A Political Sop From Neo-Colonial Masters

By Uppercaise

After almost half a century, the Federation of Malaya grudgingly accorded official recognition this week to the State of Sabah and the State of Sarawak as being equal partners in forming the federation of Malaysia.

The post-colonial history of Borneo just lurched foward an inch.

To add insult to injury, the NST (the voice of the post-colonial master) patronisingly described the declaration of a federal public holiday for Malaysia Day on Sept 16 as the blooming of a 46-year love story — the implication being that we were never married, we were just fooling around you know. It ignores the long bitterness felt in Borneo towards this slight, and ignores the fact that not only did the three partners get into bed with each other, they have official papers declaring their union.

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The NST also, quite condescendingly, treats the matter as nothing more than an electoral ploy to fend off oppositionist sentiments. It is not surprising that no mention was made of Lim Kit Siang’s statement a year ago on 31 August 2008, calling for the exact same thing: public holidays and recognition of two national days, Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day.

If the effusive over-the-top coverage in the major newspapers was anything to go by, Malayan Malay condescension towards fellow Malaysians in Borneo will take a long time dying. The words of the 1Najib, the federal prime minister, reveal how strongly held is a sense of Malayan Malay political superiority.