IN FOCUS: Push for greater autonomy by Sabah and Sarawak is stronger than ever, but will they finally succeed?

KOTA KINABALU/KUCHING: Repeated water cuts in Sabah over the past few years have pushed some university students in the state capital Kota Kinabalu to the brink.
In mid-June, CNA witnessed about 50 Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students defy the risk of arrest to protest outside Menara Kinabalu – the state administrative building – to voice their frustrations over the multiple disruptions of a basic human right.
Holding loudspeakers and cardboard signs, the students tried to present a memorandum to Chief Minister Hajiji Mohd Noor. “We are only here to ask for our rights,” one of them shouted.    
Police ordered the students to disperse but they refused, insisting on a personal meeting with Mr Hajiji.
The 17-hour protest failed to earn this meeting, but the students seemed to get their point across, evident by the news headlines that followed.
While most of the anger at the protest was aimed at the state government, former chief executive officer of Sabah’s Institute for Development Studies Johan Arriffin Samad believes the water problem in UMS and many other places in the state was the result of a bigger issue: Sabah being left behind in infrastructural development compared to peninsular Malaysia.
“How is it that after 60 years in Malaysia, Sabah is suffering from the lack of basic things such as water? And I am not yet talking about schools falling (apart), lack of hospitals, medical services, roads and so on,” the political observer told CNA.
Dr Johan, who authored a book on Sabah and Sarawak’s unequal relationship with West Malaysia, said the two states have been relegated to the sidelines of the nation’s decision-making process, in what he felt was a blatant disregard of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
MA63 refers to the legal instrument signed in 1963 as the basis of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.
Malaya, Sabah (formerly known as North Borneo), Sarawak and Singapore formed Malaysia in September 1963. Singapore left the federation in August 1965. 
“Sabah and Sarawak did not join Malaysia; the two states were equal partners in its formation. Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak gave birth to this nation together; without Sabah and Sarawak, there is no Malaysia,” said Dr Johan. 
The Borneo states’ push for more autonomy as supposedly guaranteed under MA63 now seems to be the strongest in decades ahead of Malaysia Day on Monday (Sep 16), observers said, 61 years to the day the agreement was signed.
MA63 recognises Sabah and Sarawak not as mere states but as equal partners with West Malaysia. 
While the East Malaysian states have some degree of autonomy in areas like immigration, what they are really gunning for is more financial and political muscle, which they say was what the agreement originally intended.
Observers attribute this concerted push to a relatively recent development: The ruling coalition’s dependence on support from Borneo-based parties – which hold a substantial chunk of the 222 seats in parliament – to maintain a firm grasp of the legislative body, given how the previous general election in November 2022 ended in a hung parliament.
After days of intense political horse trading and finally royal intervention, Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader Anwar Ibrahim emerged with support from Barisan Nasional (BN) and, crucially, the coalitions in Sabah and Sarawak, allowing him to form a unity government and assume power as the country’s 10th prime minister.
The political statures of Sabah and Sarawak began to rise following the 2018 general election, when the dominant, Malay-based BN government lost for the first time, leaving peninsular lawmakers scrambling to woo the Borneo-based parties in a bid to form the government.
This fractured political landscape coincided with rising state nationalism in the two Borneo states, analysts said, noting that parties there that have embraced this trend have won local elections convincingly, something that has become too difficult for Putrajaya to ignore.
Key themes under this nationalism banner include “Sabah for Sabahans” and “Sarawak for Sarawakians”, alluding to their special status compared to the rest of Malaysia, as well as a proud identity of multiracialism and a rejection of what they feel is increasing Islamisation on the peninsula.
Mr Anwar has repeatedly asserted his wish to fulfil Sabah’s and Sarawak’s rights under MA63, and while there has been progress, some politicians and activists in East Malaysia say it has been a long time coming and still moving too slowly.
For Sabah, a key aim under this autonomy is to get back 40 per cent of its revenue from the federal government annually.
