The Kingdom of Sarawak and Malaysia?

[Simon]

The Kingdom of Sarawak was an independent state that was a British protected state–Britain handled defence and foreign affairs–until 1946 when the ruling monarch ceded the country to the UK as a crown colony due to his belief that it didn't have the resources to rebuild after the Second World War and Japanese occupation plus having fallen out with his nephew who was heir apparent. This wasn't very popular with the locals resulting in large protests but they were ignored. In 1963 it, along with the crown colony of North Borneo – which had absorbed the crown colony of Labuan in 1946, was joined with crown colony of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia.

So what happens if Charles Vyner Brooke as Rajah decides not to cede his kingdom to Britain, or having slightly better relations with his nephew Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke abdicates in his favour? In our timeline it made sense to join Sarawak and North Borneo to Malaya since it was the main British territory in the region, here though with an independent Sarawak you have it and Brunei sitting between Malaya and North Borneo. The three main options I can see are: North Borneo still becomes a part of Malaysia, it becomes an independent country, it's joined with the Kingdom of Sarawak.

 

[Kalvan]

Indonesia invades sometime.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

This is a fairly popular idea on this board; @Wolly Mammoth had a good TL started on the idea some years back.

 

[kholieken]

Sarawak will stay Independent; White Monarch as di-perTuan Agong would conflict heavily with Malays-Bumiputera Nationalism; they probably become Singaporean ally and conflict with Philippines-Indonesia.

 

[Remitonov]

I asked a related question on it, and the main takeaway is that Sylvia Brooke is a vamp who got really pissed at the agnatic nature of Islamic succession disqualifying her daughters and went all out to shame Anthony in hopes that the succession laws get changed in her favour. Not that she isn't entirely bereft of good qualities, particularly her independence streak and adventurous spirit, but her desperation to see her eldest daughter become queen killed Sarawak as an independent nation. Without her, Sarawak will probably be less well-known to the British papers, but it will have a far better chance of survival.

On the subject proper, Sarawak is proposed as part of the Malaysian federation mainly because the PM of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, saw British Borneo (including Brunei) as a counterweight to Singapore, which had and still has an overwhelming Chinese demographic. In his view, the indigenous people of Borneo were Bumiputera, and would thus keep the Malays from becoming a minority in a united Malaysia. A Sarawak that doesn't join Malaysia is a Malaysia that isn't going to be acceptable to Kuala Lumpur, and I can see federation talks breaking down without Sarawak as a part of it. All that could potentially work in Indonesia's favour, who had pretty huge designs on Borneo. As for North Borner (Sabah), it's probably going to join either Brunei or Sarawak, if not invaded by the Philippines or Indonesia.

Sarawak will stay Independent; White Monarch as di-perTuan Agong would conflict heavily with Malays-Bumiputera Nationalism; they probably become Singaporean ally and conflict with Philippines-Indonesia.

That depends, I think a Brooke Sultan is possible under the condition that whoever's the current Raja convert to Islam. Doing so would do a lot to mitigate Bumiputera opposition since I feel the issue isn't so much that the White Raja isn't Malay as he is a Christian. Otherwise, it's possible the peninsular Malay royals just pass on voting for a Brooke as Sultan until said time as he's either replaced by a Malay, becomes sufficiently Malay in blood or the abovementioned conversion.

 

[Analytical Engine]

Might North Borneo and/or Labuan eventually get attached to an independent Sarawak? Or would they remain separate?

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

On the subject proper, Sarawak is proposed as part of the Malaysian federation mainly because the PM of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, saw British Borneo (including Brunei) as a counterweight to Singapore, which had and still has an overwhelming Chinese demographic. In his view, the indigenous people of Borneo were Bumiputera, and would thus keep the Malays from becoming a minority in a united Malaysia. A Sarawak that doesn't join Malaysia is a Malaysia that isn't going to be acceptable to Kuala Lumpur, and I can see federation talks breaking down without Sarawak as a part of it. All that could potentially work in Indonesia's favour, who had pretty huge designs on Borneo. As for North Borner (Sabah), it's probably going to join either Brunei or Sarawak, if not invaded by the Philippines or Indonesia.

