Borneo political reactions to 'Greater Malaysia Plan' [July 9 ~ July 15 1961]

Political leaders in the Borneo Territories have commented on the general outline of the Greater Malaysia Plan described by Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya ,Tunku Abdul Rahman , during his visit to Brunei and Sarawak.
The Tunku made it clear that he would like to see Sarawak,North Borneo and Brunei become States of Malaya and had the following points to make ;
~ that it would be difficult for the Borneo territories to be independent on their own without having the necessary resources to meet the cost involved and to develop their countries.
~ that in coming in as states of Malaya , they "would enjoy absolute equality" with the other autonomous states.
~ that they would also enjoy the same privileges and benefits as the other states and  that money would go towards their development.
~ that there was no need for the Borneo territories to form a federation and achieve independence before joining in with Malaya.
The first reaction in Borneo to the Plan came from the Sarawak United People's Party which , in a statement issued in Kuching on July 8th 1961, said that any question of federation with Malaya by Sarawak should be postponed until after independence had been achieved.
The Party went on to say that it would welcome any assistance from Malaya or from any other country in its fight for independence and that it would be prepared to take part in any meeting , such as that was suggested by the Socialist Front of Malaya ,to examine the implications of the Plan.
A joint statement was next issued in Jesselton [Kota Kinabalu] by Ong Kee Hui,chairman of Sarawak United People's Party ; A.M. Azahari, President of the Parti Rakyat Brunei ; and Donald Stephen, a prominent North Borneo leader, who is taking a leading part in the formation of his country's first political party.
They said ; " We met in Jesselton to discuss and consider current political developments which affect the three territories . We believe that it is vitally important that the constitutional advance in the three territories should be speed up and with this in view , elections should be held in the territories where an undertaking has been given by the Governments concerned so that the legitimate aspirations of the people for political advancement can be satisfied. We further agreed that there should be frequent exchange of views and discussions on matters of common interest by political leaders of Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo. It was agreed that a United Front should be taken on this important matter and that the British Government should be advise that so far as the wishes of the people of the three territories can be ascertained , any plan in accordance with the pronouncements made by Tunku Abdul Rahman in Brunei and Sarawak would be totally unacceptable to the people of the three territories."