 With these considerations in mind, and although it was not apparent at the time, Tunku had already been considering merger as early as June 1960.At a meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers, he mentioned to Lord Perth of the Colonial Office that he was open to a merger if a 'Grand Design' including not just Singapore but also British Borneo could be offered as some sort of package deal.Not only would it greatly benefit the territory, resources and population under his control, but the combination of indigenous Bornean peoples and Peninsular Malays (collectively termed Bumiputera) would counterbalance the increased numbers of Singaporean Chinese.