Robert Lau said while he was happy that the agreement was getting a lot of attention from such analysts but they had revealed “quite a lot of ignorance” about Sarawak’s role in the formation of Malaysia.

Lau said discussions about Malaysia’s history in the national sphere overlooked Sarawak and Sabah and was always skewed towards Malaya’s version of Malaysia.

“Every time they talk about nation-building, or Malaysia’s history, Sarawak and Sabah seem to be neglected or relegated as an afterthought,” the Borneo Post quoted him as saying.

He said it was “a good thing” that analysts had started to take notice about MA63 issues. “The bad thing is they have not read up the history, or understand the issue or the views of Sarawak and Sabah, which is not that good if we want to move on as a united country,” he was quoted as saying.

They should not make assumptions that Sarawak and even Sabah are being “selfish” or more “inward looking”, he said, urging them to spend a few days with Sarawakians to get a better grasp of matters.

He also said there were some people attempting to agitate East Malaysians by portraying an inaccurate picture about the formation of Malaysia.

Lau was commenting in a recent segment of the Berita 757 news bulletin, which featured an unidentified political analyst claiming that Sabah had handled MA63 more prudently than Sarawak.

The analyst also accused Sarawak of being arrogant in the matter.

Last night, the women’s wing of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu warned that such narratives were aimed at sowing division between Sabah and Sarawak.

Lau said Sarawak agreed to be part of Malaysia on the basis it would enjoy faster economic development, autonomy over immigration as well as maintain its racial and religious diversity, among other matters. “That part of the narrative is not being highlighted.”