Malaysia Agreement

Malaysia Agreement

Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore
File:Agreement Relating to Malaysia between UK, N. Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore.djvu Agreement relating to Malaysia
Drafted	15 November 1961
Signed	9 July 1963
Location	London, United Kingdom
Sealed	31 July 1963
Effective	16 September 1963
Signatories	Government of United Kingdom Government of Malaya Government of North Borneo Government of Sarawak, and Government of Singapore
Parties	United Kingdom Malaya North Borneo Sarawak Singapore
Depositary	British Government dated 21 September 1970 The Secretary-General of the United Nations acting in his capacity as depositary the following: (English), (French), and (Malay) Registered Nr. I-10760
Languages	English and Malay
Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore at Wikisource

The Malaysia Agreement or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore was the agreement which combined North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore with the existing states of the Federation of Malaya, the resulting union being named Malaysia. Singapore later ceased to be a part of Malaysia, becoming an independent state on 9 August 1965.

Background

The Malayan Union was established by the British Malaya and comprised the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang; the Unfederated Malay States of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor; and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It came into being in 1946, through a series of agreements between the United Kingdom and Malayan Union. The Malayan Union was superseded by the Federation of Malaya on 1 February 1948, and achieved independence within the Commonwealth of Nations on 31 August 1957.

After the end of the Second World War, decolonisation became the societal goal of the peoples under colonial regimes aspiring to achieve self-determination hereinafter, the Special Committee on Decolonisation (also known as the U.N. Special Committee of the 24 on Decolonisation, It reflected in the United Nations General Assembly's proclamation on 14 December 1960 of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples hereinafter, the Committee of 24, or simply, the Decolonisation Committee) was established in 1961 by the General Assembly of the United Nations with the purpose of monitoring implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and to make recommendations on its application. The committee is also a successor to the former Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories. Hoping to speed the progress of decolonisation, the General Assembly had adopted in 1960 the Resolution 1514, also known as the "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples" or simply "Declaration on Decolonisation". It stated that all people have a right to self-determination and proclaimed that colonialism should be brought to a speedy and unconditional end.

Under the Malaysia Agreement signed between Great Britain and the Federation of Malaya, Britain would enact an Act to relinquish sovereign control over Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (now Sabah). This was accomplished through the enactment of the Malaysia Act 1963, clause 1(1) of which states that on Malaysia Day, "Her Majesty’s sovereignty and jurisdiction in respect of the new states shall be relinquished so as to vest in the manner agreed".

Decolonisation, self-determination and referendum

The issue of self-determination with respect to the peoples of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore formed the bedrock of yet another challenge to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. Under the Joint Statement issued by the British and Malayan Federal Governments on 23 November 1961, clause 4 provided: Before coming to any final decision it is necessary to ascertain the views of the peoples. It has accordingly been decided to set up a Commission to carry out this task and to make recommendations ........

In the spirit of ensuring that decolonisation was carried in accordance with the wishes of the peoples of North Borneo, the British Government, working with the Federation of Malaya Government, appointed a Commission of Enquiry for North Borneo and Sarawak in January 1962 to determine if the people supported the proposal to create a Federation of Malaysia. The five-man team, which comprised two Malayans and three British representatives, was headed by Lord Cobbold.

In Singapore, the People's Action Party (PAP) sought merger with Malaysia on the basis of the strong mandate it obtained during the general elections of 1959 when it won 43 of the 51 seats. However, this mandate became questionable when dissension within the Party led to a split. In July 1961, following a debate on a vote of confidence in the government, 13 PAP Assemblymen were expelled from the PAP for abstaining. They went on to form a new political party, the Barisan Sosialis, the PAP’s majority in the Legislative Assembly was whittled down as they now only commanded 30 of the 51 seats. More defections occurred until the PAP had a majority of just one seat in the Assembly. Given this situation, it would have been impossible to rely on the mandate achieved in 1959 to move forth with merger. A new mandate was necessary, especially since the Barisan argued that the terms of merger offered were detrimental to the Singapore people.

On 11 September 1963, just 4 days before the new Federation of Malaysia was to come into being, the Government of the State of Kelantan sought a declaration that the Malaysia Agreement and Malaysia Act were null and void, or alternatively, that even if they were valid, they did not bind the State of Kelantan. The Kelantan Government argued that both the Malaysia Agreement and the Malaysia Act were not binding on Kelantan on the following grounds that the Malaysia Act in effect abolished the Federation of Malaya and this was contrary to the 1957 Federation of Malaya Agreement that the proposed changes required the consent of each of the constituent states of the Federation of Malaya – including Kelantan – and this had not been obtained

Documents

The Malaysia Agreement lists annexes of

Annex A: Malaysia Bill

First Schedule—Insertion of new Articles in Constitution

Second Schedule—Section added to Eighth Schedule to Constitution

Third Schedule—Citizenship (amendment of Second Schedule to Constitution)

Fourth Schedule—Special Legislative Lists for Borneo States and Singapore

Fifth Schedule—Additions for Borneo States to Tenth Schedule (Grants and assigned revenues) to Constitution

Sixth Schedule—Minor and consequential amendments of Constitutions

Annex B: The Constitution of the State of Sabah

The Schedule—Forms of Oaths and Affirmations

Annex C: The Constitution of the State of Sarawak

The Schedule—Forms of Oaths and Affirmations

Annex D: The Constitution of the State of Singapore

First Schedule—Forms of Oaths and Affirmations

Second Schedule—Oath of Allegiance and Loyalty

Third Schedule—Oath as Member of the Legislative Assembly

Annex F: Agreement of External Defence and Mutual Assistance

Annex G: North Borneo (Compensation and Retiring benefits) Order in Council, 1963

Annex H: Form of public officers agreements in respect of Sabah and Sarawak

Annex I: Form of public officers agreements in respect of Singapore

Annex J: Agreement between the Governments of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore on common and financial arrangements

Annex to Annex J—Singapore customs ordinance

Annex K: Arrangements with respect to broadcasting and television in Singapore

See also

• 20-point agreement
• 18-point agreement
• Cobbold Commission
• Malaysia Act 1963
• Manila Accord
• Timeline of Malaysian history
• Independence of Singapore Agreement 1965
• Proclamation of Singapore
• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

External links

• Hansard of Parliament of the United Kingdom Malaysia Bill
• Malaysia Act 1963
• Affecting the Malaysia Act 1963
• Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories by Resolution of General Assembly 60/119 of 18 January 2006
• Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories listed by the United Nations General Assembly.
• United Nations General Assembly 18th Session - the Question of Malaysia (pages:41-44)
• Malaysia Timeline by the BBC News Channel.