Malaysia Day is held on September 16 every year to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on the same date in 1963. It marked the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia. The formation of the new federation was planned to occur on June 1, 1963, but was later postponed to August 31, 1963, in order to coincide with the sixth Hari Merdeka.

 

 

Several issues related to the Indonesian and the Filipino objection to the formation of Malaysia delayed the declaration to September 16 of the same year. The postponement was also done to allow the United Nations team time to conduct referendums in North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak regarding the two states participation in a new federation.

A landmark day in our history which didn’t have much recognition till recently when it was declared a public holiday and many started talking and finding out more about this bit of history.

Singapore left Malaysia 2 years later due to a rocky relationship due to differences between the island state and the Malaysian leaders. Singapore got their Independence on 9 August 1965.

It makes me wonder if we would have been in a totally different position that we are in today if Singapore was still part of Malaysia, my gut feeling tells me we would have been a much more progressive nation but that’s only my opinion.

Selamat Hari Malaysia!