(Sibu, 10th) Senator Lau Hui Yew stated that when Malaysia was formed, there was a promise to accelerate the development of Sarawak and Sabah. However, the resources of Sarawak and Sabah have been misappropriated to help others develop, often at their own expense. （SeeHua11 May 2025)

"Yes, Sarawak was once under British rule, but it did not suffer the way Tun Mahathir described. We suffered the suffering that Malaya experienced under colonial rule, and it continues even now. Can't we see the same pattern of exploitation continuing – only now it is not Britain, but our own federal system that perpetuates this pattern?"
He pointed out, did the British use the profits from Malayan rubber and tin to build the "Petronas Twin Towers" in London?
Suggests Renaming the Petronas Twin Towers
"No. But Malaysia (under Tun Mahathir's direction) used the oil and gas profits from Sarawak and Sabah to do so. The Petronas Twin Towers standing tall in Kuala Lumpur were built with the wealth obtained from Sarawak and Sabah."
Therefore, he suggested renaming the Petronas Twin Towers to "Petros Twin Towers" – symbolically acknowledging the true source of this wealth and the unfulfilled promises to Sarawak and Sabah.
Signed a Letter to Seize Oil and Gas Rights
He said in a press statement today that he read with confusion and anger the recent statement by former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir, that Sarawak's pursuit of greater autonomy and control over its oil and gas resources must be submitted to parliamentary debate, rather than being handled through behind-the-scenes negotiations.
"He (Tun Mahathir) now chooses to take a principled stand on this issue, whereas in the past he did not seem to consistently adhere to this stance. My question is, when the then Chief Minister of Sarawak, Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, was pressured to sign a one-page letter in June 1976, handing over Sarawak's oil and gas rights to Petronas, did this principle apply?"
Questions the Legality of the 5% Royalty Agreement
He pointed out that the federal government entrusted Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to secure the signatures of Sarawak and Sabah, offering only a 5% royalty in return. This letter was never tabled in Parliament, nor was it submitted to the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, and it was not even approved by the Sarawak Cabinet. Does Tun Mahathir now agree that this letter lacks legitimacy because it was never recognized by Parliament, the Sarawak government, or its legislative assembly?
"To illustrate this injustice: imagine an adult deceiving and forcing a child to sign an agreement relinquishing their inheritance, with empty promises of care and welfare. Years later, when the child grows up and realizes this manipulation, does he not have the right to reclaim what was taken? Or must he first obtain the adult's consent to do so?"
Tun Mahathir also questioned: "During British rule in Sarawak, did they build the Petronas Twin Towers? They were very poor. The British took all their money." In response, Liu Hui Yao urged Tun Mahathir to support these claims with facts.
1981 Dawn Raid to Recover Assets
"Yes, there is ample evidence that the British colonial government extracted enormous wealth from Malaya through tin and rubber exports. It is estimated that hundreds of billions of pounds were repatriated from Malaya over more than a century. British companies owned the majority of the industry, and profits were repatriated to Britain – until Tun Mahathir, shortly after becoming the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, led the 'dawn raid' in 1981 to regain ownership of major British-held assets on the London Stock Exchange."
He stated that what was right for Malaya does not hold true for Sarawak.
Sarawak only became a British colony in 1946 when the third White Rajah, Charles Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain. Sarawak was a colony for less than 17 years, until September 16, 1963, when the British handed it over to the newly formed Federation of Malaysia.
He continued that in such a short period, Britain had neither the opportunity nor the ability to extract substantial wealth from Sarawak. Its oil and gas resources had not yet been effectively developed.
Petronas' Accounts Are Not Public
"The hundreds of billions of ringgit taken from Sarawak (and still being taken) did not benefit Britain; on the contrary, it greatly benefited Malaya.
The majority of the appropriation occurred during Tun Mahathir's tenure as Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003, when he controlled Petronas.
So I ask again: Did Tun Mahathir seek the consent of Parliament for this? The answer is clearly no. Petronas' accounts are not public, and its operations lack transparency. As of 2014, the cumulative value of oil extracted by Petronas and the federal government from Sarawak had reached RM1 trillion."