I do wonder how, overall, the incorporation of Sarawak into Malaysia has affected the East Indies as a whole. Would the Malayan Emergency be affected if it only pertained to the Malay Peninsula? How would Singapore be affected if it were never incorporated (and so never had to part with) Malaysia? Would there be a confrontation between Malaysia and Indonesia (circa 1963)? How does this affect Indonesia's military acts elsewhere (in West Paupa, etc)? And what are the knock-off effects on the region from there (e.g. Papua New Guinea's independence, East Timor, etc)? And all that's aside from the issue of more imminent changes, like Sabah.

I do wonder - the fate of Sarawak itself completely aside, would the region be better off if they had remained independent?

 

[Dolan]

One of the more interesting implication is the split of Malaysia would end up... Interesting. The White Rajahs could end up being Monarch of Sarawak and Singapore, while some Muslim parts might end up choosing to end up joining the now enlarged Brunei Darussalam instead (that could end up taking Sabah ITTL).

And yes, that mean Indonesia, instead of focusing on Malaysia as a whole, will actually tried to attack Sarawak due to their White Royalty.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Another related question - how does (or did, OTL) the overall dynamic in the East Indies affect Southeast Asia in the short to medium term? (For example, if Malaysia is just the Malay Peninsula, how does that affect their relations with Thailand?) Does this have implications for the decolonization of French Indochina and the prospect of American escalation in the region?

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

I think a Brooke Sultan is possible under the condition that whoever's the current Raja convert to Islam.

But there are more Christians than Muslims in Sarawak...

 

[Remitonov]

But there are more Christians than Muslims in Sarawak...

And how will that will gravely affect their popularity? I mean, the locals aren't strangers to Muslim rule under Brunei, and the crown is already under Islamic inheritance laws, which is agnatic. It's a huge trigger for Vyner's wife and queen, who had a vested interest in pushing for absolute primogeniture, and inadvertently driving Sarawak into Direct Rule From London.

 

[ramones1986]

Looking on the title of this thread, I simply thought of a pre-1900 PoD (proto-Iban tribes migrated en masse to Malay Peninsula and maintained regular contact with their Sarawak counterparts while the former was establishing new contacts with the Sumatran states).

By the way, I've agreed with @Remitonov 's response, although religious and cultural differences would be the source of possible misunderstanding between Malay Peninsula and Sarawak.

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

And how will that will gravely affect their popularity?

Presumably not much, the Brookes were pretty popular on their own merit.

I mean, the locals aren't strangers to Muslim rule under Brunei

Not in living memory mind you...

and the crown is already under Islamic inheritance laws, which is agnatic and a huge trigger for Vyner's wife and queen, who had a vested interest in pushing for absolute primogeniture.

So the Queen shushing up would be more beneficial than converting to a minority religion.

 

[Remitonov]

So the Queen shushing up would be more beneficial than converting to a minority religion.

Either that or giving birth to a son. She only gave birth to daughters IOTL, hence why she got so pissy. A boy would have easily tempered her anger towards Anthony since her son ITTL would have been first in line, barring anything unexpected such as death.

EDIT:

In any case, conversion is only really an issue if Sarawak as a kingdom is in Malaysia, and only to the royals in peninsular Malaysia, as the people who decide the next Sultan. As an independent country, there's really no point.

Another related question - how does (or did, OTL) the overall dynamic in the East Indies affect Southeast Asia in the short to medium term? (For example, if Malaysia is just the Malay Peninsula, how does that affect their relations with Thailand?) Does this have implications for the decolonization of French Indochina and the prospect of American escalation in the region?

Likely a more aggressive Indonesia, and a potentially destabilizing Malayan Emergency. The impetus for incorporating British Borneo into Malaysia was to offset the boost in the Chinese population in Singapore. If Malaya remained alone, so would the rest of the British domains here. This puts Singapore at serious risk of succumbing to Malayan communist agitation, and could encourage Indonesia and Phillipines to be more aggressive in their claims in Borneo. Thailand, I'm not sure, but generally speaking, they're already trying to stomach Pattani, so more Malays in Thailand isn't really ideal.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

Likely a more aggressive Indonesia, and a potentially destabilizing Malayan Emergency. The impetus for incorporating British Borneo into Malaysia was to offset the boost in the Chinese population in Singapore. If Malaya remained alone, so would the rest of the British domains here. This puts Singapore at serious risk of succumbing to Malayan communist agitation, and could encourage Indonesia and Phillipines to be more aggressive in their claims in Borneo. Thailand, I'm not sure, but generally speaking, they're already trying to stomach Pattani, so more Malays in Thailand isn't really ideal.