Sarawak, meanwhile, has set a hard deadline for national oil company Petronas to hand over its role as the buyer and seller of natural gas produced in the state – a significant contributor to the federal government’s coffers.
Both states also want 35 per cent of the federal parliamentary seats to be reserved for them, a move they say will give them fairer representation and a bulwark against constitutional changes that could undermine their special rights.
The states are also pushing for full autonomy over sectors like health, education, environment and tourism, with full control over important policies and funding including the hiring and placement of teachers as well as healthcare workers.
While Mr Anwar’s commitment might sound ironclad, analysts said his administration faces significant hurdles in fully implementing MA63, including ensuring he does not further alienate Malay support on the peninsula, and having to get royal assent. 
“Going forward, I don’t expect the peninsular Malay establishment to be united. So, Sabah and Sarawak will still play a very, very important role,” Professor James Chin, a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania, told CNA.
Sabah’s deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan, who is also a government-aligned Member of Parliament at the federal level, told CNA that the states’ MA63 demands have finally entered the mainstream political agenda thanks to their kingmaker status amid the changing political landscape.
“It has been 60 years plus since the formation of Malaysia, and we have not yet consummated this partnership fully,” said Mr Kitingan, who was imprisoned in 1991 under the country’s now-defunct Internal Security Act for pursuing Sabah rights at a time when the BN government did not want to hear any of it.
Sarawak’s Premier – a special title reserved for the state’s chief minister – Abang Johari Openg struck a more conciliatory tone, telling CNA in a wide-ranging interview in August that he was satisfied with the federal government’s progress so far in returning Sarawak’s rights under MA63.
Mr Abang Johari said he now senses an “understanding” between federal and state leaders on how to comply with the basic provisions of MA63.
“It’s getting better and better,” he said, adding that Sarawak’s first generation of leaders had, in the two decades after MA63 was signed, focused more on nation-building.
“I’m the second generation. The second generation feels that we must go back to what we agreed on.”
Even then, Mr Kitingan believes there is still a long way to go in implementing all of MA63’s promises, with Sabah’s 40 per cent revenue share demand the most important aspect that has yet to be fulfilled. 
Sabah has for years been trying to negotiate a return of its entitlement of 40 per cent of its revenue as stated in the Federal Constitution, which it says is crucial for economic development.
The constitution centralises revenue collection – including all forms of taxes – at the federal level. The federal government then returns a percentage of this to the states based on their population.
Under MA63, the federal government is supposed to return 40 per cent of Sabah’s revenue to the state, but this was not fulfilled from 1974 to 2022.
In 2022, the federal and Sabah governments agreed on “interim” payments to the latter till 2026 instead, pending further negotiations on the original 40 per cent agreement.
“I hope there is some solution coming up because we cannot delay this any longer. We need the money for development. We are still the poorest state in the country,” said Mr Kitingan.
According to Malaysia’s department of statistics, in 2022, Sabah had the highest poverty rate in the country at 19.7 per cent, followed by Kelantan (13.2 per cent) and Sarawak (10.8 per cent).
Mr Kitingan highlighted that out of the RM90 billion (US$20.8 billion) set aside in the national budget for development expenditure in 2024, Sabah and Sarawak received RM6.6 billion and RM5.8 billion respectively, amounting to about 14 per cent of the budget.
This is despite the two states making up 60 per cent of Malaysia’s total land area.
“Eighty to 90 per cent of the development budget is still in the peninsula. Sabah and Sarawak only get peanuts … so, how do you catch up?” he quipped.
Mr Kitingan said that besides tax revenue, Sabah is also fighting to get back a larger chunk of other revenue streams generated by the state, such as petroleum royalties and stamp duties.
“The money is there. They (the federal government) collected the money, so it’s just for them to return the portion back,” he said, referring to the 40 per cent demand.
“The federal government cannot be said to be totally dependent on the revenue from Sabah to the point that it can say, ‘I don’t have the money’. So, the question is: Where has the money gone to all this while?”
On a similar note, Sarawak is looking at reaping more economic benefits from what it feels it has a rightful claim over.
