The safeguards for Sabah and Sarawak were supposed to be reviewed 10 years after the formation of Malaysia but were forgotten following the untimely deaths of the prime minister and deputy prime minister at that time.
As such, even though 40 years late, it is time that a review committee finally conduct the review, proposed veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, at a talk in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said a review committee was set up in 1973 which was chaired by then deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.
"However, the committee did not meet in that year because the draft bill of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) was being drawn up.
"The prevailing wisdom was that priority be given in getting Sabah and Sarawak to accept the PDA," said Tengku Razaleigh who was tasked with securing consent from the states.
This, he said, also coincided with the sudden death of Ismail and later the death of then prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein (right) three years later.
"It was then left on the back burner," he said, but added that the fact that the committee existed showed that the federal government, at that time, had good faith in wanting to safeguard the interests of Sabah and Sarawak.
As such, even though 40 years late, it is time that a review committee finally conduct the review, proposed veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, at a talk in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said a review committee was set up in 1973 which was chaired by then deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.
"However, the committee did not meet in that year because the draft bill of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) was being drawn up."The prevailing wisdom was that priority be given in getting Sabah and Sarawak to accept the PDA," said Tengku Razaleigh who was tasked with securing consent from the states.
This, he said, also coincided with the sudden death of Ismail and later the death of then prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein (right) three years later.
"It was then left on the back burner," he said, but added that the fact that the committee existed showed that the federal government, at that time, had good faith in wanting to safeguard the interests of Sabah and Sarawak.
Growing resentment
Tengku Razaleigh was referring to the 20-point agreement for Sabah and 18-agreement for Sarawak which was suppose to ensure the interest of the states were protected when they helped formed the federation.
He conceded that there was growing resentment at the perception that Sabah and Sarawak are two of many states in Malaysia when the Cobbold Commission had acknowledged that they formed the federation as equals to then Malaya.
The perception that Putrajaya, and then Kuala Lumpur, had failed to fulfill the Malaysian agreement had further fueled such resentment, he said.
However, former inspector-general of police Mohammed Hanif Omar argued that the federal constitution stated that Sabah and Sarawak as states in the federation, just like the others such as Perlis or Perak.
"Take the US for example, when new states joined the US, they do not celebrate that date, instead they also celebrate July 4 as their independence day," he opined.
However, Hanif acknowledged that there were issues left on the back burner due to the haste to form Malaysia and some of them had remained unresolved.
'Bureaucrats didn't understand agreement'
During his time, Hanif said he had prepared a report for the government on these outstanding issues based on various documents concerning the formation of Malaysia.
He acknowledged that even civil servants at that time had difficulties in understanding the Malaysian agreement.
"For example, they (Sabah and Sarawak) asked for universities, so I told them that but the bureaucrats said that Kelantan for example, joined the federation much earlier, in 1948 but did not even have a university.
"But Kelantan did not ask for such privileges while Sabah and Sarawak did," he said.
While it was difficult that, he acknowledged that it's even a bigger challenge now as the new leadership and bureaucrats have not read that report which had detailed the outstanding issues.
As such, he said if a review were to be conducted, they should be along the lines of picking off where the report left off.
Adding on, Tengku Razaleigh, who is also a Gua Musang MP, said an alternative was to form a parliamentary caucus to review the 18-point and 20-point agreements and come up with proposals that is agreeable to all parties.
At this, Penampang MP Darrell Leiking who was present called on Tengku Razaleigh to take the lead in Parliament in setting up such a caucus.
"If Gua Musang is ready, so is Penampang, together with the 55 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak," he said.
The lecture today, entitled "Malaysia and the Non-fulfillment of the 18 and 20-point Agreement with Sabah and Sarawak", was organised by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS).
He conceded that there was growing resentment at the perception that Sabah and Sarawak are two of many states in Malaysia when the Cobbold Commission had acknowledged that they formed the federation as equals to then Malaya.
The perception that Putrajaya, and then Kuala Lumpur, had failed to fulfill the Malaysian agreement had further fueled such resentment, he said.
However, former inspector-general of police Mohammed Hanif Omar argued that the federal constitution stated that Sabah and Sarawak as states in the federation, just like the others such as Perlis or Perak."Take the US for example, when new states joined the US, they do not celebrate that date, instead they also celebrate July 4 as their independence day," he opined.
However, Hanif acknowledged that there were issues left on the back burner due to the haste to form Malaysia and some of them had remained unresolved.
'Bureaucrats didn't understand agreement'
During his time, Hanif said he had prepared a report for the government on these outstanding issues based on various documents concerning the formation of Malaysia.
He acknowledged that even civil servants at that time had difficulties in understanding the Malaysian agreement.
"For example, they (Sabah and Sarawak) asked for universities, so I told them that but the bureaucrats said that Kelantan for example, joined the federation much earlier, in 1948 but did not even have a university.
"But Kelantan did not ask for such privileges while Sabah and Sarawak did," he said.
While it was difficult that, he acknowledged that it's even a bigger challenge now as the new leadership and bureaucrats have not read that report which had detailed the outstanding issues.
As such, he said if a review were to be conducted, they should be along the lines of picking off where the report left off.
Adding on, Tengku Razaleigh, who is also a Gua Musang MP, said an alternative was to form a parliamentary caucus to review the 18-point and 20-point agreements and come up with proposals that is agreeable to all parties.
At this, Penampang MP Darrell Leiking who was present called on Tengku Razaleigh to take the lead in Parliament in setting up such a caucus.
"If Gua Musang is ready, so is Penampang, together with the 55 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak," he said.
The lecture today, entitled "Malaysia and the Non-fulfillment of the 18 and 20-point Agreement with Sabah and Sarawak", was organised by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS).
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