CHANGES IN BORNEO
By LORD MILVERTON
GREAT changes have taken place in Borneo since the war and greater chanvs yet are pending. The former territory of North Borneo, with an area of 29,500 square miles and a population of 27o,000, administered by the last of the Chartered Companies, has become a British Colony, the British Goverment having bought out the rights of the company. The island of Labuan, formerly Colonial territory Lttached to Singapore, has been amalgamated with North Borneo. The adjoining territory of Sarawak (area 50,000 square miles, population 49o,000), formerly a protected Kingdom under Rajah Brooke, has also been ceded to, the British Government and the honourable and romantic connection of the Brooke family with this country has come to an tnd. The new Governor of Sarawak is also High Commissioner for the neighbouring Protected Malay State of Brunei, now,,the greatest oil-producer in the British Empire. The State of Brunei has an area of 2,226 square miles and a population of 48,000, rapidly rising as a result of the great oil industry.
The old status of North Borneo and Sarawak, an anomaly living next door to an anachronism, has come to an end, which must have happened in time . without the intervention of war and the need for material reconstruction. Ideas need reconstructing, too, and it seems clear that the constitution of two separate Governorships with a High Conunissionership for Brunei cannot be a final or satisfactory arrangement. The problems of development and of making _the Borneo territories self-supporting, of filling the empty spaces and encouraging production of all kinds, require unified executive authority—in short a Governor and High Commissioner of all British Borneo. The improvement of communications by sea, land and air demands an over-all authority charged with the task, as indeed does the effective use of the existing population-and the control of immi- gration. Here, indeed, is a job in the grand old style calling for the best administrator the Colonial Service can produce, a man of
vision and practical ability—a Bornean Lugard. • For the moment the Borman territories are free from the curse
of political ideologies, and a y._,ider scope than that of the present divisions will be likely to maintain this freedom. Furthermore Borneo had the advantage, which Malaya did not have, of witnessing the physical defeat of the Japanese. The atmosphere 'in North Borneo today is one of activity and hope. Schemes of many kinds, agricultural and industrial, are being worked out and vary from hydro-electric proposals to 'mechanised rice-production. North Boineo has 26,00o square miles of timber, of which 90 per cent. lies under the British Borneo Company's monopoly. No really , reliable scientific information is available about this national asset, but one thing is certain ; the present stranglehold of one monopoly must be relaxed, just as in Sarawak steps must be taken to relax the effect of the oil company's monopoly of prospecting rights and the consequent insecurity of all land-tenure.
The crying need of both territories is reliable information about their own assets—the extent and value of timber, the quality of the soil and so forth. Excessive haste in development could do much harm, and it is desirable to avoid the loss of confidence which would result from hurrying into schemes without adequate reconnaissance. But the old laisser-faire attitude is no substitute for controlled and enterprising determination to move forward. One of the encouraging features of North Borneo development is the interest now being taken in the territory by the Colonial Develop- ment Corporation. At the invitation of the North Borneo Govern- ment the Corporation has—in partnership with experienced American interests, through a British-registered subsidiary—taken over the ex-Japanese hemp estates near Tawao on the east coast. It is hoped to serve not only the interests of North Borneo but also Vital Imperial interests by the development of a great hemp industry. In conjunction with these plans the Corporation is investigating other agricultural projects and 'hopes- to, make a considerable con- tribution to the prosperity of the country. In this brief sketch of Borneo at the beginning of what is expected to be its renaissance period the writer is trying to convey some of the optimism which animates the group of officials and unofficials, Europeans, Chinese and native races, who are quietly setting about its rehabilitation. The way in which the' ruined townships of Jesselton, Kudat and Sandakan have risen from their ashes is a mank of faith in the future. Taxation has been increased, income-tax and profits-tax have come to stay, and H.M. Treasury has given grants in aid. It is true that the future of rubber is very uncertain, and the export tax has been reduced ; but perhaps a coalescing of scattered interests may make possible the standard- isation of quality without which it cannot compete with synthetic rubber. North Borneo is 'Making headway with rehabilitation and with development, and if one becomes impatient with delays in business and in Government offices it is well to remember that large numbers of the English-speaking Asiatics, clerks andhouse- hold servants alike, were killed by the Japanese. It takes time to build up efficient office staffs. Both in North Borneo and in Sarawak there is a wise determination to make haste slowly. Steps are being taken to make the territory self-supporting in rice within the next five years, and before that period is up a great deal more will be known about the quality of the soil and the mineral assets.
, Communications are being dealt with by air and land. Malayan Airways is about to run a regular service from Singapore to Kuching, Labuan, Jesseltort and Sandakan—no doubt with an ultimate exten- sion to Tawao. In North Borneo a regular road programme has been initiated and ultimately Sandakan will have an overland link with Jesselton and the West Coast. The future capital of North Borneo is to be Jesselton, where the bulk of the trade now is and also most of the population. It has a hinterland and existing communications, both rail and road, whereas Sandakan is at present an isolated sea-port, looking largely towards China. The future, no doubt, holds a bigger fate for Sandakan, which has one of the finest harbours in the world, a landlocked inlet of the sea fifteen miles by seven— strategically on the road from Hongkong to Australia, and com- mercially the future port of the east coast, where good land awaits agricultural development and magnificent forests await exploitation ; with the possibility of a great fishing industry as the Japanese proved in days gone by. Incidentally it is a curious indication. of faith that there are now more Europeans engaged in commerce, industry and official work in North Borneo than at any previous period of its history..
In Sarawak communications have always been based on rivers and the sea, and in the early future it is likely that development of internal communications: will tend to follow the policy of opening up access to the main river arteries. The past policy , of concentrating on mixed peasant agriculture to the exclusion of large and specialised plantations will no doubt ,continue. But in a longer, future, as eekication proceeds, it is probable that some conflict will arise between the ideals of a self-sufficient peasant economy, and the higher standard of living and the wider life for which education will . develop a demand. It is also worth con- sidering whether in the future export crops like rubber can success- fully be produced by peasant cultivators for export. The task of enabling Sarawak to reconcile the dreams of social progress with the factor of competitive trade will require wise and sure handling.
The great and final problem for all British Borneo is labour. From what source are the immigrants to come to help in populating and developing her empty spaces ? From Malaya, Java, China or the Philippines ? One of the most cogent reasons for avoiding excessive haste is the political problems which may follow in the train of unregulated immigration. Borneo needs citizens who will make the country their adopted land, not groups of aliens whose loyalties will remain toured elsewhere. It is desirable that the lessons of Malaya be taken to heart and, that settlers from other lands should immediately come under the influence of a system of education which will fit their children for Bornean citizenship, and this probably means that English must be the medium of instruction. For the Colonial Service the problems of Borneo constitute a -challenge, which one, hopes they will be allowed to meet without the unhealthy glare of political limelight.
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