It has set an Oct 1 deadline for Petronas to finalise an agreement that would give the state complete rights over the supervision and trading of gas extracted from the state.
Previously, Petronas bought natural gas from upstream gas producers and sold it through contractual agreements to users in Sarawak – such as liquefied natural gas plants in Bintulu – for energy generation.
Sarawak feels this goes against its laws as Petronas has never applied for a licence to do so. It has since appointed state-owned Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) as the sole gas aggregator, forcing Petronas to stop buying and selling natural gas and to hand over its distribution network.
Sarawak is the largest gas exporting state in Malaysia, with 90 per cent of Petronas’ stocks in the country sourced from or through the state, according to an Aug 8 report by The Edge Malaysia.
Industry analysts expect Petronas to lose a significant portion of its revenue should the new arrangement proceed, impacting how much it can spend on oil exploration activities and also the amounts it can surrender to the government’s national coffers in the form of dividends.
Mr Abang Johari said in the August interview with CNA that the stand-off with Petronas is just a “minor problem”, noting that Sarawak will ensure this redelegation does not affect the gas supply that produces energy.
He has previously said the state government has power over its oil and gas resources under its Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 which was passed before the formation of Malaysia in 1963. This law has never been repealed and continues to be in force.
“Previously, of course, it was done by Petronas, but under our constitution we have our own Oil Mining Ordinance, and at the same time, gas distribution before Malaysia Day (in 1963) was done under the state,” he told CNA.
Despite that, CNA reported on Sep 7 that Petronas was mulling legal action, including a court injunction, as talks with Sarawak hit an impasse.
Mr Anwar has expressed a desire for Sarawak’s demands to be managed at the corporate level with Petronas without involving the federal government, a senior government official privy to discussions on the matter told CNA.
In response to CNA’s report, Mr Abang Johari on Sep 9 denied that discussions with Petronas had hit an impasse, adding that talks between Petronas and Petros are set to conclude before Oct 1.
“There is no issue between us and Petronas,” he was quoted as saying by local media.  
Then on Sep 10, Petronas said that it was still in discussions with the federal government, Sarawak as well as Petros to achieve a mutual resolution regarding the distribution of natural gas.
“Our position is that any resolution developed by all parties must serve the country’s best interest at heart and should not jeopardise the economic stability of the nation,” the firm said in a statement.
Prof Chin expects Petronas to eventually play ball, Sabah to follow suit in its oil and gas demands, and the two states to develop their own distribution networks.
Separately, Sabah and Sarawak are also pursuing higher oil royalties as part of their demands under MA63, arguing that most of Malaysia’s oil reserves come from the two states amid the billions of ringgit that Petronas makes in revenue.
Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusuf, a member of Sarawak’s governing coalition who also chairs an MA63 technical committee that oversees its implementation, said in March that the demand involving oil royalty and cash payments for petroleum, oil minerals and oil fields was still being discussed.
Mr Abang Johari told CNA that the issue of Sarawak’s rights to its territory and boundaries, including its continental shelf that is rich in oil and gas, is “non-negotiable”.
He reiterated that Sarawak has laws protecting these rights that precede the formation of Malaysia, and that under MA63 and the Federal Constitution, these laws remain operational.
“In other words, our central government just cannot sort of take for granted the rights over our land, which is very clear in the constitution,” he said.
This is also a sentiment among some Sarawakians whom CNA spoke to.
Retired army officer Fabian Wong, 80, told CNA he feels “shortchanged” in terms of the funds Sarawak receives from the federal government, despite its vast contribution to the nation’s coffers over the years.
He strongly believes Sarawak should get full autonomy in all affairs and is capable of managing it.
“Just give autonomy to Sarawak and see how Sarawak performs. If the federal government is good and sincere, there should be no fear of Sarawak and Sabah,” he added.
Another matter still being discussed is a move to reserve 35 per cent of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, an arrangement under MA63 designed to safeguard the Borneo states’ special interests in the legislative body.
