ABSTRACT
Two years after independence, the Alliance government could take pride in its economic accomplishments, the ethnic peace that prevailed, and the nation's strong counterinsurgency performance. In 1946, when neither the Rajah Brooke nor the British North Borneo Chartered Company possessed sufficient capital for postwar reconstruction, Sarawak and North Borneo were transferred to the British as directly ruled crown colonies. The official date for the formation of Malaysia was postponed from August 31 to September 16, 1963, to allow the United Nations team to ascertain the views of the Borneo people. The general elections of 1964 were conducted against the backdrop of Indonesia's aggressive Konfrontasi campaign against Malaysia and growing tensions between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In January 1976, Tun Razak died suddenly after a secret battle against leukemia. He was succeeded as prime minister by his deputy, Datuk Hussein Onn, the son of the first president of United Malays National Organization.
