PENINSULAR Malaysia's international relationship with Sarawak and Sabah is so conjoined that we are forever Siamese triplets.
Far from being perceived as two "states", Sarawak and Sabah, at least from their insistent perspectives, have always positioned themselves as "sovereign countries".
On the outset, their local standing is naturally individualistic, thus their autonomy outside of Putrajaya's machinations. However, a key caveat stops formal recognition: a 1976 constitutional amendment enacted Sarawak and Sabah as states, which remained after the Dewan Rakyat failed in 2019 to muster a required two-thirds majority to return to country status.
Politically, Sarawak took a telling leap towards country sovereignty by renaming the chief minister's office to "premier", though Sabah retained the chief minister's designation. To wit: in 1963, fearful at the rapacity of Sukarno's Indonesia to annex Sarawak and Sabah (then known as British Borneo), the two ganged up with the friendly Federated Malay States and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia as we know it today.
Brunei declined the invitation, but after a spat on tactical manoeuvring, Singapore was expelled in 1965. Since then, the relationship between the "siblings" had been tempestuous to say the least, but endearing: they argued over practically everything, influencing diplomatic scraps, political crises and fragile alliances.
While contrasting differences flash, contrasting unity was everlasting: the leaders may quibble but the family bond remains tethered.
After Pakatan Harapan's maiden 2018 foray in federal governance, it consolidated fraught policies frowned upon by Sarawak and Sabah. The consolidation has expanded: the preliminary approval of the RM1 billion additional allocation to upgrade the Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security Complex at the Sarawak and Sabah borders mirrored this positive work in progress.
The deal is geared towards Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's negotiations with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Jakarta's relocation to Nusantara, Kalimantan, which borders Sarawak and Sabah. However, the platform where the prime minister announced the allocation was significantly momentous: the meeting of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council.
Despite being a massive grant, Anwar justified the need for a follow-up grant: leaders in the peninsula understood that Sarawak and Sabah had "lagged" in the formative years of MA63.
Another expressive Putrajaya gesture in softening the stance towards Sarawak and Sabah's dominion: a senior Sarawakian professional was drafted into the high offfce of the Internal Revenue Board. With Pakatan Harapan anchored in its second shot at governance, the future of the "triplets" is progressing rapidly towards optimising MA63.
So, the next time we Peninsular Malaysians enter Sarawak and Sabah but are instructed to produce our passports, or at least our MyKad, understand the historic backstory and rationale. Don't kick up the hoary fuss about this being the same country. Yes it is but it's also not.
We are entering a sovereign country, which is not just ours to visit, but also to respect.