Malaysian Citizens Requested to Join Indonesia, Pledging Loyalty to the Motherland
Approximately 80 years ago, Indonesia and Malaysia almost united into a single nation known as Indonesia Raya. Although some residents in Malaysia even hoisted the Red and White flag as a form of support, the unification plan ultimately failed to materialise.
On 12 August 1945, Soekarno, Mohammad Hatta, and Radjiman Wedyodiningrat responded to a summons from Marshal Terauchi in Dalat, Vietnam. During this meeting, the Japanese military leadership promised that Indonesian independence would be granted on 24 August 1945.
On their return journey, the delegation stopped in Singapore and Taiping to meet Malay nationalist figures Ibrahim Yaacob and Burhanuddin Al-Helmy. Both were leaders of the KMM and KRIS, organisations struggling to liberate Malaya from British rule.
This meeting gave birth to the concept of ‘Indonesia Raya’, which would have included Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, and North Kalimantan. According to researcher Graham Brown in his 2005 study, this idea emerged from the collaboration between local figures and the Japanese.
During the occasion, Soekarno stated: “Let us create one motherland for those who possess Indonesian blood.”
Ibrahim Yaacob responded: “We, the Malay people, will remain loyal to creating a motherland by uniting Malaya with an independent Indonesia.”
However, the unification plan did not receive full approval. Historian Boon Kheng Cheah, writing in Red Star Over Malaya (1983), noted the possibility that Mohammad Hatta and other figures rejected the idea of unification.
Shortly thereafter, Japan surrendered to the Allies on 14 August 1945. This situation prompted the youth faction in Jakarta to demand an immediate proclamation of independence. Following the Rengasdengklok incident, Indonesia finally declared independence on 17 August 1945, ahead of the Japanese-planned schedule.
Since then, the idea of Indonesia Raya has collapsed. Ibrahim Yaacob was forced to redirect his struggle, while Malaysia only achieved independence 12 years later, on 31 August 1957.