Sabah and Sarawak are currently allocated 56 – or 25 per cent – of the 222 parliamentary seats, 10 percentage points short of what they are seeking.
When Singapore left Malaysia in August 1965, Singapore’s share of seats was redistributed to the peninsular states, while Sabah and Sarawak’s allocation has remained at 25 per cent to this day.
Observers have highlighted that beyond MA63, the two states deserve larger representation given the sheer size of some of their constituencies, which could be as large as a single state on the peninsula.
In May, a Sarawak government minister told the state legislative assembly there was still no decision on the demand for increased representations, following two deliberations in 2022 and 2023.
Mr Fadillah, the Deputy Prime Minister, had said in February 2023 that he expected the matter to take two to three years to complete as it needed to go through many stages, including three main committees, and involve various parties. 
Some residents of Sabah feel that the state’s weak representation in the federal parliament is why it struggles with a lack of development.
Kota Kinabalu native Mohd Firdaus Jaya, 31, who sells chicken at the market in the heart of the city, wants more Sabahans to be represented in parliament, and urges peninsular parties not to interfere in Sabah politics.
“I wish our leaders were more united, like those in Sarawak. Sabah has asked for so many things, but those things seem to be just promises,” said the father-of-four, adding that his monthly income of up to RM3,000 was not enough to defray the rising costs of living.
“If Sabah was more developed, we might have better opportunities. This is why many of our youth have left the state for work.”
The protracted nature of negotiations concerning matters such as state revenue, oil and gas as well as the distribution of federal parliamentary seats – alongside what has been perceived as increasing Islamisation on the peninsula – have not gone down well with some politicians, activists and residents in East Malaysia.
Sarawak rights activist Peter John Jaban feels the federal government has “neither the capacity nor the willingness” to compensate Sarawak and Sabah for “extensive economic and developmental losses” they sustained over the past 60 years.
“Since the negotiations began on the restoration of MA63 rights in 2015, there has been a significant delay, with issues like the Sabah 40 per cent revenue entitlement remaining unresolved,” he told CNA.
Mr Jaban said the federal government faces significant challenges in fully implementing MA63 due to what he perceives as a shift in Malaysia’s original concept of a secular multicultural state to one dominated by race and religion.
Political commentator Murray Hunter pointed to discontent with Malay domination in top civil service positions and a religiously polarising convenience store chain incident as instances that have unnerved multiracial Sabah and Sarawak respectively.
According to an ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute report published in 2023, East Malaysian Bumiputeras accounted for just 3.1 per cent of top management in the civil service in 2022, despite their preferential status alongside the predominantly peninsula-residing Malays.
In April, KK Super Mart outlets in Perak, Pahang and Sarawak were attacked with petrol bombs after one of the chain’s outlets was found to have been selling a pair of socks bearing the word “Allah”, considered sacrosanct for Muslims.
Some of the most vocal criticism of how the incident had been religiously politicised came from Sarawak, with some of its politicians voicing support for the chain’s Sarawakian founder, who had apologised over the incident.
KK Super Mart and its supplier were on Jul 15 each fined RM60,000 for deliberately hurting the feelings of Muslims, although the chain’s founder and director as well as the supplier’s directors were given a discharge not amounting to acquittal.
Mr Fabian Wong, the retired Sarawakian army officer, said: “Sarawak’s main concern is freedom of religion. Any extremism is not welcome. Sarawak is proud of its harmony and wishes to maintain it that way.”
Another Sarawakian Aziz Ali, 61, agreed, noting that Malaysia has for decades practised a “one Malaysia” multiracial concept, but in recent years peninsular politics seemed to heavily play up issues of race, royalty and religion.
Political observer Dr Johan Arriffin Samad also pointed to the controversy on the usage of the word “Allah”, after its mentions in Malay-language bibles and religious publications by indigenous Christians in the Borneo states triggered strong reactions on the peninsula.
Malaysia’s Malay rulers had decided that the word “Allah” cannot be used by non-Muslims in the peninsula, while conditional usage is allowed in Sabah and Sarawak.
