G25 member and former deputy director of Sabah Foundation Johan Arriffin Samad said some citizens mistake the date Malaya, comprising 11 states in the peninsula, gained independence as the date Malaysia was formed.

While Malaya gained independence from the British on Aug 31 1957, Malaysia was formed on Sept 16 1963.

The nation’s history, Johan said, was thus disjointed.

“How can we be united if we have a different take on history? Or if we can’t agree on one date?,” he said at a forum organised by G25 here today.

And even then, he added, Malaysia Day was only declared a national public holiday in 2010.

Johan also lamented that the narrative about the different races in Malaysia has always focussed on the three major ethnic groups in the peninsula – Malays, Chinese and Indians – despite the fact there are other ethnic groups, such as Iban and Kadazan, who were all lumped under one category.

“How can we have unity when forms have ‘dan lain-lain’,” he said, referring to the “‘other” category found in government forms, aside from “Melayu (Malays), Cina (Chinese) and India (Indians)” under the category “Race”.

Another stumbling block to national unity, Johan said, was the failure to recognise the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

The agreement stipulates the terms and conditions in which Sabah, Sarawak and briefly Singapore agreed to merge with the Federation of Malaya in 1963 to form Malaysia.

If the agreement continues to be ignored, it could split the nation in terms of integration and cooperation, because “Sabahans and Sarawakians are already fed up”, he said.