It was refreshing to read Dr Mahathir Mohamed's comments as a guest lecturer at the Sabah Society's recent annual dinner ( New Straits Times , April 1). This is because rarely, if ever, has there been any reference to the topic 'Federal-state relationship: An overview' by distinguished politicians from peninsular Malaysia.

In particular, Mahathir's suggestion that relationships could be further improved through more mingling to improve understanding amongst the people of both territories is spot on. This is because much can be learnt from the social milieu and way of life of the people of Sarawak and Sabah.

It is generally known that the people there have a greater sense of identity and belonging which contributes to confidence building. As a consequence, they seem to have mastered the fine art of adapting to social changes without necessarily having to give up their traditional way of life.

This is not the place to enter into an academic discourse as to why and how this has happened. Suffice it to say that the pattern of historical economic development in these two states is very different from that of peninsular Malaysia's.

The colonial-capitalist penetration and the conditioning of the economy totally disrupted the indigenous economy of the Malays in peninsular Malaysia to the point where it resulted in its underdevelopment. The spread of capitalism was then concentrated in the tin and rubber industries to the further detriment of the indigenous economy.

It is not difficult to recognise that these differences in the politico-economic-socio scenario has something to do with the differing pattern of internal social relationships in both East and West Malaysia.

But it is not sufficient to leave it at that. What is needed is serious social research that can identify causal factors because in essence, what we might be seeing is a possible integration 'model' for better ethnic and community relations in peninsular Malaysia based on the East Malaysian experience.

In this connection, it was very encouraging to note that the present prime minister appointed Dr Maximus Ongkili (who is a Sabahan) as the minister for national unity. I believe, with respect, that this appointment in itself may be a recognition by the PM that ethnic relations in Malaysia in the context of national unity is too complicated a matter to be left to peninsular Malaysian politician.