British Colonial Rule in Sarawak, 1946-1963

Sarawak, romanticized as the Land of the White Rajahs until 1946, did not fit into the normal patterns of a colony. The British Government annexed Sarawak after World War II without much enthusiasm when colonialism was coming under increasing scrutiny and Britain was in dire economic straits. Seventeen years later, at the first meeting of Sarawak's first fully elected state government, the government voted in favour of becoming a part of the Federation of Malaysia and two weeks later the British Government relinquished sovereignty in Sarawak. How and why did the rather reluctant and controversial annexation come about and what was the background to the haste to hand over sovereignty immediately a totally inexperienced state government came into power? Were the pledges on economic, political, and social advances made to the people of Sarawak honoured when Britain annexed the state or were they mere vapid political statements?