I have been living my whole life in Malaysia. In fact, I was born in Malaysia and raised here. My family members and grandparents are all natives of a recognized state of Malaysia. However, I never feel any urge to speak about my country of origin because I feel discriminated due to racist treatments that I received while living in the state of Selangor. I was born in the state of Kedah in the northern region of Malaysia. I moved a lot following my father's transfer between central and northern regions during my childhood and teenage life. I think people, especially from the southern region of Malaysian Peninsula are ignorant and people from Borneo side of Malaysia mostly generalize us as a single entity because we are in 'Malaya'.
The Federation of Malaysia
So to cut this short. Malaysia's history starts only on 16 September 1963. It was when Malaysia was formed with the participation of Malayan Peninsula and two British colonies in Northern Borneo i.e Sarawak and Sabah. People widely aware of how Sarawak and Sabah held a referendum before joining the Federation of Malaysia. However, people tend to ignore on what happened in Malaya simply because the first Prime Minister of the Federation came from my state of origin. To begin with, I am going to state down on what comprises Malaya. Borneo Malaysia would be explained later because many already discussed them in mass media. The structure that I am going to elaborate below is what we are today. People may see what kind of conflicts that we have to encounter in this country and why I do not feel that Kuala Lumpur or any other state in Malaysia is my 'home'.
A) The Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu was formed in 1948 after the subjects of Malay kingdoms or sultanates in Malaya raised their voices to oppose the formation of Malayan Union by British colonial government. The states in British Malaya are traditionally classified into three:
- Federated Malay States
- Non-federated Malay States
- Straits Settlements
(You may click on the highlighted phrase above to see what it says)
In my view as a native of Malaya, there was nothing different between the Federation of Malaya and Malayan Union. The differences are just terms and the jurisdiction of Malay kings on their Malay subjects who happen to be, Muslims. No vote, no referendum nor democratic participation on the part of subjects in all regions mentioned above. They were represented by their kings and their kings were forced by the British authority to sign the agreement for a Federation under British colonial administration. Straits Settlements were directly placed under the British Crown so it might not be the case for them.
B) Independence of Malaya
Many Malaysians are not aware about the fact that 31 August 1957 was not the Independence Day of the whole Malaysia. It was the Independence Day of the Federation of Malaya which was formed in 1948 by the Great Britain. Check out the Merdeka Day here. This happens because probably it is not a pride of the newly formed and fragile nation or because the citizens of Malaysia are not keen to know about their own country due to the lack of patriotism, which is not really their fault.
Source of the map: Australian Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
B) Independence of Malaya
Many Malaysians are not aware about the fact that 31 August 1957 was not the Independence Day of the whole Malaysia. It was the Independence Day of the Federation of Malaya which was formed in 1948 by the Great Britain. Check out the Merdeka Day here. This happens because probably it is not a pride of the newly formed and fragile nation or because the citizens of Malaysia are not keen to know about their own country due to the lack of patriotism, which is not really their fault.
Source of the map: Australian Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
