Sarawak, the largest among 13 other states with the size almost equal to West Malaysia. It was ruled by the Brooke Family which was later known as the White Rajahs. On 27 May 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of the Federation of Malaya, announced a plan to form a greater federation together with Singapore, Sarawak and Brunei to be called Malaysia.

 

The Malaysia agreement was finally signed on 16 September 1963. The governments of the Philippines and Indonesia opposed the federation, as did the Brunei People's Party and Sarawak-based communist groups, and in 1962, the Brunei Revolt broke out. The most significant engagement of the confrontation was fought at Palaman Mapu in April 1965. The defeat at Plaman Mapu ultimately resulted in the fall of Sukarno and he was replaced by Suharto as president of Indonesia. Negotiations were restarted between Malaysia and Indonesia and led to the end of the confrontation on 11 August 1966.