"PAJAK" IN 1878 SABAH LEASE IS REALLY THE BONE OF CONTENTION; DOCUMENT FROM THE BRITISH COLONIAL OFFICE IN LONDON DATED 1ST NOV 1962 PROVES IT

"PAJAK" HAS BEEN THE BONE OF CONTENTION; ANOTHER DOCUMENT WHICH IS A LETTER FROM THE BRITISH COLONIAL OFFICE IN LONDON DATED 1ST NOV 1962

NOTE: This document is about the thorny word "Pajak" that was used in the translation of the Sabah lease agreement between the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo and the private foreign businessmen; note that even Tunku Abdul Rahman himself, "father of the Malaysia Federation," referred to "pajak" in the Sabah lease agreement of 1878 as "rent" but the officials of Kuala Lumpur tried to turn around the damage created by Tunku Abdul Rahman's announcement by insisting that the lease was a definitive cession. We are re-posting it to accompany the document unearthed (shown alongside pink-coloured document) in the British Foreign Office that we posted earlier on.

NB: Transcription of letter (for easier reading) is mine hence any and all errors of transcription are mine. ~~ Blog Administrator

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CONFIDENTIAL

COLONIAL OFFICE
GREAT SMITH STREET, LONDON S.W.1
Telephone: [...] 1266 Ext.
1st November 1962

Dear [......]

                        In connection with the alleged Philippine "claim" to North Borneo there is one point on which we should be grateful for Kuala Lumpur's confidential advice.

                        In paragraph 1, of Kuala Lumpur telegram to Commonwealth Relations Office No. 625 of the 3rd September in connections with conversations with Ghangli and Ngah about the Tunku's unfortunate reference to a "lease" Ghangli is reported as saying that the Malay word used by the Tunku was "srwa" i.e. "lease" or "rent" and Ngah is reported as saying that he thought "pajak" and "pajakan" nowadays meant the same thing though originally they meant more as the Tunku with his knowledge of Kedah and Penang would realise ..........

                       As pajak" is the word in the Deed of Cession of 1878 from which all our present troubles appear to stem because of its alternative translations as "grant and cede" and "lease" we were most interested in Ngeh's remark and we should be grateful if Kuala Lumpur's advice could be sought on the original meaning of the malay words "pajak" and pajakan". This original meaning may perhaps be very helpful to us.

                      I am sending a copy of this letter to Cable.

Yours,

(signed) 

W.S. Carter

[Letter addressed to] D.C.R. RODCLIFF [???], ESQ.,
             Commonwealth Relations Office
                          Downing Street,
                               London, S.W.1.

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NOTA BENE: The Philippine Sabah Claim Forum is grateful to HM Sultan Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram for allowing us to avail of documents in his possession pertaining to PH Sabah claim.

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Related post:
GOOD NEWS RE NORTH BORNEO/SABAH QUESTION ON THE FIRST DAY OF 2016