THE MICHIGAN DAILY

TROUBLED AREA-Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaya have clashed over Malaya's ambition to forge a federation of Malaysia out of-it,
Singapore and three British colonies on Borneo.
Malaysian Plan Faces Troubled Future

Less than two months ago the
prospects were bright.
But now there are strong doubts
that the proposed Federation of
Malaysia, a pro-Western bastion
in Southeast Asia, will ever get off
the ground.
As originally conceived, Malay-
sia would have united independent
Malaya with Singapore, Sarawak,
North Borneo and Brunei, the
only vestiges of British colonialism
remaining in the area.
Rich Prospects
The new federation, 130,000
square miles with more than 10
million people, rich in rubber, tin
and oil, possessor of one of the
world's most strategic seaports in

Three Oppose
The chief opposition to a Fed-
eration of Malaysia comes from
three sources-ambitious President
Sukarno of neighboring Indonesia;
the Philippines; and Red China,

Borneo Split
More than half of the new fed-
eration-the British colonies of
Sarawak and North Borneo and
the protectorate of Brunei-occupy
the northern third of Borneo. In-
donesia has the southern two-
thirds.
Although Sukarno says he has
no territorial designs on northern
Borneo, the Indonesians looked
favorably last December on a re-
bellion in Brunei and gave asylum
to the rebel chief when the revolt
was crushed.
It was Sukarno who insisted that
the UN survey public opinion in
Sarawak and North Borneo be-
fore he placed his reluctant stamb
of approval on the union.
Territorial Claims
The hostility of the Philippines
is based simply on a territorial
claim to North Borneo, portions'
of which once were owned and'
leased to the British by the Fili-
pino Sultah of Sulu.

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SUKARNO
.. opposes federation

The new federation would con-
tain more than four million over-
seas Chinese - some 40 per cent
of the population-many of whom
own dual loyalties to their coun-
tries of residence and their Chinese
homeland.
They dominate Singapore. where
five of every seven people are
Chinese, and they have an in-
fluence out of proportion to their
numbers on the economies of Ma-
laya, Sarawak, Brunei and North
Borneo.
Easy To Recover
The Red Chinese, who lost an
exhausting, 12-year guerrilla war
in Malaya, apparently believe it
would be easier for them to take
over the area if Singapore and
Northern Borneo were not tied to
Malaya.
The UN survey team recently
was greeted in Kuching, Sarawak,
by about 1500 screaming, anti-
Vcalaysian demonstrators. Virtually
all were identified as Chinese,
members of the Communist-in-
filtrated United People's Party.
To complicate the picture fur-
ther, when the five intended fed-
eration members met to sign the
union agreement in London, July
9, the Sultan of Brunei suddenly
decided not to join.
Oil Royalties
The Sultan, whose tiny (2,226
square miles) country is rich inoil
(five million metric tons a year),
couldn't come to terms on who
would get how much of Brunei's
oil royalties.

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WI LKINSO

ModV n rdy tl83

Mondays and Fridcays 'til 8:34
Other days 'til 5:30
For Business!

ABDUL RAHMAN
... seeks unity

For College!

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(The United States came close
to involvement in Malaysia, too.
(An American, one Joseph W.
Torrey, obtained North Borneo in
1865 as a concession from the
Sultan of Brunei. His American
Trading Company of Borneo, how-

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