“These are some examples that affect Sabah and Sarawak, both of whom complained about it. People are frightened of this kind of thing,” said Dr Johan.
Mr Hunter said further escalation in the Islamisation of Malaysia could “push Sabah and Sarawak away much quicker”.
He added that Mr Anwar would be “very sensitive” to such issues, given that the prime minister is trying to hold the support of Sabah and Sarawak to “keep the government together”.
“I would say that his intuition is telling him that he needs Sabah and Sarawak together to win and have a second term,” Mr Hunter added.
Mr Anwar has claimed that his administration has done more to fulfil Sabah’s and Sarawak’s rights under MA63 in over a year he has been in power than previous administrations had in decades.
At the same time, Prof Chin highlighted that Mr Anwar faces “significant hurdles” in the form of maintaining Malay support on the peninsula as well as going through the monarchy, stressing that ultimately the Malay rulers hold sovereign power in Malaysia.
Nevertheless, Prof Chin said the unity government will be cognisant that further unhappiness in the political ranks of Sabah and Sarawak could spell instability for the unity government.
What the Malay establishment in peninsular Malaysia wants to do is to deal with the demands of Sabah and Sarawak in a “very slow and measured way”.
“They do not want to rush through anything.”
When asked about the barriers to implementation, Mr Kitingan suspected that the civil servants advising the politicians involved in the process had a big say in the final decision, with politicians deferring to their opinions instead of making a “brave decision”.
Political commentator Murray Hunter said Mr Anwar is at the risk of making “promises left, right and centre that can’t be met”, noting that MA63 negotiations are weighed down in bureaucracy.
“It will get locked into this committee, this ministry evaluation, this meeting with lots of minutes and ideas. But in the end, it’s very difficult for these things to materialise,” he said.
But Prof Chin believes the Sabah and Sarawak parties will not, for instance, threaten to pull out of the unity government because they know they have to be a part of it to get “maximum autonomy”.
“Because the way the federal system works in Malaysia is that if you’re not part of the government, in almost all cases, the government does not take the opposition seriously.
“That’s the reason why GPS and GRS are both in the federal government,” he said, referring to Gabungan Parti  Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, the coalitions with the largest share of seats in the two state governments respectively.
A total of 11 demands made by Sabah and Sarawak in relation to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) have been resolved, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said on Sep 12.
The resolved demands include the handover of regulatory power over gas supply, amending the Inland Revenue Board Act to appoint representatives of their state governments as permanent members of the board, and administration of the judiciary in the two states, among others.
Local media had previously reported that there were 29 demands that were under discussion.
Mr Fadillah – who also chairs an MA63 technical committee that oversees its implementation – said that seven of these demands were settled under the administration of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, three under the tenure of Mr Ismail Sabri Yaakob and one during the premiership of Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Under the leadership of the 10th Prime Minister (Anwar Ibrahim), more matters have been decided upon within these two years,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama after attending the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Action Council (MTPMA63) meeting in Sabah.
Mr Fadillah added that there were still other matters that need to be resolved, including state rights over continental shelves, oil royalty and cash payments for petroleum, stamp duty as well as the share of federal parliamentary seats among others.
He had earlier in March said that the time taken to resolve each demand was dependent on how such issues had to be thoroughly examined given the complex legislation involved, with the readiness of the Sabah and Sarawak state governments in terms of human resources and finances also considered.
In June, Mr Fadillah said the Cabinet will decide on differing interpretations by the federal government as well as Sabah and Sarawak of jurisdiction over borders and land, highlighting the challenging nature of negotiations.
For instance, he said the demands with “agree-to-disagree” status include how the Sarawak state government claims jurisdiction over the collection of stamp duty, even though the constitution considers it a matter for federal jurisdiction.
But Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg told CNA that Mr Fadillah was “misinterpreted” in the media reports, casting doubt on how much wiggle room the federal government actually has when it comes to the Borneo states’ rights to its boundaries and continental shelf.
