To His Majesty's Government in London, from His Highness' Government in Kuching
The British Military Administration in Borneo is due to be dissolved at some point later this year, most likely in July, and the return of civilian government to Borneo's British-linked territories requires some decisions to be made regarding certain questions.
Putting aside the question of His Highness' continued employment of British Civil Servants (an arrangement with which we see no problems and will continue to employ), as well as the repatriation of Japanese prisoners-of-war, Sarawak takes the greatest interest in the question of the North Borneo Chartered Company and the territories under it's jurisdiction.
It is clear to us that the NBCC is no longer fit to govern. Government by corporation, for the sole purpose of producing dividends, ought not be allowed to continue. The NBCC's assets are worthless, they can take no loans, and their shareholders have received nothing for many years now. Since 1942 the Company has been effectively defunct, with all assets under the control of the Japanese or destroyed in their invasion. The capital city of Sandakan has been left in ruins due to the war. The timber export trade has been reduced to almost nothing. The rubber plantations are burnt down. In short, North Borneo has suffered far greater than Sarawak - our capital Kuching was undamaged during the war, thank the Lord - and His Highness feels duty-bound to assist in the restoration of good government and prosperity to the territory.
His Highness therefore proposes a relatively simple solution. The Rajah of Sarawak, Anthony Brooke, will make an offer of £1.4 million for all assets of the NBCC including their Charter to govern North Borneo, and will turn this over as a free endowment to the Raj of Sarawak. In effect, this will make North Borneo part of Sarawak, while providing funds to your government to help redress the claims of the NBCC's shareholders which are even now being pressed in the courts of London. This is more than 60% of the compensation first offered during the War and given the more accurate knowledge we now have of the state of North Borneo's destruction we feel that this is a much fairer offer.
Additionally to the matter of North Borneo, there is now the matter of the island of Labuan. Until the dissolution of the Straits Settlements earlier this month and the creation of the Malayan Union and the Colony of Singapore, Labuan
... keep reading on reddit ➡Viscount Aoki Shuzo (3.3.1844 -16.2.1914) a diplomat and foreign Minister in Meiji period Japan was born to a Samurai clan as a son of a physician in Yamaguchi Prefecture. He studied western science and medicine at a school Meirinkan in Hagi.
After medical training in Nagasaki, he was sent by the clan to study in Germany in 1868. He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1873. After serving as first secretary at the Ministry, he became minister to Germany in the next year. Subsequently, he held various offices including minister to Austria and Holland.
Aoki Shuzo in his letter to Munemitsu Mutsu (Foreign Minister) dated 5.12.1893 mentioned that in 1879, he had proposed that Hirobumi Itoh (Home Minister) and Count Kaoru Inoue (Foreign Affairs) should purchase North Borneo from the Austrian Baron Von Overbeck for the sum of one million yen silver in 1879 but Itoh and Inoue decline Aoki's proposal. Hence, North Borneo came under British Rule and the British North Borneo Chartered Company was established to administer the territory in 1881.
When the Chartered Company suffered heavy losses, Rajah Charles Brooke of Sarawak made a bid to take over the Company but his proposal to pay shareholders 1 % as dividend and hand over to the company one third of all the State revenue , which amounted to over $210,000 a year was not attractive to the shareholders of the Company and the bid was turned down in February 1894.
While the negotiations between the Company and Charles Brooke were in progress in 1893, Aoki visited London to investigate the feasibility of the purchase and enumerated the reasons for the purchase that North Borneo would absorb the growing population in Japan and the geographical position might contribute significantly to Japanese commercial and military purpose in the future.
Aoki mentioned that the British Government was unlikely to present any obstacles to the purchase of North Borneo from the Company because the sale would not be a great loss to them and Japan unlike other European countries was not in competition with Britain.
In 1893, the Company unofficially offered North Borneo to the Japanese Government for 500,000 pounds.
On the 7.11.1893, Aoki Shuzo who was in Berlin sent a cable to Munemitsu Mutsu:
"Are Imperial Government inclined to buy Territory of North Borneo Company for value within 500,000 pounds in order to make Japanese colony thereof. If so I will negotiate with British Government regarding cession of its sovereig
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I get that this is more of an alt history focused community, but alt geography is also lumped in here on occasion so… what if Borneo was somehow inbetween Greenland and The Azores? What nation might colonize this land?
With assent given by the British Government in London, the Rajah Anthony has purchased all assets of the North Borneo Chartered Company, including their sovereignty over the territory of North Borneo. The Rajah has also obtained the cession of the island of Labuan.
Now, on the 15th July, 1946, the Rajah has formally dissolved the Chartered Company and has transferred the territory as a free gift and endowment to the Raj itself. The Raj of Sarawak takes up the position of sovereign entity with respect to the rights granted by the cession charters with the Sultans of Brunei and of Sulu, and hereby extends all it's laws and authorities to the territory formerly known as North Borneo - that is, the former Maharaj of Sabah and Raj of Gaya and Sandakan.
#Overview of the social and demographic situation in Sabah, Gaya and Sandakan
Under Company rule, the sole purpose of this territory was "to produce dividends", and the people of Sabah, Gaya and Sandakan were the last in the world who could say they were living under Company rule. The Company leaders made no attempt whatsoever to involve locals in the administration and educational facilities are poor. Educated locals are largely absent and administrative staff almost entirely European or Malay.
The inhabitants of Sabah, Gaya and Sandakan are mostly indigenous, approximately 66% Dayak groups, but unlike in Sarawak the NBCC did not make any effort to Christianise the people, and as such Islam spread among the Dayak here just as in Dutch Borneo alongside the charitable efforts of Borneo missionary societies. As such the Dayak are split between Christian and Muslim groups, unlike in Sarawak proper where they are almost all Christian. Sabah, Gaya and Sandakan never had it's borders enforced or patrolled, either, meaning that the territory is home to moderate numbers of Filipinos and Indonesians who have fled the American and Dutch Governments' more intrusive rule. The policy of the NBCC being dedicated to dividends, they had imported huge amounts of labour from China, just as in Sarawak, and the Chinese now make up around 23% of the population. They are mostly Hakka-speaking Chinese, with minorities of Cantonese and Hokkien speakers, the same as in Sarawak proper. However, unlike Sarawak, the NBCC imported large numbers of Japanese workers, who by some accounts formerly made up 5-
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So, I'm about to start this chapter in the campaign and there's something that I'm struggling with. I really want one of my players to be infected by the Yellow Death and to be forced to Hybridate. However, it takes 48 hours to get to the 3rd stage of the decease and Caduceus brings a formula that allows players to heal themselves if they are on the first two stages. I could remove that and make it more extreme, I know, but in addition to that, the Haftorang device is supposed to explode 24 hours aprox, after the start of the chapter.
I honestly think there's not enough time to be infected and get to the 3rd stage of the Yellow Death before getting back to New York. Am I missing something? Any advice about it?
