MARCH 8 — In No partners and bloc in Malaysia, only States and Territories, I wrote that the word “federation” is derived from the Latin word foedus which means “treaty” or “agreement”.
According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, foedus (pl foedera) means “a treaty, solemnly enacted, which established friendship, peace and alliance between Rome and another state in perpetuity.”
Treaties are the principal source of public international law.
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties defines “treaty” as “an international agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation” – Article 2(1)(a).
Accordingly, a treaty is an agreement between sovereign states (countries) and in some cases international organisations, which is binding at international law.
Treaties can be bilateral (between two states) or multilateral (between three or more states). Treaties can also include the creation of rights for individuals.
Malaysia is rightly a federation of states established by a treaty. The treaty is the Agreement Relating to Malaysia which came into force on September 16, 1963 (better known as Malaysia Day) No. 10760 (better known as MA63).
Article 1 of MA63 states as follows:
“The Colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak and the State of Singapore shall be federated with the existing States of the Federation of Malaya as the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore in accordance with the constitutional instruments annexed to this Agreement and the Federation shall thereafter be called ‘Malaysia’.”
North Borneo (as Sabah was then known) and Sarawak were Crown Colonies, which in simple words meant they were ruled by the British government.
Singapore was also a Crown Colony (1946- 1959) before becoming a self-governing state within the British Empire as the State of Singapore in 1959.
By MA63, the three became States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore federated with the existing States of the Federation of Malaya to become Malaysia. The Federation of Malaya was a sovereign state on August 31, 1957.
The above explains why the United Kingdom, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore were the signatories to MA63 and why it was agreed as follows, in Article 4 of the Malaysia Act 1963:
(1) The Federation shall be known, in Malay and in English, by the name Malaysia.
(2) The States of the Federation shall be—
(a) the States of Malaya, namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Trengganu; and
(b) the Borneo States, namely, Sabah and Sarawak ; and
(c) the State of Singapore.
(3) The territories of each of the States mentioned in Clause (2) are the territories comprised therein immediately before Malaysia Day.
The Malaysia Act 1963 (Chap 35) was enacted by the British Parliament for the purpose of enabling North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore (referred to as “the new States’’) to federate with the existing States of the Federation of Malaya (referred to as “the Federation”), the Federation thereafter being called Malaysia.
By the Act, the British government’s sovereignty and jurisdiction in respect of the new States “shall be relinquished so as to vest in the manner agreed” in MA63.
Article 4 above is now Article 1 of the Federal Constitution, excluding Singapore, which gained independence on August 9, 1965, and including the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur established under the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1973, the Federal Territory of Putrajaya established under the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2001 and the Federal Territory of Labuan established under the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1984 — Article 1(4) of the Federal Constitution
So clearly, again, there are no partners in Malaysia, only States and Territories.
Malaysia is an alliance of states, not of partners or blocs (Malayan and Borneo).
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