“Boundary is an item which is non-negotiable. What Fadillah was saying is that we can negotiate on the use of the land and continental shelf, but the right to the land and continental shelf is Sarawak’s,” he said.
A full list of the 29 demands has not been publicly released, and government reports on previous iterations of these demands have been classified under the Official Secrets Act.
The key to a successful push for autonomy, however, is how united Sabah and Sarawak can be in their demands, Prof Chin said, pointing to how the states could form a “Borneo bloc”, or a united front of dominant Sabah and Sarawak coalitions.
Prof Chin said this is not possible at the moment. While GPS holds a supermajority (79 of 82 seats) in the Sarawak legislative assembly, GRS is in a coalition with PH, BN and other parties to form the Sabah government with 56 of 79 seats.
“In terms of Sabah, we have to wait for the next state election. If GRS does very well and prevails in Sabah, and it becomes a big bloc in Sabah, then together with GPS we can say that there is really a Borneo bloc,” he said.
Sabah’s next state election must be held by December 2025.
Prof Chin said GRS and GPS have a “common” political ideology, in that they both want the federal government to keep to the spirit of MA63, recognising Sabah and Sarawak as co-founders of the Federation of Malaysia.
“If you listen carefully to what the people in GRS are saying, they want to follow the example of GPS, and they want to dominate Sabah politics the way that GPS dominates politics in Sarawak,” he added.
GPS leader Abang Johari has already stated that the coalition will contest all 82 seats at the next Sarawak state election, which must be held by 2026.
Some GPS members have urged the opposition PH not to compete with GPS to mirror the cooperation at the federal level, but Mr Abang Johari told CNA it is “up to them” if they wanted to contest.
Prof Chin said that the easiest way to describe the behaviour of the GPS is that it is “trying to create a state within a state”.
“So you can see very clearly that GPS is now setting up their own airline and extensive transport system. They’re doing many, many things that were previously done by the federal government.”
Sarawak has said its own airline is expected to start operating in 2025, following the state’s takeover of national carrier Malaysia Airlines’ regional subsidiary MASwings.
The state has also taken over Bintulu Port from the federal government, plans to build a new international airport, and started its own sovereign wealth fund while increasing its stake in a bank.
It is a different case in Sabah, Mr Hunter said, where peninsular coalitions like PH and BN are “embedded” in the state’s political landscape, and could align differently with Sabah parties at every election cycle.
“Sabah has a much shorter-term vision and it’s more personality politics. I feel it’s more to do with personalities than fundamental ideological reasons. That’s why you can’t predict what happens in Sabah,” he added.
On Aug 11, Sabah PH leaders, some of whom are state government ministers, urged for cooler heads to prevail after Mr Anwar seemed to chide unnamed Sabah government MPs for questioning his remarks on the state’s funding. The leaders stressed that several MA63-related demands had been fulfilled under Mr Anwar’s leadership.
Mr Kitingan expressed displeasure at what he perceives as the peninsular parties interfering in Sabah.
“If you contest our seats (and win), you also take (away) our voices because the MP will have to adhere to their parties,” he said.
While Dr Johan admitted that Sabah could not blame the peninsular parties for all its problems, he noted that the parties’ interference in Sabah over the years had unsettled the politics there, citing BN lynchpin party the United Malays National Organisation’s (UMNO) entry into the state in the 1990s as one example.
“Sarawak doesn’t have the baggage of UMNO there and that’s why they are free from many things. We were exploited and viewed as fixed deposits,” he said. 
In 1994, Sabah’s state government led by Parti Bersatu Sabah toppled after many of its assemblymen defected to UMNO and other BN component parties. The current Sabah government still comprises some BN members.
While UMNO is not in Sarawak, the four parties that make up GPS were once allies of UMNO. These parties left BN in July 2018 after the coalition lost power at the federal level for the first time during the general election in May that year.
Mr Hunter believes Sarawak could become a fully autonomous region as early as 2027, noting its grand plans of becoming a regional renewable energy hub that will possibly export energy to the peninsula, Singapore, and the upcoming Indonesian capital of Nusantara in Kalimantan, which is also in Borneo.
