The Relationship Between Sarawak and Malaysian Studies

Abstract

The Bornean states of Sarawak and Sabah are considered important parts of Malaysia in terms of land area, population size, and economic scale. However, because of the differences in historical backgrounds, ethnic compositions, and administrative organizations, as well as their geographically separated locations, these states have often been treated separately. Moreover, these states’ political and administrative autonomy has been overemphasized. Sarawak and Sabah became independent states in 1963, constituting a new federal country, Malaysia. They began to be subject to political assimilation pressure from the federal government, which is called “Malayanization.” After the 1990s, social and economic relationships between the Bornean states and the peninsula have become stronger, which is also expressed as “peninsul ar connection.” Despite the delicate distance in recent years between Sarawak and the peninsula, as evidenced by the political slogan “Sarawak for Sarawakians,” the “peninsular connection” certainly exists in various aspects. It is now becoming difficult to treat Sarawak as an independent regional unit. Under such social, economic, and political circumstances, in what direction should research on Sarawak be aimed? In the latter part of this paper, I look back over the past half-century at the so-called “Sarawak studies” and explore the possibility of future development of Sarawak studies. Conventional research on Sarawak often focuses on culture and ethnicity, and, unlike peninsular-based studies, is not able to expand upon diversified research subjects such as politics, administration, religion, and literature. On the other hand, Sarawak-based studies have the benefit of collaborating with natural science fields such as ecology and the promotion of interdisciplinary research projects. However, most of these studies have been completed within the closed space of Sarawak. Given that the Sarawak-peninsular relations are changing, previous Sarawak studies need to be relativized. For this purpose, it is important to explore the possibility of articulating Sarawak studies to the so-called “Malaysian studies” that have been advanced on a peninsular basis. However, a part of the Sarawak studies has also taken into consideration its relations with Indonesia, Singapore, China, Oceania, the Middle East, etc., and also may be developed beyond the framework of the nation-state, Malaysia. Relativization of Sarawak studies should be promoted after taking into consideration various spatial scales and multidirectional regional networks.