MALAYSIA FORGING A PROSPEROUS NATION ENDLESS ROWS OF RUBBER TREES STRETCH FOR 
MILES OVER A LUSH RUBBER PLANTATION IN WESTERN MALAYA . IN 
THE EARLY MORNING HOURS, WOMEN TAPPERS EXTRACT THE THICK FLUID THAT 
IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF A NEW BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NATION THAT SOME 
TIME THIS SUMMER WILL COME INTO BEING . IT IS THE 
FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA, COMPOSED OF INDEPENDENT MALAYA, SELF-GOVERNING SINGAPORE, AND BRITISH 
PROTECTORATES OF SARAWAK, BRUNEI AND NORTH BORNEO . MALAYSIA IS THE 
DREAM OF MALAYA'S PRIME MINISTER ABDUL RAHMAN, 60, THE MAN ON 
THIS WEEK'S COVER . HE IS A CAMBRIDGE-EDUCATED LAWYER WHO LED 
HIS NATION TO INDEPENDENCE IN 1957 DURING ITS SUCCESSFUL, TWELVE-YEAR STRUGGLE 
AGAINST COMMUNIST GUERRILLA INSURGENTS . THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF RAW RUBBER 
IN THE WORLD, THE NEW COUNTRY WILL BE THE MOST PROSPEROUS 
AND BUSTLING NATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, ENCOMPASSING 129,500 SQUARE MILES AND 
10 MILLION PEOPLE OF ELEVEN ETHNIC GROUPS RANGING FROM ABORIGINAL TRIBESMEN 
TO MILLIONAIRE SULTANS . MENACING ITS FUTURE ARE THE EXPANSIONIST AIMS 
OF NEIGHBORING INDONESIA AND THE THREAT OF PEKING-DIRECTED COMMUNIST SUBVERSION . 
BUT WITH ITS SUCCESSFUL CREATION, MALAYSIA PICTURED AND DISCUSSED IN THE 
COLOR PAGES AND COVER STORY THAT FOLLOW COULD BECOME THE STRONGEST 
ANTI-COMMUNIST BULWARK IN SOUTHEAST ASIA . MALAYSIA MALAYSIA WILL CUT A 
1,600-MILE ARC THROUGH THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, FROM THE SOUTHERN BORDER 
OF THAILAND THROUGH THE MALAY PENINSULA AND SINGAPORE TO THE NORTH 
COAST OF BORNEO . POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY, MALAYA IS THE KEYSTONE 
OF THE FEDERATION . WITH ITS POPULATION OF 7,000,000, MALAYA WILL 
DOMINATE THE NEW NATION'S GOVERNMENT, WHICH WILL SIT IN THE MALAYAN 
CAPITAL OF KUALA LUMPUR . THE MELTING-POT QUALITY OF THE NEW 
FEDERATION IS A REFLECTION OF MALAYA'S OWN CONGLOMERATION OF MALAYS, CHINESE, 
TAMILS, PYGMY NEGRITOS, AND OTHER ABORIGINAL TRIBESMEN IN THE DANK, TANGLED 
TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS OF THE INTERIOR . OFF THE SOUTHERN TIP 
OF MALAYA IS THE ISLAND STATE OF SINGAPORE, TEEMING WITH 1,700,000 
PEOPLE . ONE OF THE LARGEST PORTS IN THE WORLD, SINGAPORE 
HAS THE HIGHEST ANNUAL PER CAPITA INCOME IN SOUTHEAST ASIA $450 
. SINGAPORE'S CHINESE POPULATION, WITH STRONG TIES TO RED CHINA, PRESENTS 
THE NEW NATION WITH THE PRESSING PROBLEM OF COMMUNIST DOMINATION . 
BUT SINGAPORE HAS THE MOST POWERFUL MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, 
WILL BE THE HOME BASE FOR THE BRITISH ARMY, NAVY AND 
AIR FORCE UNITS THAT WILL BE MALAYSIA'S PRIMARY DEFENSE . THE 
THREE TINY COLONIES OF SARAWAK (POP . 784,000), BRUNEI (POP . 
