Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1881
The British North Borneo Company is established in Sandakan to administer Sabah. It
is the state's governing authority until Sabah and Sarawak become Crown colonies
after WWII.
1888
Once Southeast Asia's pre-eminent Islamic trading centre, Brunei - what's left of it -
slumps into British arms as a protectorate.
1929
Commercial quantities of oil are discovered in Brunei, 30 years after the sultanate's
first oil well is drilled.
1941-45
Imperial Japan occupies Borneo. Early resistance by local Chinese is brutally
repressed. Nascent nationalists greet the Japanese as liberators, but the occupiers'
cruelty turns opinion.
1946
As British colonial rule is about to end in India, the third White Rajah and the North
Borneo Chartered Company cede rule of Sarawak and Sabah to Westminster.
1963
Sarawak and Sabah join Malaya and Singapore to create Malaysia. Their role: to main-
tain a non-Chinese majority. Indonesia claims all of Borneo and declares Konfrontasi
against Malaysia.
1967
Brunei sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien abdicates in favour of his eldest son, Hassanal
Bolkiah, who remains in power to this day.
1984
Brunei achieves full independence but continues close ties with Great Britain. The last
British military base in eastern Asia, home to a Gurkha battalion, is at Seria.
