ABSTRACT
The post-war geopolitical situation in the Southeast Asian environment further emphasized the importance of the proposed components of ‘Malaysia’, viz. Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei, and North Borneo. Having lent military assistance to Malaya in defeating its communist insurgency, Whitehall was particularly concerned about Leftist subversive activities in Singapore and Sarawak in the 1950s and early 1960s. The British government responded with military contingents flown in from Singapore and dispatched police personnel from neighbouring Sarawak and North Borneo. The Cold War period in Borneo, like other theatres in the world, had its share of spectacle, excitement, as well as tragic events. Borneo in the Cold War period opened with Britain adding on two more crown colonies to its retreating empire, namely Sarawak and North Borneo, and retaining the protectorate over the Sultanate of Brunei. In Borneo, the Chinese minority in Sarawak in particular were the most steadfast who translated their ideological commitment to action, namely armed revolution.
