East Malaysian State Research Articles

Malaysia in 1982: A New Frontier?

Research Article| February 01 1983 Malaysia in 1982: A New Frontier? Jerry Bass Jerry Bass Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Far Eastern Survey (1954) 23 (2): 191–200. https://doi.org/10.2307/2644351 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Jerry Bass; Malaysia in 1982: A New Frontier?. Far Eastern Survey 1 February 1954; 23 (2): 191–200. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2644351 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1983 Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Communism in Sarawak Today

The official end of Indonesia's campaign against Malaysia, marked by ceremonies in Djakarta on August 11, 1966, has focused attention on the present Communist insurgency in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak (an insurgency at one time openly backed by Indonesia) and on the future of Indonesian trained Sarawak Chinese dissidents, who form the backbone of that insurgency.' On June 4, 1966 the Malaysian Minister for Sarawak Affairs, Tan Sri Temenggung Jugah, warned that although the Indonesian military confrontation might be coming to an end, Communism in Sarawak would continue to pose a serious domestic threat, necessitating stringent measures.' '2 Indeed, Sarawak authorities are continuing preparations to meet a new Communist upsurge as hundreds of Sarawak Chinese rebels are crossing into the state now that Indonesia appears to have withdrawn its support of their activities. Repeated offers of amnesty and rehabilitation to the Chinese insurgents by the Malaysian government have had little effect. Although Indonesia has withdrawn most of its confrontation forces from the Sarawak-Indonesian border, the domestic instability in Indonesia and the continuing opposition expressed by President Sukarno and his political supporters to a precipitate end to the confrontation campaign, encourages some scepticism that a new corner in Indonesian-Malaysian relations has now been turned at last. Sarawak's Communist problem is the problem of the Chinese, and some background data on the latter community are essential. Over 244,000 of Sarawak's nearly 777,000 inhabitants are Chinese, about 80%7o of whom were born in Sarawak. The remainder have long been domiciled there, as Chinese immigration since World War II has been negligible.3 Other major population groups are Sea Dayaks or Ibans (241,000), Malays over (136,000), Land Dayaks (60,000), and Melanaus (45,000). The Chinese have a higher average annual rate of increase (about 3.5%o) than the Sarawak population as a whole (2.4%o). Moreover, the Chinese component is more youthful than the total population, as just over 50%o of the Chinese are under 15 years of age, compared to 44.5%o of the total population. Chinese