Kota Kinabalu: Universiti Malaya’s Professor Datuk Dr Danny Wong said understanding Sabah Day requires recognising the State’s history which differs from Peninsular Malaysia’s.
“When we look at Malaysia’s history, we are always asked where we should place Sabah and Sarawak.
“That is always a question when the curriculum is formed, when the chapters in the textbooks are written,” he told a forum held in conjunction with the Sabah Day celebrations, here, recently.
He said that while Peninsular Malaysia faced an emergency and communist insurgency, Sabah experienced neither. The State also lacks traditional sultanates found elsewhere in Malaysia.
“Instead, Sabah lived under chartered company administration, creating a different historical story from other Malaysian states.
“Sabah’s story is fascinating. Different historical experience. Therefore, when we look at the issue of Sabah Day, it should be seen as a different experience but still in the history of building the Federation of Malaysia,” he said.
He said the formation of Malaysia was delayed in 1963, but Sabah had already committed to independence. The people declared they would proceed despite the postponement.
On Aug 31, 1963, Sabah declared independence, 16 days before Malaysia’s official formation. This created the unique situation of Sabah being independent before forming Malaysia, he said.
“On Aug 31, 1963 Malaysia was not formed yet because that would be 16 days later. We (Sabah) became independent, but within Malaysia.
“With the understanding that we will be part of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963,” said Danny, a Sabahan who has lived in the peninsula for over 30 years.
Danny said this arrangement created no conflict with national aspirations. Sabah simply wanted recognition for its independence date while awaiting Malaysia’s formation.
“There is no contradiction with national aspirations, with the aspirations of the federation. The only difference is that we want to be recognised that on Aug 31, 1963, Sabah was independent,” he said.
He said the Sabah Day itself was forgotten for years before being revived, showing how historical events can be rediscovered and celebrated.
“Sabah Day was not celebrated for a long time. It was brought back. We are rediscovering ourselves in terms of building national history,” he said.
“The process to educate and build understanding must begin now. It must be a concerted effort to build the idea.
“All these must be explained more carefully. If not, we will face problems in explaining why the founding fathers chose to make that decision,” he said.
“Now we tell people, Aug 31, 1963, it was not just Independence Day, the 6th anniversary for the Federation of Malaya, but also the first day for the birthday of Sabah,” he said.
On another note, he said over 200,000 Sabahans live in Peninsula Malaysia, creating opportunities to promote the Sabah Day celebration nationwide.
