After serving a stint as British Consul General to Chicago, Andrew Gilchrist served as British Ambassador to Jakarta, Indonesia (1962–1966). His time there saw an attack on the British Embassy in Jakarta on 16 September 1963, and the torching of his official car. The Indonesians had been incensed by the decision of the Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and the Colonial Secretary Duncan Sandys to proceed with the inauguration of the Federation of Malaysia without first waiting for a United Nations ascertainment mission to complete its survey of public opinion in Sarawak and British North Borneo (modern–day Sabah). While the United Nations mission found majority support for Malaysia within the Borneo Territories, the Indonesian and Philippines governments regarded the Tunku-Sandys declaration as a violation of the Manila Accord. Thus, they refused to recognize the Malaysian Federation and demanded a new United Nations survey. Indonesia also accelerated its policy of Confrontation against Malaysia, by launching more cross-border raids into Sarawak and Sabah.