Sarawak cannot be on the same level as other states in Peninsular Malaysia when Malaysia is a confederation consisting of three regions or territories

Today I have mentioned to our media friends that Sarawak cannot be on the same level as other states in Peninsular Malaysia when Malaysia is a confederation consisting of three regions or territories comprising Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah. 

These were my views when our media friends seek my comments on the status of Sarawak, either as a region or a territory. I have mentioned that Sarawak is certainly not a state and we cannot be the same as other smaller states in Peninsula Malaysia. We (Sarawak) cannot be part of a smaller state. How can you put Perlis and Sarawak on the same level? 

I have also told them that when the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was signed in 1963, there was one representative from Semenanjung (Peninsular Malaysia), one from Sarawak, one from Sabah, and at the time Singapore as well but Singapore later quit the federation. 

So, there was only one representative from the whole Peninsular Malaysia and not from each state. With that, I have expressed his agreement with our Right Honourable Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement of Sarawak being a region (‘wilayah’) during his two-day working visit here on April 1 to 2. 

I added that the Federal Constitution will then have to be amended based on MA63, and not Federation of Malaya 1957 in order to incorporate Sarawak and Sabah as regions and not mere states. Such proposed amendment is to have a clear interpretation of Sarawak’s status in this confederation while it brings appropriateness to certain terms Sarawak beholds. 

My views on the right English word to describe “wilayah” is that it could either be “region” or ‘territory’ depending on how people will define them, but the emphasis is that “wilayah” is not the same as federal territories  or Wilayah Persekutuan. It can be “region” or “territory”, but then I personally would prefer “region. We are of three regions, or three territories, depending on how you define it but the facts remain that we cannot be on par or be seen as the same as the other states in Peninsula Malaysia.