Kuala Lumpur, 23 June 1963
- CONFIDENTIAL PRIORITY
Malaysia
Reference my telegram 370. 1
The Sultan of Brunei returned to Brunei on 21st June.2 Tunku’s letter referred to in my telegram 370 had not been given him then but was despatched subsequently to Brunei. The letter had been prepared on 20th June but at the suggestion of Selkirk and Tory, who thought
it would be unacceptable, and proposed instead that the talks continue, it was not delivered then. Sultan was very annoyed at Tunku’s public statement on the evening 20th June.3
Reference my telegram 366,4 paragraph 4. There are still three major points on which agreement has not been reached between Federation and Brunei:
(a) First is the actual terms of the annual contribution of 40 million dollars. After discussion with Tunku on this point Selkirk and Tory had a long talk with the Sultan but still agreement was not reached.
(b) Agreement had seemed close on revenue from new oil development with a compromise on a review at the end of 7 years. The Sultan’s decision to return to Brunei left the matter unsettled. The British High Commission says the Federation is concerned that a concession to Brunei on this question might be taken as a precedent by Sarawak for seeking similar treatment.
(c) The Sultan had seemed to accept the Federation position on rights over new minerals but later had second thoughts. The British High Commission says public reference to Brunei’s not being prepared to ‘share its wealth’ is a factor here. Sultan wants to be able to say in Brunei that he has safeguarded its wealth.
- Position now is that Federation Government’s letter has been sent to Brunei for delivery to Sultan whose last word before leaving Kuala Lumpur was that ‘door is still ajar’.
[NAA: A1838, 3006/4/7 part 8]
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21 June. It advised that a letter containing the Malayan Government’s final terms on financial arrangements had been given to Lee (see Document 77), and another, setting out the final terms of Brunei’s joining Malaysia, had been given to Sultan of Brunei. ↩
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The Sultan had been in Kuala Lumpur for further negotiations on Brunei’s entry into Malaysia (see Document 76). ↩
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Speaking at a pro-Malaysia rally on 20 June, the Tunku had said that Malaysia would definitely come ‘into being on 31 August with or without Singapore and Brunei’. He had intimated that both states were more interested in protecting their wealth than in making up their minds on joining the Federation. ↩
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Document 76. ↩