Sabah and Sarwak should secede from Malaysia and become independent nations

Thanks for the debate, and I hope you're OK with me accepting it. I'll be arguing why Sabah and Sarawak should not seperate from Malaysia. Here I'll lay down my initial arguments... First of all, I believe that we should look at the reality of Hudud, which, if repressive towards Christianity (or even in general) we must look not only at these two provinces (constituting East Malaysia) but also the population of the predominantly-Muslim mainland. If such a repressive law is introduced, the Christian minority in Malaysia itself (not including Sabah or Sarawak) shall also recieve unfair treatment, as they are forced to abide by a strictly-religious law that does not reflect their own beliefs. Yet, as a minority, (rather than a majority, as in the two states of East Malaysia) they will not proide a strong-enough base of opposition to such a law, meaning that there is all the more chance it, and perhaps other implementations of political Islam, shall be introduced, all of which to the disadvantage of the non-Islamic minority in Malaysia. If Sabah and Sarawak remained part of the country, however, their population will provide the sufficient opposition needed for democracy, and for the enforcement of these strictly Islamic laws (representing the beliefs of a now-smaller proportion in the country, if you include the population of Sabah and Sarawak) to be reconsidered. In other words, without Sabah and Sarawak, the non-Islamic minority in Malaysia would have to suffer the enforcement of these laws as they would not provide a great enough counterweight. With the inclusion of these primarily Christian provinces, the required opposition exists, helping to dilute the strongly Islamic current existing in Malayan politics and create a more religiously-neutral society. Following on from my last argument, I want to point out the fact that if these two provinces were to seperate, it is likely that as Malaysian Islamism is likely to grow stronger (and by nature, more oppressive towards the non-Islamic minority and also towards Muslims in the country) the Christian influence in Sabah and Sarawak may also increase as a product of national self-determinism. The result of this will be the creation of three, strongly-religious countries, rather than one with the potential to form a society open to all different religions. Thus, I believe that whilst demands should be made for the Christian population of East Malaysia to have their voices heard, perhaps pushing for greater autonomy in the region, they should remain as one state. Just look at Israel, the nation that was founded as a society to provide salvation for a religious minority, yet has now taken action to violently oppress the Muslim minority of Palestine and Gaza. Here we have an extreme example of what I'm suggesting may occur as a result of independence for these two states - the rise of inequal and undesirable political action out of religiously-based national self-determinism. Finally, I'd just like to add that if Sabah and Sarawak seperate, what virtues does this preach? - The idea that different people with different beliefs cannot cohabit, and must live in a different country to ensure religious freedom. What kind of message does this send to the worldwide community of Islam, Christianity, or in fact any religion. What kind of religious stereotypes will it help to establish or strengthen? My argument being this: seperation is not the answer. Instead, the two religious communities of the different areas should work together, perhaps alongside the international organisations of democracy and equality (the UN, Amnesty International etc.), to ensure the creation of a multi-religious, free Malaysia.