North Borneo Independence DayorSabah Independence Day is the official independence day celebrated on 31 August every year in Sabah.[1][2][3] Today, North Borneo (Sabah) still under the illegal occupation and annexation of Malaysia. Since 2012, the holiday has been received widely by the Sabah state government and the citizens of Sabah, as the Proclamation Day of Malaya (the day when colonizer Malaya proclaimed its independence) and Malaysia Day (the day when Sarawak and North Borneo illegally annexed and occupied by Malaya) was not the right celebration day for Sabah.[4][5][6][7]
In 2018, the Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF) has called the state government to gazette the day as "Sabah Day" and declare it as a state holiday.[8]
Sabah Day will be celebrated for the first time since 1963 by 2022 and beyond, after the state government approved the proposal to gazette 31 August as "Sabah Day" in 2021.[9] This will replace the current Hari Merdeka that has been celebrated widely in Sabah for a long time.
The flag of North Borneo under the British colonization
The official flag of independent Sabah (1963-1982)
The flag of Sabah (1982-1988)
The flag of Sabah under the illegal annexation of Malaysia (1982-now)
Comparison
Flags of independent countries (Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah)
In 1963, the states under the British colonization declared its independence, the three of them are Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo (which renamed as Sabah under the illegal annexation of Malaysia).[11] Each independent countries flags resembles similarity and has something in common, it has bicolor red and white on each flag.
Relationship with Hari Merdeka
North Borneo Self-government Day, 31 August, also happens to be Hari Merdeka (Independence Day), a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957. The Borneo Heritage Foundation and Sabah DAP have stated that they will be celebrating 'Sabah Independence Day' instead of Hari Merdeka on that day.[12]
Starting from 2015, as was stated by the Minister of Communication and Multimedia Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the Independence Day celebration is likely to be held without mentioning the number of years to prevent the people in Sabah and Sarawak from being isolated if the number of independence anniversaries was stated.[13] However, the Minister of Land Development of Sarawak Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing reminded that since 16 September had been declared as Malaysia Day, it should be the rallying point for the nation's unity. He added "Everyone now knows that 31 August is Malaya's and Sabah's Independence Day… it's not our (Sarawak) independence day. They can celebrate it both in Malaya and in Sabah as they have the same Independence Day date, and we can join them there if they invite us. We must right the wrong". Masing was commenting on Shabery Cheek’s recent proposal that Malaysia should continue to commemorate 31 August as its Independence Day, without mentioning the anniversary year.[14]
^ ab"Sabah's People and History". Sabah's Heritage: A Brief Introduction to Sabah's History, Sabah Museum, Kota Kinabalu. Official Portal Of The Sabah State Government (Mobile). 1992. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.