Then and now: A journey that spans over six decades

ALTHOUGH the Federation of Malaysia was formed following the merger of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (now Sabah) on Sept 16, 1963, it would not have come about had not Malaya first become independent on Aug 31, 1957.

My column today dwells on what has transpired, from my own personal viewpoint since that auspicious day 61 years ago. I was 13 then, in Form 1 at St Thomas’ Secondary School; I am 74 now.

At that young age, two major occurrences had been the subject of headline news around that period, which in those days were primarily heard either through the radio or read in the newspapers.

A rebellion in Brunei, which started on Dec 8, 1962 by the insurgents of the North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) linked to the left-wing Brunei People’s Party (BPP) led by A.M. Azahari had gathered about 4,000 men, a few modern weapons and about 1,000 shotguns (Source: Wikipedia), launched an attack on Brunei’s Sultanate in order to create its own republic.

The second was the ‘Konfrontasi’, the popular word used for the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation or Borneo confrontation, which was an armed conflict going on from 1963 to 1966 that had arisen from Indonesia’s opposition to the creation of Malaysia.

Both events played heavily in the background of my daily life then, being a schoolboy whose excitement and curiosity were aroused by the thought of his motherland being ‘independent’ or ‘merging’ with bigger independent entities like Malaya, Singapore and Sabah.

You can imagine the sort of dream scenarios and futuristic images going through this young heart and mind as feelings of optimism abound.

Even the adults were excited about their prospects in this ‘brave new world’ – those who had just 18 years previously survived a major catastrophic event, the Japanese War, which ended in 1945.

After the Second World War, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke had ceded Sarawak to Great Britain, and in 1946, Sarawak had officially become a British Crown Colony.

With the formation of Malaysia 17 years later, Sarawak would still be within the British Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent countries, which today has a combined population of 2.4 billion people – almost a third of the world population, with 94 per cent living either in Asia or Africa.

At age 13, it was easy to make an impression on a receptive schoolboy’s mind. That hit song came to mind: ‘The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)’.

At that point in time, I could remember that the population of Sarawak, based on the 1960 census, was only 744,529. By comparison, as of July last year, we’re at 2,509,500.

Our infrastructure, road, port and airport systems way back then were very basic, with paved roads only within the limits of the bigger towns of Kuching, Sibu and Miri, with two-lane gravel roads leading to most of the smaller towns and villages.

To drive to even Bau or Serian from Kuching would take one’s car through stretches of gravel roads, dusty during dry weather, and hot at most of the time as very few vehicles then would have built-in air-conditioning comfort.

As an example, a drive from Kuching to Sematan, at 108km (over 60 miles) in 1963, took almost five hours; today, it can be undertaken in under two hours. Similarly, one can travel to Sibu within five hours when it had taken almost double that time 61 years ago!

The new Pan Borneo Highway is now in use.

According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development, as of August 2023, Sarawak has a road network covering 32,886km; a major construction boost was initiated in 1965, two years after the merger of Malaysia.

Where ferries were used extensively at the many river crossings, today’s modern bridges have cut down travel time – only 12 ferry services remain throughout the state today.

Kuching and Bintulu are major international standard ports, and airport facilities are available in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu. Modern upgraded buses and tourist coaches service Sarawak, while also going into Kalimantan in Indonesia, Brunei and Sabah.

It would appear that only lacking is the under-utilised international airport in Kuching which could become a travel hub for these parts, as Kota Kinabalu Airport is being envied for receiving many international carriers.

Tourists’ arrival in Sarawak is expected to reach the target of four million by this September, according to the minister in charge. In 1963, no statistics were available as the country had not begun its ‘tourism drive’ at the time.

I recall there were not many, and I would expect a figure in the 10,000’s would be realistic.

As I had sat in my airy, non-air-conditioned (not even a ceiling fan) but rather spacious Form 1 classroom at St Thomas’ Secondary School, in one of the twin tower blocks (they are still there), I have seen a big difference. Recently paying a visit, the rooms are still the same, albeit with a third of the students, fully equipped with all the latest teaching aids displaying the mission and vision aims of the school.

The medium of education has changed from English to Bahasa Malaysia; the teachers are all locals, where they were expatriates in the majority back then.

The curriculum now follows the National Education Policy, when they used to be based on Cambridge.

Sixty-one years ago as students all we had were our books – the textbooks we had to buy, or reference books we borrowed from the libraries.

Today the books are still there – in addition to that a modern-day student can do his research, look it up and scour on the Internet, on a myriad number of sites and links. All of this can be performed over a smartphone, a laptop, an iPad or a PC (personal computer) at home.

Everything is now at one’s fingertips, within a couple of seconds, without any further query or reference to a teacher or a tutor.

Obviously there is also a negative side – the distractions that are available, the temptations and urges to go further beyond into other territories ‘unknown’ or ‘socially unacceptable’ – this too applies equally to all of us at every stage of our lives.

For every advance that mankind had ever made in the past, there had been a darker side.

The world of knowledge is out there, all that we need to do is to search for it, study or learn about it and then use and apply it for our benefit in a positive way. Sixty-one years ago, it was a long exhausting journey to find that knowledge.

My personal advice is not to be addicted to all the short-form and shortcuts of the 30-second video clips that you can easily find (or being shared with) on YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp.

Most of the stuff you see nowadays are simply throwaways created by people who made them seeking attention, and probably some sort of monetary rewards, or just for the fame and glory.

The majority are done without any in-depth research or to help and assist you in any way. Very few of those creators possess any altruistic values themselves.

Back in 1963, one could easily count on both hands the number of restaurants and coffeeshops in Kuching; similarly the amusement centres of cinema halls, clubs and pubs as well as some of the other services like hair salons, beauty parlours and so forth. There were a handful of high-end grocery shops – there were not any supermarket, although Ting & Ting’s, which started in 1957, was such named.

Today, we have our own homegrown chains, from the humble Unaco to Choice and Everrise, from Emart to Farley and in recent years, Ta Kiong, Everwin, EconFresh – dotting across the suburbs and townships!

They are all bona fide one-stop-centres with everything you need for yourself and the household inside one building, within one store – you name it, they would probably stock it.

Not just foodstuffs, but household products of all types, including electrical appliances, clothing, DIY tools for the garden and hardware items – in all shapes, sizes and price segments too.

Even better still, online shopping is now the craze when you place an order on a shopping site, pay for it and it gets delivered to your doorstep within a decent period, usually between two to seven days depending on the source.

For us ‘Baby Boomers’, it is nothing short of a miracle, having experienced the long wait for an order for a book or magazine to arrive by airmail (or God-forbid, surface mail) placed by sending an order by letter, paying by money-order purchased at the post office, and upon arrival, the said volume being confiscated by Customs or Postal Service as ‘a proscribed title’ – well, you know the exact feeling then!

Today, we tend to say that our children and those in this generation have it easy; that they have everything they want at their fingertips and that they can lack for nothing – whatever they can think of and is available on an online shopping site, they can get it.

I have always held the belief that anything that can be gratified or satisfied instantly is something that does not endure, neither can it be properly treasured or held in high esteem, for if we can dream it and own it within such a short period, are we not being just hedonistic and materialistic about it?

In conclusion I am grateful that today, 61 years on, we are living happily, in no uncertain prosperity and peace, and most of all in religious and racial harmony with one another, as we pay tribute to the many advances and gains that Sarawak has seen and experienced within this time period.

Have a happy and blessed Aug 31, dear readers!

· The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist’s own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper