Malaysia was first accused as an agent of imperialism by Indonesia, and to a certain extent by the Philippines, back during the formation of Malaysian Federation. Both were against the formation of Malaysia which was supposed to encompass the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah. War between Malaysia and Indonesia ensued later. In the end, Malaysia somehow won though Indonesia in the process managed to convince Brunei to opt out of the federation. Later, Singapore seceded, or kicked out of Malaysia, in 1965. And Malaysia has gone a long way since.

Now, in a time of uncertainty, it's time Malaysia expands its frontier again. Yea!

We could definitely start with Brunei. The reason Brunei refused to participate in Malaysia was because of Indonesian influence. The rest is history. Today, Indonesia struggles to hold its own territories together and Indonesia’s influence on Brunei certainly has been reduced to nil. Hence, this is a perfect timing for Malaysian federal government to initiate talk with the Sultan of Brunei of a possible ascension of Brunei into Malaysia.

The benefit of Brunei’s ascension for Malaysia is aplenty. I'll try to explain three of them.

First and foremost, such unification would increase trade by removing barriers that distort trade. Malaysian trade increase would probably be insignificant due to Brunei’s size but Brunei would definitely enjoy greater reap in term of percentage of GDP.

Second concerns natural resources, in particular crude oil and gas. What better way for Malaysia to secure a source of energy in light of rising oil price? Brunei could be the answer to Malaysia’s thirst for the black gold.

Thirdly, Spratly. Spratly is being claimed by multiple countries in the region, including Malaysia and Brunei. Brunei’s accession into Malaysia would strengthen Malaysia and Brunei’s case. And of course, with Spratly comes along superior inflow of black oil into Brunei and ultimately, should Brunei join the federation, Malaysia itself.

Should Brunei join Malaysia, certain arrangement could be made to soften the impacts of ascension. For instance, the Sultan of Brunei and Brunei itself could be given certain autonomy power, perhaps a power more generous than what both Sabah and Sarawak currently enjoy. Whatever the possible division of power between Brunei and Malaysia may be, in the long run, Brunei should embrace democracy complete with its participation in the Malaysian Parliament with the Sultan’s authority being balanced by the interest of common Bruneian (Do we call Bruneian as Bruneian?).

Steps towards the unification of Brunei and Malaysia could be done in the near future. Or, if it couldn’t, it would definitely be viable when oil in Brunei ran out. When Brunei ran out of its natural resources, it will be in Brunei’s best interest to join Malaysia.

Nice eh? Next time, we’ll talk other possibilities of strengthening out beloved federation.

So, before:



After:


For a greater Federation!

p/s - hail to the Rainbow Warrior! 20 years ago on this day, the French government sabotaged a Greenpeace vessel. One died.

pp/s - the reasons I read Samizdata.net are here and here and here.