S4S to re-send memo to the Queen of England over alleged non-compliance of Malaysia Agreement by the Malaysian government

KUCHING, December 6, 2016 - A memorandum addressed to Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace will be re-sent after it was returned unopened as the Buckingham Palace had refused to accept it.

The memo sought the Queen’s intervention to set up a British Parliamentary Enquiry – UK as architect and principal signatory of the Malaysia Agreement -  to redress the Malaysia federal government’s failure to  comply with the Malaysia Agreement leading to much grievances and sorrow suffered by the people of Sarawak.

In conjunction with World Human Rights Day which falls on December 10, Sarawak For Sarawakians (S4S) , a Sarawak human rights advocacy group, is reviving this memo the Queen.

"We now seek to re-send the Memorandum through the office of the British High Commissioner for onward delivery to the Queen of England and the British Prime Minister," its spokesman Fong Pau Teck said in a statement.

He said the Malaysia Agreement is an International Treaty signed between five nations – the United Kingdom  of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo (now known as Sabah) Sarawak and Singapore (which left in 1965) - which is therefore not merely the domestic affair of Malaysia but of international concern and human rights interests that may affect the integrity, trustworthiness, reliability and credibility of the parties concerned.

In the memo to the Queen, S4S, among others, says: The Malaysia Agreement signed in London on 9 July 1963 – hereinafter called “MA63” -  to federate four Southeast Asia territories, all formerly British colonies at one time or another  -  justifies our communication directly with Your Majesty’s Government; and UK being the principal signatory thereto, it warrants that effective participation by the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature of Your Majesty’s Government be considered fit to redress the legitimate grievances experienced by the peoples of Sarawak and Sabah as a consequence. "

"The departure of Singapore on 9 August 1965 would have abrogated MA63, to require all signatory nations concerned to once again go back to the negotiating table to reframe the original international treaty in line with the departure of one co-signatory partner nation.   

"On the contrary, United Kingdom carried on to register the International Treaty with United Nations in 1970, five years after Singapore had left the Federation!

"On 27 August 1976, the Malaysian government unilaterally amended the Malaysia Constitution vide Constitutional Amendment Act 354 to regroup the Federation of Malaysia into 13 states as opposed to the original three territories of Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah as per MA63. 

"This has reduced the political status of Sarawak and Sabah from being two of three equal component territories to two of thirteen components of the Federation.  This is a clear breach of MA63," the memo says.

"In the course of the 53-year history of the renamed Federation of Malaysia,  the Federal government in Malaya through political manipulation, exploitation and subjugation pillaged Sarawak and Sabah resources such as oil and gas, timber, licensing, taxes etc; to such an extent that Sarawak and Sabah have, from the richest states with zero national debt before Malaysia was formed,  to become the poorest territories according to a World Bank recent economic report, with the huge burden of National Debt which has accumulated to the tune of  $607 billion, and counting.

"Your Majesty, in the formation of Malaysia, your government may have taken all necessary precautions and duty of care in anticipation of any deviation in the implementation and enforcement of the terms and conditions of MA63.

"However, the Malaysia federal government’s 53-years’ failure to comply with MA63 by its omissions, neglect and committal of serious breaches, subjugation and exploitation of Sarawak and Sabah, compounded by wanton disregard for human rights and democracy, constitute a repudiation of MA63 which warrants Your Majesty’s urgent  intervention, for a British Parliamentary Enquiry to be established to enable a new arrangement for the three States of the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah," the memo adds.