53. The Malays form the next largest native group after the Ibans. Rather over half of the total number live in the First Division, chiefly in the neighborhood of Kuching, and in the rest of the country they live mainly in downriver areas or near the towns. They all adhere to the Muslim religion.
54. Almost without exception the Malays who appeared before the Commission, or who sent their views to us in writing, were wholly in favour of the creation of a Federation of Malaysia. A large proportion of them supported the recommendations made by the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee. The points to which Malay opinion attached most importance were the following:
(a) The Head of State should be a native of Sarawak. While most of the groups accepted the position that the Head of State could never become the Head of the Federation, one group was emphatic that the Head of State for Sarawak should be put on a level with the Rulers of the States in Malaya and so be eligible to be elected as Head of the Federation.
(b) Customary land and other native rights should be protected.
(c) Immigration from other parts of the new Federation should be strictly controlled by the Sarawak State Government.
(d) The special privileges in favour of Malaya in the present Constitution of the Federation of Malaya should be extended to the natives of Sarawak. Several groups asked that these special privileges should be under the control of the Head of State in Sarawak.
(e) The legitimate rights or non—natives should be respected.
(f) Malay should be adopted as the national language and its use should be encouraged in the Legislature: but it should be permissible for other languages, e.g., English or Iban, to be used. English should be retained as one of the official languages at least for a number of years.
(g) There were differing views on the question of the medium of instruction in schools. Most Malay groups wished English to continue to be used as the medium of instruction in schools but we received written representations from one group asking that a time limit of 10 years should be set for the transition from English to Malay. The same group wished Malay to be made a compulsory subject in all schools immediately.
(h) "Borneanisation" of the Public Services should be accelerated but the present expatriate Government officers should remain until natives of Sarawak have had the education and training to take over from them. If necessary, further expatriate staff should be obtained on contract to bridge any gap before sufficient natives were available.
(i) Education facilities for natives should be improved to the standard provided for Malays by the Government or Malaya and should include free primary, and also, if possible, free secondary education. Natives should be given preference in the award of scholarships for higher education. The Federal Government should be responsible for education at all levels.
