important that the identity and prestige of Sarawak and North Borneo should be maintained but we consider that this would be achieved by maintaining a high degree of local administration and by allocating to them a quota of seats in the Federal Parliament which takes into account their size as well as their population.
157. There are one or two matters which we feel require special mention, either because we hold divergentviews from our colleagues or because they are of special significance to the Borneo territories and are referred to in the record of evidence.
- Head of State
158. We recommend that the Head of State should be aippointed by the Head of the Federation acting in his discretion but after consultation with the Chief Minister of the State. His constitutional position should, we oonsider, be the same as that of the Governors of Penang and Malacca. In View of the strength of the opinions expressed to us in the Borneo territories, we consider it is desirable that the first Head of State after the transitional period should be a member of the indigenous races. We feel that thereater this matter should be decided by the State Legislatures.
- The Judiciary
159 The distance between Borneo and Malaya leads us to believe that it would be wise to maintain for the Borneo territories a separate High court presided over by its own Chif Justice, and we would recommend that appeals from this Court should lie to a Federal Supreme Court. It might be advantageous if Judges or the Malayan High Court could be made available to sit as Judges of the Borneo High Court and when required and vice Versa. We have recommended the appointment of a Working Party to examine the details of new arrangements which would be necessary including the method of appointment and removal of Judges in the Borneo territories, consequent on the new Federation. We cannot exclude the possibility that Brunei may be interested in this Working Party.
- Special Position of Indigenous Races
160. As we have recorded earlier, native witnesses in both Sarawak and North Borneo asked that, in the matter of special privileges and opportunities, they should be put in a position analogous to that of the Malays in the Federation of Malaya, The Chinese, while opposing any suggestion that this privileged position should be written into the Constitution, agreed that in practice the native races should be given, at least for a period of years until they reached a more competitive level, the Favoured treament which they have in fact enjoyed under the Colonial Government.
161. We find this at difficult problem and various differing views have been expressed in our discussions of it. One of us feels that Malaysia as a whole would be better without constitutional provisions of this kind and that in so far as the Borneo territories are concerned, they are in contradiction with the policy of equal opportunity for all races, which has been the basis of British policy since the war, and that they are not in the best interests of racial harmony or of the natives themselves, who would more easily be spurred to competitive.
