Australia's High Commissioner to Brunei promotes Penny Wong's exhortation to the UK to confront its colonial past, fails to comprehend that he might be offending the Sultan Of Brunei

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Australia's High Commissioner to Brunei  tweeted the above, in praise of his boss, the Foreign Minister Penny Wong. As reported, Wong's exhortation to the UK that it confront its colonial past omits some vital parts of colonial history, which concern her own Hakka clan. 

Luke Arnold on the other hand seems ignorant of the history of the country he has been posted to, for if he were aware, he would have been very circumspect in repeating the words of "my boss". The Brunei Sultanate once owned Sabah, and  the name "Sabah" is said to have its antecedents in the 1877 appointment of  Baron Gustave von Overbeck as  “Maharaja of Sabak” by Sultan Abdul Mumin of Brunei:

” In one of the earliest historical documents signed between the rulers of the territories that would become North Borneo, the title of “Maharaja of Sabak” was conferred on Baron Gustave von Overbeck in 1877 by Sultan Abdul Mumin of Brunei. The term “Sabak” was found in the Jawi version of the appointment, whereas “Sabah” was used in the English translation of the appointment of Baron von Overbeck as Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan and Maharajah of Sabah on 29 November 1877. Baron von Overbeck was a former Austrian Consul in Shanghai who took over the original concession of the territory that constitutes most of present-day Sabah, and who attracted British interest through the trading house of the Dent Brothers (Alfred and Edward Dent) of London.

British control over Sabah came via the Dent Brothers, before eventually flowing to Malaysia in the present day.  Some say that Brunei still has a legitimate  right over Sabah.

Meanwhile the Sultan Of Brunei maintains strong ties with the United Kingdom. One of the world's richest men, he owes much of his wealth to the oil and gas exploration and production activities of the UK 's Royal Dutch Shell.  

Additionally, while Brunei ceased to be a British protectorate in 1984, the British Army maintains a presence in Brunei. The 2nd Royal Gurkha Regiment is  proud of the Sultan's patronage. 

Mr Arnold's enthusiastic promotion of his boss' re-imagining of British-Sabah history seems to suggest that he would rather the Sultan Of Brunei heed Ms Wong's advice and re-fashion his ties with the UK in some form that confronts their shared colonial past. One cannot imagine the Sultan not taking offence. 

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