Would the absence of a British Borneo option lead the empire to decide earlier on a partition between Singapore and the Malay Peninsula? Also, would Indonesian and Phillipine claims in North Borneo be limited to Sabah, or would they claim territory in Brunei and/or Sarawak? For that matter, how much of a position are the Philippines in to contest Sabah, with the Hukbalahap and Moro contesting the new government?

 

[Remitonov]

Would the absence of a British Borneo option lead the empire to decide earlier on a partition between Singapore and the Malay Peninsula? Also, would Indonesian and Phillipine claims in North Borneo be limited to Sabah, or would they claim territory in Brunei and/or Sarawak? For that matter, how much of a position are the Philippines in to contest Sabah, with the Hukbalahap and Moro contesting the new government?

I don't think Singapore would be able to get jack out of the deal, even with the miracle worker that is LEE. Malaya has a better shot, but merging Sabah with Sarawak or Brunei would have been more viable regardless.

As for Indonesia, Sukarno is an ambitious SOB. Just look at what happened in East Timor. His claim there is essentially 'anti-colonialism', which rings very hollow considering he annexed an independent nation shortly after Portugal left. It's the same argument he used IOTL for Konfrontasi against Malaysia. In fact, a fractured Borneo outside Malaya's control would embolden him even more.

As for the Philippines, not too sure. Their claim to Sabah laid with the Sulu sultanate, but the claim can also be a double-edged sword for the Sultanate's pretenders to pry its island territories from Manila's control, maybe even as far as Mindanao is things really go south.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

@Remitonov When you say Singapore wouldn’t “get jack out of the deal”, do you mean they don’t get independence and are incorporated into Malaya?

And more generally, what do you see as the most likely “endgames” for the major postwar crises TTL? How does the Malay Crisis play out; do the communists take power? And where does Borneo likely stand by the mid 1960’s, say?

 

[Remitonov]

@Remitonov When you say Singapore wouldn’t “get jack out of the deal”, do you mean they don’t get independence and are incorporated into Malaya?

And more generally, what do you see as the most likely “endgames” for the major postwar crises TTL? How does the Malay Crisis play out; do the communists take power? And where does Borneo likely stand by the mid 1960’s, say?

I mean they stay out of Malaya altogether, and possibly remain under British control longer. Lee Kuan Yew isn't going to accept that, much less the communists. It's the latter that Tunku Abdul Rahman fears much more, given their popularity among the Chinese. Even then, without balancing out the populations with the Borneo territories, Malaya would still be very iffy at taking in Singapore, even as an ordinary state. Britain could force the issue, but that might only promote the communist agenda.

As for the Malayan Emergency, well, anything goes, really. Maybe Singapore becomes communist and is used by the Malayan communists as a base of operations as feared. Maybe the communists get floored as per OTL. Any of these can happen. However, the main reasons for the communist defeat hasn't actually changed, to be honest. They're still isolated from any support they could get from the Soviets or China, and still have trouble spreading their ideology among Malays. This isn't Vietnam where there's a state sponsor flooding weapons through untamed jungle borders. They're in a peninsula surrounded by sea on three sides, a pro-Western neighbour in the north, and a population that isn't firmly on their side.

As for Borneo, it's also up in the air. Maybe Sukarno will try something bolder, or simply back off at facing the British directly. The Philippines didn't do much at all, and using a claim from a Moro sultanate has its own set of issues. Anything goes.

 

[John Fredrick Parker]

@Remitonov Given how much of the context of Confrontation is changed, is it even possible for the fate of West Papua to be altered?

 

[IntellectuallyHonestRhino]

That depends, I think a Brooke Sultan is possible under the condition that whoever's the current Raja convert to Islam. Doing so would do a lot to mitigate Bumiputera opposition since I feel the issue isn't so much that the White Raja isn't Malay as he is a Christian. Otherwise, it's possible the peninsular Malay royals just pass on voting for a Brooke as Sultan until said time as he's either replaced by a Malay, becomes sufficiently Malay in blood or the abovementioned conversion.

Remember, the White Rajahs did in fact prohibit missionaries for the sake that there be no religious disturbance that would cause resentment towards their rule. I think that if Sarawak had the strongest economy in the region, and Islam was politically protected, the fact that the ones running the country are Christian and White would weaken lot of the Bumiputra movement resistance.