84,000) AND NORTH BORNEO (POP . 480,000), SEPARATED FROM MALAYA AND 
SINGAPORE BY 400 MILES OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, WERE INCLUDED 
IN THE FEDERATION MAINLY TO REDRESS ITS POPULATION BALANCE IN FAVOR 
OF THE NON-CHINESE PEOPLES . MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE 
THREE JUNGLE TERRITORIES ARE HALF-NAKED PRIMITIVE NATIVES WHO LIVE COMMUNALLY IN 
LONGHOUSES, WORSHIP ANIMIST WATER SPIRITS, AND HUNT WITH BLOW GUNS AND 
POISONED DARTS ; IN NORTH BORNEO THE DUSUNS VENERATE CLOUD-CAPPED MOUNT 
KINABULU (13,455 FT.), HIGHEST PEAK IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, AS THE GATEWAY 
TO PARADISE . AS INLAND ROADS ARE ALL BUT NONEXISTENT, RIVER 
CANOES ARE THE MAIN FORM OF TRANSPORTATION DUSUN GIRLS WEAR RATTAN 
BRAS TO MARKET IN NORTH BORNEO . KADAZAN MISS WEARS FESTIVE 
GARB AT CATHOLIC MISSION SCHOOL . CHINESE WOMAN IN A SINGAPORE 
TEMPLE LIGHTS JOSS STICKS AS AN OFFERING . MALAYAN POLICEMEN HAVE 
KEPT ORDER IN BRUNEI . MALAYAN BEAUTY POSES BY THE SULTAN'S 
PALACE IN KOTA BAHRU . KAYAN MAN SPORTS TRIBAL TATTOO, PIERCED 
EARS IN SARAWAK . INDIAN GIRL IS RUBBER TAPPER ON MALAY 
PLANTATION . IBAN WIFE IN SARAWAK PREPARES RATTAN FOR HER WEAVING 
. RICH CROPS & GREAT RESOURCES RICE, BEING HARVESTED IN KEDAH, 
" RICE BOWL " OF MALAYA AND HOME OF ABDUL RAHMAN, 
IS MALAYA'S MAIN FOOD CROP . BUT DESPITE GOOD YIELDS, AREA 
HAS TO IMPORT MUCH OF THE RICE IT USES 35 PER 
CENT IN 1961 NOODLES DRYING AT ROADSIDE FACTORY ARE MADE OF 
RICE FLOUR . MIXED WITH FISH OIL AND HOT PEPPERS, THEY 
ARE SECOND IN POPULARITY ONLY TO RICE . OIL FROM FIELDS 
IN TINY BRUNEI HAS BROUGHT GEYSER OF WEALTH TO BRITISH PROTECTORATE 
. BUT EVEN WITH MODERN RIGS, OIL PRODUCTION IS NOW FALLING 
OFF, HAS DROPPED 37 PER CENT SINCE RECORD HIGH IN 1956 
. RUBBER WORKERS TREK LIQUID LATEX TO PLANTATION SMOKEHOUSE . RUBBER 
IS NO . 1 CASH CROP, AND MALAYA ACCOUNTS FOR ONE-THIRD 
WORLD'S SUPPLY . TIN HAS BEEN MINED FOR CENTURIES IN FIELDS 
OF MALAYA, WHICH STILL PRODUCE 40 PER CENT OF FREE WORLD'S 
SUPPLY . EUROPEAN AND U.S . FIRMS ACCOUNT FOR HALF OF 
PRODUCTION, WHILE SMALLER MINES ARE OWNED BY CHINESE . PINEAPPLE, HERE 
BEING CANNED IN THE MODERN NEW FACTORY OF LEE CO., LTD., 
IN JOHORE, HAS BECOME $10.8 MILLION EXPORT, IS SHIPPED ROUND WORLD 
FROM MALAYA . PEPPER VINES IN GARDEN NEAR KUCHING IN SARAWAK 
CLUSTER AROUND CHINESE FAMILY'S PRIMITIVE FARMHOUSE . EXPORTED FROM BORNEO TO 
EUROPE AS FAR BACK AS MIDDLE AGES, PEPPER STILL ACCOUNTS FOR 
$8.3 MILLION IN FOREIGN TRADE . RIPE BERRIES ON VINE ARE 
ORANGE-RED . BLACK PEPPER COMES FROM DRIED BERRIES, PREMIUM WHITE PEPPER 
FROM BERRIES WHOSE SKINS ARE SOAKED OFF . DIVERGENT PEOPLE, CONTRASTING 
CREEDS HINDU PENITENTS BY THOUSANDS SURGE UP AND DOWN 370 STEPS 
LEADING TO SACRED BATU CAVES NEAR KUALA LUMPUR DURING THAIPUSAM FESTIVAL 
. INDIANS, BROUGHT IN AS WORKERS AT TURN OF CENTURY, ARE 
NOW 10 PER CENT OF MALAYA'S POPULATION . LONGHOUSE DWELLERS IN 
THIS HOME OF 17 IBAN FAMILIES LIVE IN TYPICAL COMMUNAL STYLE 
. SARAWAK'S PRIMITIVE PEOPLE HAVE FORSAKEN RITUAL HEAD-HUNTING, NOW PREFER PEACEFULLY 
TO HUNT, FARM AND WEAVE . 