Page 47 - The Guide To Sarawak

THE GUIDE TO SARAWAK
45
later when the Japanese captured the oil town of Miri without a shot being fired on 16th December. Sarawak quickly fell, and Vyner and his family were forced to take refuge in Australia. British officers were detained in the notorious Batu Lintang POW Camp, along with European civilians and Indian troops from the local garrison. The civilian population fared little better as the Japanese occupation gradually turned into a nightmare. The Chinese community was treated especially harshly because of their strong support for war-torn China.
The Colonial Era
Sarawak was liberated by Australian soldiers on 11th September 1945, but Brooke rule was only temporarily restored. Vyner had lost confidence in his ability
to lead the state and
began negotiating to cede Sarawak to British rule. The Council Negri debated the Cession Bill in May 1946,
in the midst of political turbulence and a great deal of intriguing. The Bill was narrowly passed by 19 to
16 votes and Sarawak was ceded to Britain on 1st July 1946.
The decision was
very unpopular with indigenous Sarawakians, especially the Malays, supported by Bertram’s son Anthony Brooke. Various associations,
led by the Persekutuan
The first aircraft to land in Sarawak coincided with the unveiling of the Charles Brooke memorial in November 1921, causing panic among the more superstitious members of the attending crowd.
Kebangsaan Melayu (Malay National Union of Sarawak) formed an Anti-Cession Movement which actively campaigned against the cession. However, after the assassination of Governor Sir Duncan Stewart by Rosly Dhobi in Sibu on 9th December 1949, the largely pacifist movement lost its momentum.
Sarawak remained a Crown Colony until 22nd July 1963, during which the British
put in place new laws, rules, procedures and orders. Schools, roads and hospitals were built in various parts
of Sarawak. Democratic institutions and practices were enhanced with the introduction of three-tiered elections from the Local District, the Divisions and the Council Negri. This led to the formation of political parties, the first of which was SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party) founded
in 1959 by Ong Kee Hui, Stephen Yong and Chan Siaw Hee. Many others soon followed, including SNAP (Sarawak National Party) and PBB (Party Pesaka- Bumiputera).
Rajah Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, the third and final White Rajah, who ruled Sarawak from 1917 until the Japanese occupation 1941, then ceded the state to Britain in 1946.