Word: borneo
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...government house. "What a dull place," said a United Nations official. "I don't know how we're going to survive three weeks here." At the insistence of Indonesia's President Sukarno, an eight-member U.N. team is present to "ascertain" whether Sarawak and North Borneo really want to join the Federation of Malaysia, which Sukarno bitterly opposes. As the U.N. ascertainers began to sample opinions around Sarawak, they were nearly stoned, not bored, to death...
Date Set. Such outbursts will slightly delay but not derail the formation of Malaysia, originally scheduled for Aug. 31. In last summer's general elections, voters in both Sarawak and North Borneo decisively defeated anti-federation parties. Although Indonesia's shadow looms large, the Borneo people know they have nothing to gain from Djakarta but economic chaos and demagoguery. Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and British Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys, who hastily flew to the scene, last week set Sept. 16 as the new birth date for the federation -two days after the U.N. mission...
...wrangle over details with the British, Indonesia failed to send observers to the U.N. mission, thus giving Sukarno an excuse to question the U.N. findings later. But faced with British determination to defend Malaysia by force, if necessary, Sukarno said: "If the Borneo peoples agree to join Malaysia, we will have to bow our heads and obey." But, added Sukarno, in an unbowed postscript: "Indonesia maintains its opposition to Malaysia...
Blithe Unconcern. By week's end tempers were rising in Manila. The Tunku pointedly reminded Sukarno that he had taken over West Irian without a plebiscite and that the legislatures of North Borneo and Sarawak had passed resolutions in favor of the new federation. No man to be troubled by inconsistencies, Sukarno nevertheless demanded his referendum. Only the soothing presence of Macapagal prevented a walkout by the Tunku...
Failing to reach a decision, the meeting went on into this week, with indications that a compromise might emerge. U Thant was reported ready to visit the Borneo territories, without waiting for General Assembly approval, and prepared to make his "ascertainment" without a formal referendum. Sukarno, switching from intransigence to blithe unconcern, took time off to collect an honorary degree (his 21st) from the University of the Philippines, to pursue a pretty Malayan correspondent, and to demonstrate for photographers the intricacies of the lenso, a sort of static Indonesian twist...