My Stamp Collections: Formation of Malaysia

In 1955 Singapore was granted internal autonomy under the Rendel Constitution and David Marshall was appointed the first Chief Minister. By 1959, Singapore had achived full interbal self government and was led by the Peoples� Action Party (PAP) under Lee Kuan Yew. In sarawak, local elections were introduced in 1959.

The first move towards the formation of Malaysia came in 1961 when the idea for the formation of a wider federation comprising the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei was mooted by Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tunku proposal was generally accepted by the people of malaya and Singapore but raised doubts in Sabah and Sarawak.

However, the proposal was oppossed by the Philippines as they asserted a claim over Sabah. The proposal also received oppositon from Indonesia where it was vieved as a Borneo-colonialist plot by Sukarno and the powerful Indonesian Communist Party.

The proposal also had an immediate effect of accelaerating constitutional development in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Elections were held for the first time in Brunei and in Sabah in 1962. A joint- Anglo-Malayan commission headed by a former of the bank of England, Lord Cobbold, visited sabah and Sarawakin 1962 and reported that the majority of the states favoured the formation of Malaysia.

However, continued Philippine and Indonesian opposition led to the sending of a United nations mission to Borneo in 1963, which also reported that the public opinion was in favour of joining Malaysia.

Thus on 16 September 1963, the formation of Malaysia which consisted of the Federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singaore was formally promulgated. However, Brunei declined to join Malaysia. However, in 1965 Singapore ceased to be a member of the Federation of Malaya and became an independent state.

Source
http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/

Stamps Issued 1963

16Sep-Inauguration of Federation (10c,12c,50c)