马来西亚联邦政治与砂拉越地方文教权

The Malaysian Politics of Federation and the Cultural Rights of Minorities in Sarawak

二战后,多数东南亚国家都以欧美政治体制为管理国家的模式。马来西亚采用了英国的联邦和国会制。联邦制的采纳,主要是为了让马来亚和北婆罗洲的不同族群和势力在享受一个大政治共同体的同时,也可保留本身的文化和宗教特色。但是独立半世纪后,联邦政府的权力不断扩张,地方政府的管辖权一再收缩,导致地方精英和社会出现不满的声音,甚至要求脱离联邦,成为独立国家。本文记录了独立时期,砂拉越这个多元种族的社会,少数地方精英如何借助联邦精英的支持,巩固本身的统治权;而联邦精英又如何透过他们所扶持的地方领袖,削弱不符联邦精英利益和议程的少数族群文化和权益。研究成果是,以压制和削弱地方宗教、文化和教育权益来满足统治精英对国家的想象,表面上可以获得一时的平静,实际上是累积不满,酝酿分离运动。

At the end of World War Two,Southeast Asian nations had invariably adopted western political systems as their new government systems. In view of its multi-racial character and assurance of power sharing by nation founders,Malaysians embraced a federation system. Unfortunately,the past decades marked an aggressive expansion of federal government at the expenses of local government,which has resulted in the call for separation by local political activists. This paper is an account of the post-independence political history of Sarawak,Malaysia,with a focus on the political negotiation between local and federal ruling elites. It shows how the federal elites maneuvered in local politics into their political agenda and framework. The paper argues that the central government＇s attempts to weaken local power by suppressing the development of local cultures,religions and education may temporarily compel the latter in subservience,but in the long run,it is actually a breeding ground for separatist movement.