Sarawak Independence Day, also known as Hari Kemerdekaan Sarawak, is a holiday observed on 22nd July every year by Sarawak in Malaysia, celebrating the establishment and her independence to self government on the 22nd of July, 1963.

The official Sarawak Independence Day public holiday was gazetted by the government of Sarawak in 2016 to raise awareness about Sarawak’s past and contributions of its past leaders.

This is a day we should cherish and hold pride in for our Fair Land Sarawak. This is a day for us to hold our heads high and be counted as Sarawakians First.

We are in a unique state with rich resources; something we should be thankful for.

Sarawak is host to the highest variety of ethnic races and yet we show the world how close knit we all are. We are able to live, work and celebrate our different cultures together, joining in the many different festivals.

This is the 58th Sarawak Independence Day anniversary of Sarawak and in all these years, we have been together through rain and shine like a big family.

However, we only got to celebrate Sarawak Independence Day when it was officially gazetted by the late Adenan Satem, our beloved Tok Nan in 2016.

We must ask ourselves today why we are able to commemorate such an occasion. This is due to us having a stable state government that promotes peace and harmony.

58 years is a long time and we have come a long way with big transformations in all parts of Sarawak.

On our 58th anniversary, I am thankful that under our CM Abang Jo’s leadership, Sarawak has managed to secure 5% sales tax worth $3.9 billion for Sarawak’s petroleum products. It is still my ardent hope as a Sarawakian that Sarawak will have one-third representation of all the seats in parliament. Once we have that, I am sure everything else we have been fighting for as Sarawakians, including increased autonomy for education and health will naturally fall into place.

The 18 points agreement drafted in MA63 detailed the wishes of our forefathers and the wishes of the people of Sarawak on the principles and aspirations by which Malaysia should be formed. Among the 18 points agreement were freedom of religion, freedom of language and freedom of worship. English shall be the language of instruction in schools. Land and resources are 100% Sarawak’s. All government agencies shall be headed by Sarawakians.

Our history books should state that Sarawak did not join Malaysia. On July 22nd 1963, the British granted Sarawak self-government on the condition that it joined Malaya, North Borneo and Singapore to form Malaysia. Prior to the 18 points agreement, the white rajahs of Sarawak had drafted the 9 cardinal principles by which Sarawak shall be governed. The 18 points agreement is similar in content to the 9 cardinal principles but strengthened. Sabah had their 20 points agreement along the same line as well. This was the agreement we entered into before we signed on the dotted line to join Malaya, Singapore, Sabah ( then North Borneo) to form The Federation of Malaysia.

We are actually an important part of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. We are not one of 13 states in Malaysia. We are one of three founding partners ( Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak) that formed this country. If there is no Sarawak, there is no Malaysia. This is why July 22 and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 are so important to us.

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