SEPTEMBER 11 — It’s the fifth time Semenanjung (Peninsula Malaysia) offices and schools will close for September 16. But a public holiday sates not the discontent in the hearts and minds of millions in Borneo or the angst grown steady over 50 years.

Malaysia was formed on September 16, 1963. By then Malaya had already been independent for six years — August 31, 1957. The national emphasis of August 31, and till lately the neglect of September 16 has caused unceasing consternation among citizens in Sabah and Sarawak.

The prime minister in his Merdeka Day speech this year said that having two dates was a technicality often cruelly exposed by those with ill intentions.

It is an unfortunate situation — since the PM inherited the situation — but if a country does not prioritise its own formation day it cannot hide behind the technicality argument nor admonish those who raise it.

There is more to this perplexing matter.

An unyielding deposit

The denizens in Sabah and Sarawak — documented, undocumented and dubiously documented — are not daft. They understand that a nation’s narrative is complicated and at times convenience may need to prevail, so that symbols do not disable function.

They are holding to this, showing obstinence, because the goodwill which is necessary to placate partners — which Sabah and Sarawak are — has been conspicuously absent. Holidays offer merriment, but many across the South China Seas would prefer decent jobs on the days Malaysia is not on holiday. Migration to Semenanjung and Singapore to seek jobs when they are from the richer states is not an irony they observe, it is one they live.

In the same token, they are patently aware of being labelled the ruling coalition’s “fixed deposit”, guaranteeing Barisan Nasional (BN) the seats to cross the majority even before human shields succeed to shut out mystery vehicles from the vote counting centre in Kuala Lumpur’s Lembah Pantai.

(Worryingly, the impending parliamentary seat delineation exercise is near certain to increase considerably Borneo’s seat count. Presently there are 57 — Sarawak’s 31, Sabah’s 25 and Labuan with the single.)

Voting BN through state parties is not, as many falsely believe, support for a bully in Umno. It is rather the widespread fatalistic notion that all other options are dead. Support BN and receive scraps and election bonus — or deny BN and suffer in every sense possible. Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) was obliterated over a five-year spell after abandoning BN in 1990, and now a pale shadow of itself at the feet of its conquistadors.

The watching inhabitants know that only a decisive and united blow can end the neo-colonisation of their states, and they are nowhere convinced that the pretenders from Semenanjung or local based have the gravitas.

I’ll revert to the neo-colonialism later, but the sinking feeling is that they are a pawn in a Semenanjung power-play.

Nations are concepts

There are those that retort in a way that Borneo is failing the ideal of Malaysia by their gross indifference to Malaysia. What befuddles me about these critics is that they feel Malaysia — or any country — is a priori.  

A country is a concept formed through persuasion and guile, and needs to be built thereafter.

Defending a nation’s existence using history is a slippery-slope. The present states of Malaya can justify the present federation as a reinstitution of the Malacca Empire. But so can Indonesia via Majapahit or Srivijaya or to a lesser effect Acheh claim territories overlapping present day Malaysia. Cheekily, China can claim all.

But all their postulations are tenuous because we are in an archipelago. These islands are less tightly or uniformly knit like swathes of continental Europe. Their claim of a deeply connected and common history is far more decipherable, while over here it is a series of closeness with enough differences operating largely exclusive.

Still, irrespective of how well Malaysia can be argued as a natural construct, the country still has to be built, and that is where the neo-colonialism kicks in.

Cane and Abel

This is 2014, and no prime minister to date has assumed a moral obligation to Sabah and Sarawak. Though not unexpected since none of them have ever lived there, and there is an air of managing the Borneo situation not leading the Borneo aspiration.

It is a prickly point because of the blatant and unapologetic distinctions between the two halves of the Federation of Malaysia.

In our system of government, similar to Australia, India and the United States, not all states expect an even distribution of the federation’s tax-collection. Some give more and receive less, while the less robust states lean on a strong union. In the US states like New Mexico and Virginia are major net recipients.

While all states must endeavour to carry their own weight, the federation will commit to raising all of them to an average reflective of the nation’s wealth through funding and facilitation.

In Malaysia, we have the reverse which is truly perverse. Sabah and Sarawak’s natural resources — oil and gas — are channelled to Semenanjung one way mostly, leaving their people largely destitute. While millionaires are residing in Miri, most Sarawakians live a lower standard of living than those in Semenanjung. Sabah is the poorest state.

The land grabs, the dilapidated schools, reluctant teachers, missing healthcare and other deficiencies go on and on. It is not that there problems, all nations have them, it is the disregard of formulating and executing sincere solutions which upset the people.

I won’t tire of saying it. Building skyscrapers using public coffers in Kuala Lumpur while many young children in Borneo have no access to clean water, let alone Internet lines, is an affront to human decency. We cannot be fine with our countrymen having a lesser life because we have the political edge.

Fairness will heal the federation

(Sidenote: The condescending manner in which Semenanjung people speak of the Borneo folks, even if well-intentioned, often borders a big brother-small brother tone. It does not help. The votes over there are not going to be won by Semenanjung politicians entering hovels in outposts and preaching. Borneo needs Borneo leadership to begin with.)

The economic redistribution of Sabah and Sarawak’s wealth, 20 per cent is what’s being asked, must be done. But just as well is to return the dignity of the people over there.

A fear articulated over and over is that Putrajaya wants to Malayanise the two states until they have no traces of their past and by then just photocopies of Semenanjung.

This has to be rebutted through action.

Cultural rights of the communities must be prioritised. With Iban and Kadazandusun, and other languages, not being taught in public schools, any effort by the federal government to protect the cultural diversity of the respective communities, with community leadership using public funding, will increase goodwill.

There are volumes of experiences in North America, Europe and Australasia in increasing diversity and providing cultural space with state leadership, Malaysia can easily adopt several.

There is so much more to be done, that when we have done enough then dates will not matter because in reality there is conscious differentiation of the peoples on either side of the largest sea in the world.

Since I am a Semenanjung-born, some might ask why do I want to appease Borneo? The answer is I am not, and if my government follows suit we are not. These things should have been done long ago and continued today.

The obligation is even greater because only Semenanjung has dictated politics using Sabah and Sarawak, and it is Malaya which courted the two states to the idea of Malaysia.

They are our partners in a country, it is only right that they are empowered to be partners. And empowered Sabah and Sarawak will be better equipped to decide on how to equitably resolve the “August 31 or September 16” quandary.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.