Why July 22 holds little meaning for me

I didn’t want to time this article for July 22, so as not to dampen the joyous mood of my fellow Sarawakians happily celebrating Sarawak Independence Day.

Writing this a day later wouldn’t make me feel so bad. At least, the celebration is over and people have returned to their normal routine.

Yesterday, a large crowd gathered in Padang Merdeka in Kuching to commemorate the occasion while the official government celebration was held in Bintulu, graced by Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The mood at the Kuching event, organised by several NGOs, was upbeat with boisterous calls for Sarawak to exit Malaysia as the main theme. The Bintulu do, as expected, was more subdued with other programmes, including an official dinner and sports, added in to celebrate the auspicious day.

Whatever the mood might be at these two events, I was in no mood for any celebration. July 22 holds little meaning for me. It is just another ordinary day.

I actually had stated this over BFM yesterday morning when the radio station interviewed me, in response to the question of what July 22 means to me as a Sarawakian.

If I can speak from my heart, I actually consider July 22 quite meaningless. Now, this is speaking for myself and I guess I will be receiving brickbats from fellow Sarawakians for making such a statement. But let me be honest.

Why do I say so? Because I do not see Sarawak as an independent nation today. From a colony of Britain, Sarawak became a colony of Malaya. How do you call that independence? I honestly don’t.

I feel that Sarawak has been shortchanged after helping to form the new Federation of Malaysia. From one of four equal partners in 1963, Sarawak has been reduced to one of 13 states in the federation. The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is one big farce.

If it wasn’t, why are negotiations still going on between the federal and Sarawak governments to put MA63 back on track? How many of the 18 points for Sarawak are still in place?

So, until and unless I, as a Sarawakian, feel that my homeland, which I love and treasure, is not being treated like a stepchild by Malaya, I honestly have to say this – July 22 is meaningless to me because the pride of nationhood is not there. In its place, only disappointment and disillusionment.

If July 22 is of any significance to Sarawak and Sarawakians, it is probably for these reasons.

July 22, 1963, was the day when the British allowed the country of Sarawak self-rule, with the setting up of Sarawak’s first Legislative Council led by Stephen Kalong Ningkan (above) as chief minister. This was followed by the appointment of Sarawak’s first local governor, in the person of Abang Haji Openg.

Three significant dates

Although Sarawak effectively remained a British Crown Colony until Sept 16 that year when Malaysia was formed, July 22 was considered the date of Sarawak independence.

I think everyone loves to remember a day of significance, for personal reasons or national pride, hence July 22 was the day of Sarawakian joy and pride.

But it lasted only 24 days – from July 22 to Sept 16, 1963 - when the new Federation of Malaysia was formed. And now we have Sept 16 – only recently recognised as Malaysia Day.

Previously, all of us in Sabah and Sarawak also celebrated Aug 31 as Hari Kebangsaan or National Day – a day only of significance to Malaya but means nothing to those in the Borneo territories.

So we have three significant dates to celebrate our nationhood. That was certainly a bit confusing to the people of Sabah and Sarawak.

It was not until 2016 that Sarawak chief minister, the late Adenan Satem (below), decided to declare July 22 as Sarawak Independence Day and for the first time three years ago, July 22 was a public holiday in Sarawak.

The key point in Sarawak’s disenchantment with Malaya has always been about autonomy.

Tell me, who doesn’t want autonomy? Even a country bumpkin would want to own a tiny portion of the village he lives in which he can call his own and do what he likes. He is the lord and master, prince and pauper all in one because he has autonomy over the parcel of land he owns.

Autonomy is something cherished by all, and certainly by Sarawakians too. Before Malaysia, we were ruled by the three White Rajahs for 100 years, where Sarawak was a kingdom and an independent nation with full autonomy over everything that existed on our soil.

Now, what do we have left after being in Malaysia? Okay, we have one significant autonomy, that is immigration. Apart from that, what else is there?

So again, I must give credit to the late Adenan for demanding greater devolution, including higher royalties for the state’s oil and gas resources.

He had consistently complained that the powers of the resource-rich Sarawak have eroded since it joined Malaysia more than five decades ago.

"In the Malaysia Agreement we signed, all kinds of powers were given to Sarawak but now the federal government just takes and takes and takes. I want those powers back as it was in 1963," Adenan was famously quoted as saying during his electoral campaign in 2016.

Sarawakians want the federal government to give their state a greater share of the revenue from its own resources and Sarawak’s biggest demand is that royalties from oil and gas production be increased from five percent to 20 percent.

Sadly, even with the new Pakatan Harapan government, that demand has not been fulfilled. So, we are still waiting, and rather impatiently.

When Aug 31 comes along next month and Sept 16 the following month, they will remain ordinary, meaningless days for me too, just like July 22.

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FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com - Mkini