text of the memorandum:
This memorandum is jointly submitted by the following political organizations of British North Borneo, Brunei, and Sarawak:
(1) United National Organization of Barsomo Morgan in British North Borneo - a political party with thirty thousand members, the majority of whom are indigenous people of Borneo, residents, and hundreds of Chinese who were born in North Borneo or have chosen North Borneo as their home and allegiance.
(2) Brunei People's Party - a political party established in Brunei in 1956, with twenty-six thousand members, including all ethnic groups in Brunei, and enjoys overwhelming support from the people of Brunei.
(3) Sarawak United People's Party - the earliest and largest political party established in Sarawak, with forty-seven thousand members, including various ethnic groups such as the Dayak and Malay living in Sarawak, making it the most represented political party.
These three parties represented the nationalist movements in their respective regions. They are independently organized and are striving for self-government and independence in accordance with the natural desires of the people of British North Borneo.
Sarawak and British North Borneo (also known as Sabah) are referred to as British colonies with no representative government. The British government has repeatedly stated that it had allowed the people of these regions to establish autonomous governments and independence.
The Sultanate of Brunei was once ruled most of the territories of Sabah and Sarawak until the mid-nineteenth century. Brunei is currently a protected state of the British Commonwealth, and the political affairs of this country are greatly influenced by the British through its High Commissioner, but it does not have a representative government itself.
On May 27, 1961, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman of the Federation of Malaya had made a statement on the concept of Malaysia, and it was immediately responded by the Malayan and Singapore governments. In response, the representatives from North Borneo and Sarawak had attended a regional conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The conference had recommended the establishment of the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee, the route and steps of which were decided or influenced by the representatives of the governments of Singapore and Malaya.
On November 23, 1961, the British and Malayan governments had issued a joint statement, considering the establishment of the "Malaysia Federation" and was a desirable goal, and hence they have decided to set up an investigation team to determine the opinions of the people of North Borneo and Sarawak and make recommendations.
The composition of the investigation team consisted of Sir Lord Cobbold (Chairman), Sir Anthony Abell (former Governor of Sarawak), Sir David Waterson, Datuk Wong Pow Nee, and Encik Mohamed Ghazali bin Shafie The chairman was jointly selected by the British and Malayan governments, and the other four members were appointed by the British and another two appointed by the Malayan governments respectively.
In light of the decision of the British government, the colonial governments of Sabah and Sarawak had supported the establishment of Malaysia and attempted to use all the propaganda tools at their disposal to secure favorably position to this proposal. Consequently, anyone opposing Malaysia in Sarawak and elsewhere was indiscriminately labeled as communist, tantamount to being described as "bandits" or "foreign agents."
The investigation team held meetings in twenty locations in Sarawak and fifteen locations in Sabah, meeting with a total of 4,000 people from 690 groups in Sarawak and Sabah without holding a nationwide referendum.
The Brunei government had established its own committee to determine the opinions of its people and submitted the results of its investigation to His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei.
During the investigation held in Sarawak, no public demonstrations were allowed while the investigation team was presented, hence a nationwide signature campaign was launched, with approximately 112,000 adult signatures opposing the Malaysia plan were collected and submitted to the investigation team. These signatures were collected in a very short time and in the face of government propaganda against opposition. Given that fifty-five percent of the total population of 750,000, which were non-adults, the actual number of people who had opposed the Malaysia plan should be even higher.
The estimation of the investigation team was that, one-third of the population unconditionally supports the realization of Malaysia, one-third conditionally supports it with guarantees, and the rest opposed it. This estimation was completely erroneous and was not supported by data and facts, and obviously, the independent impartial observers did not accept such an estimates.
In August 1962, the British and Malayan governments declared in a joint communique that they had proposed Malaysia Federation should be established on August 31, 1963, and a formal agreement should be reached within six months of signing the communique for the transfer of sovereignty of Sabah and Sarawak.
This decision had violated the Charter of the United Nations and its spirit, especially United Nations Resolution 1514 of December 14, 1960, and also had contradicted the fundamental principles of governance formulated by the White Rajah that had constituted the current constitution of Sarawak, which will be appended to this memorandum.
The findings of the committee appointed by His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei had shown that the vast majority of the people of Brunei had opposed to the Malaysia Federation.
Following a subsequent election, all 55 elected candidates of the only Brunei People’s Party had opposed to the formation of the Malaysia Federation. The Brunei People's Party used their opposition to the Malaysia Federation as their campaign platform.
The signatories of this memorandum appealed to and advocated the following to the United Nations: (1) The United Nations, in accordance with their declarations and resolutions, should intervene in the transfer of sovereignty of Sabah and Sarawak, as this transfer had denied the right of self-determination and full independence to the people of these regions; (2) An alternative solution was to hold a referendum organized and conducted by the United Nations before this transfer of sovereignty; (3) In accordance with the desires of free expression of the people, a federation comprising of Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei should be established, with His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei as the constitutional head of this federation.
United National Organization Barsomo Morgan (signed by Chairman Song Dan)
Brunei People's Party (signed by Chairman Azhahari)
Sarawak United People’s Party (signed by Chairman Ong Kee Hui)
September 9, 1962
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