Between 1959 and 1962, the United Kingdom, Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak were involved in negotiations to form a new Malaysian Federation. However, the Philippines and particularly Indonesia opposed any move toward unification of North Borneo and Sarawak with the new federation. This external opposition toward unification strengthened by widespread anti-Federation sentiment within Sarawak and Brunei itself. The Brunei People’s Party was in favour of joining Malaysia on condition of the unification of the three crown colonies of northern Borneo (total about 1.5 million people, half Dayak) with their own sultan. It was thought that the resultant sultanate would be strong enough to resist domination by Malaya or Singapore, Malay administrators or Chinese merchants. Local opposition and sentiments against the Malaysian Federation plan have often been under-represented in historical writings on the Brunei Rebellion and the subsequent Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. In fact, political forces in Sarawak had long anticipated their own national independence as promised (but later aborted) by the last White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Vyner Brooke, in 1941.