“You’ll see that the government of Sarawak, which is very stable, is just playing the long game. Probably their immediate objective is to get rid of peninsular political parties come the next state election,” Mr Hunter said.
Still, Mr Peter John Jaban – a Sarawak rights activist – feels the Sarawak state government remains “subservient” to Putrajaya, asserting that it has not legally challenged “unconstitutional laws” like the Territorial Sea Act 2012.
The law limits Malaysian states’ waters to three nautical miles (5.5km) from the coast, and Sabah and Sarawak politicians have long said it infringes on the states’ rights to explore resources and generate revenue within its maritime borders. It is also part of the MA63-related demands that remain unresolved.
“While the Sarawak government is undertaking various development projects, it has not addressed the fundamental MA63 terms such as Borneonisation (of the civil service) and the repeal of unconstitutional laws affecting Sarawak’s rights,” he said.
Borneonisation of the civil service refers to ensuring Sarawakians have opportunities to occupy the top civil service posts in the state.
What Mr Jaban perceives as Sarawak’s failure to realise the goals and benefits of independence within Malaysia has left him mulling a previously unthinkable option, one that could have led to detention before Malaysia’s Internal Security Act was repealed in 2012.
“Exit and independence seem to be the only routes for true self-determination for Sarawak,” he said.
Mr Voon Lee Shan, president of Sarawak’s Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), questioned the validity of MA63, echoing a popular argument brought by those in East Malaysia who support secession.
PBK, which campaigns on a platform of peacefully seeking independence for Sarawak, does not hold any seats in the state legislative assembly.
Mr Voon told CNA he believes MA63 should be “null and void” because Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, as colonies of the United Kingdom at the time, did not have legal capacity to sign an agreement with the UK.
Furthermore, Mr Voon said there have been “too many fundamental breaches” of the agreement, including in areas like religious freedom and parliamentary representation.
“Since it is about an agreement which had or could not be implemented in full, revoke or declare the agreement as invalid and let all parties decide their own fate or destiny,” he said.
Sarawak Premier Abang Johari brushed aside these claims in his interview with CNA, saying that those who talk about secession belong to a “small portion” of Sarawakians and are propagated by opposition parties to play up sentiments.
“We must be rational. It doesn’t mean just because of that voice (supporting secession), it reflects the voice of the majority. And you must remember, we have elections, and we won in the election, so which voice is (more) forceful?” he said.
When asked if he felt the Sarawak government could do more in the push for full implementation of MA63, Mr Abang Johari said his stance is “very clear”.
“We just want the rights that have been eroded to be given back, that’s all. And it is doing quite well because the federal Prime Minister has got confidence in Fadillah,” he added.
“Fadillah is from Sarawak. So he (Mr Anwar) has the confidence that Fadillah will thrash things out – the grey areas.”
While supporters of Sabah and Sarawak independence are confident and believe that a majority of people in the states will agree with them, Prof Chin of the University of Tasmania said he does not feel this is reflected on the ground.
“I think the majority of Sabahans and Sarawakians understand that getting independence sounds nice on paper, but the actual logistics of getting it down is much more difficult,” he said.
Indeed, Mr Aziz Ali – a Kuching business owner and a former airline executive – is concerned about Sarawak’s ability to defend itself if it exited Malaysia.
“In terms of security, let me be frank about it, we don’t have our own army,” he said, fearing potential incursions by neighbouring countries and recalling how Malaysia had clashed with Indonesia during the Konfrontasi from 1963 to 1966.
“We must stick together in Malaysia. But the federal government must start to give back all our rights as a partner, not as a state.”
Mr Kitingan also downplayed talk of secession, saying it was borne out of frustration with how the Borneo states have been treated.
“Just like husband and wife, when you’re frustrated, you say anything, right? It’s the same thing, and the answer is to have it resolved. I’m confident there will be some solution, but it has to be acceptable,” he said. 
Read CNA’s in-depth interview with Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg on issues close to his heart tomorrow.