Report of the Commission of Enquiry, North Borneo and Sarawak, 1962

by the Commission of Enquiry in North Borneo and Sarawak Regarding the formation of Malaysia,1961-1963

Report of the
Commission of Enquiry,
North Borneo and Sarawak,
1962

Knebworth House
Knebworth, Herts.
21st June, 1962.

The Right Hon. Harold Macmillan, M.P.,
Admiralty House,
Whitehall,
London, S.W.1.

Sir,

I beg to refer to your letter of the 3rd February, 1962, confirming, with the concurrence of the Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya, my appointment as Chairman of a Commission of Enquiry to visit Sarawak and North Borneo and setting out the Terms of Reference.

I have the honour to submit herewith a Report signed by myself and the four members of the Commission, together with a signed copy for transmission to Ihe Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya.

I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
COBBOLD.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

				Page
COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION		......		13
TERMS OF REFERENCE		......		14
Chapter			Paragraphs
INTRODUCTION		......	1-9	15
1. ENQUIRY IN SARAWAK		......	10-94	18
2. ENQUIRY IN NORTH BORNEO		......	95-140	40
3. ASSESSMENT OF EVIDENCE		......	141-144	55
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
A—Recommendations on certain general matters		......	145-148	56
B—Recommendations by Sir Anthony Abell and Sir David Watherston		......	149-170	63
C—Recommendations by Dato Wong Pow Nee and Enche Muhammad Ghazali bin Shafie		......	171-234	74
D—Summary of Recommendations in Sections B and C, and Comments. by the Chairman		......	235-241	90
5. OTHER MATTERS		......	242-244	93
6. THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS		......	245-248	94
Appendices
A. Itinerary		......		95
B. Census Abstract		......		97
C. Cardinal Principles of the rule of the English Rajahs		......		101
D. Legal Meaning of the Term "Native"		......		102
E. North Borneo and Sarawak Government Papers on Malaysia		......		104
F. "Memorandum on Malaysia" Submitted by the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee		......		112

COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION

The Right Hon. Lord Cobbold

Chairman

Sir Anthony Abell, K.C.M.G.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Nominated by the Government of the United Kingdom
Sir David Watherston, K.B.E., C.M.G.

Dato Wong Pow Nee, P.M.N.	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	Nominated by the Government of the Federation of Malaya
Enche Muhammad Ghazali bin Shafie

TERMS OF REFERENCE^[1]

"Having regard to the expressed agreement of the Governments of the United Kingdom and the Federation of Malaya that the inclusion of North Borneo and Sarawak (together with other territories) in the proposed Federation of Malaysia is a desirable aim in the interests of the peoples of the territories concerned—

(a) to ascertain the views of the peoples of North Borneo and Sarawak on this question; and

(b) in me light of their assessment or these views, to make recommendations."

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1. As set out in Annex A of Cmnd.1563.