Federal-East Malaysia Relations: Primus-Inter-Pares?

In 2014 Malaysia celebrated its fifty-seventh year of independence but many people in East Malaysia, however, were not celebrating. Why? The official date, 31 August, is the date of independence for Malaya in 1957 but not the Malaysian Federation. The fact is that the Federation of Malaysia was proclaimed on 16 September 1963 and the Federation of Malaysia is fifty-one years old, not fifty-seven. This simple fact is often ignored by Kuala Lumpur/Putrajaya,1 much to the annoyance of East Malaysians. This chapter lays out some of the main issues surrounding the often unhappy relationship between East Malaysia and Putrajaya since independence and the resentment held by Sabahans and Sarawakians towards Malaya.