This is a space where I'm intending to post the rather subaltern historical bits and pieces from the Konfrontasi period. The Konfontasi history itself has become almost entirely subaltern, a piece of history that has slowly been whitewashed from public discourse and history books in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.
The reason for having this blog is to complement existing materials on the period. Although a number of meticulously researched academic works do exist *, a majority of them focus solely on the political processes played out by power elites, both in London, Washington, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta. On one level, these works were instrumental in locating and contextualizing the Konfontasi within the larger seismic shifts of global politics between 1945-1975. Yet, a more grounded and localized perspective about the Konfrontasi period remain largely sidelined to footnotes or being neglected altogether.
This blog will focus on the inclusion of selected local news clippings from the period (e.g. Sarawak Tribune, Sarawak Gazette) and other material, including summaries of oral histories (part of an ongoing research), posters, propagandic writings and literature from the period. It is hoped that this blog encourages the continuing collection of stories and other material in order to critically rewrite the history of this particular period before it's too late.
What makes this specific period between 1959-1966 so duly dangerous that it has been surpressed from public debate?
For Indonesia, events surrounding the Konfrontasi, culminating with the Oct. 1 1965 military coup that brought Suharto's military regime in power, persists to be a potential reminder that President Sukarno and all center to left-wing elements in his regime rightfully analyzed and predicted British and US 'imperial' designs to undermine the fledging anti-neo colonialist/imperialist Indonesian Revolution. Just like a complex jigsaw puzzle, the Konfrontasi context has been the hidden piece of evidence from the general public that potentially renders Suharto's bloody military coup in 1965 as a crucial part of those imperial designs.
In Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, the history of Konfrontasi will always negate and contest official historical narratives claiming that the formation of Malaysia went domestically unopposed. One of the reasons why both the Philippines and Indonesia openly rejected the formation of Malaysia in 1963 was exactly the widespread domestic opposition in the Borneo territories of Sabah and Sarawak.
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To summarize, Indonesia went into open conflict ('confrontation'/'Konfrontasi) with Malaysia when it saw that the proclamation of Malaysia (the merging of the Malayan Federation, Singapore and the British Borneo Territories of Sarawak and British North Borneo) on September 1963 was a breach of the 1961 Manila Agreement, jointly signed by (then) Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Indonesian President Sukarno and Filipino President Diosdado Macapagal, which stipulated that any formation of a Malaysian Federation should take into account:
1) The legal settlement of the North Borneo (Sabah) issue with the Philippines. The Philippines claimed jurisdiction over North Borneo, arguing that North Borneo's legal status would revert back to the Sultan of Sulu once British jurisdiction over the territory expires.
2) Popular consultation with the peoples of North Borneo and Sarawak. Accordingly, any inclusion of the Borneo Territories into Malaysia should be preceded and approved by a U.N. sponsored referendum.
Sukarno
Source: Gelora Konfrontasi Mengganjang "Malaysia" (Ministry of Information, 1964)