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Published on: Daily
Express, Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Don't threaten
Sabahans over Sabah rights: Jeffrey
Kota Kinabalu:
Star Sabah described the statement by the Home Minister as arrogance of the
highest order and a clear-cut abuse of power to control Sabahans in ensuring
"Umno and Malaya's continued dominance and colonisation over Sabah."
Its Chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, in responding to the
Minister's statement who wanted to weed out protagonists over their claims for
Sabah rights, said there was nothing wrong for Sabahans and Sarawakians to seek
restoration of the rights, privileges and autonomy of the Borneo states that
were taken away or eroded since 1963.
"The Minister seems to have forgotten the facts of
history that Sabah and Sarawak (with Singapore then) formed Malaysia in 1963
and were given various promises and assurances by the then Malayan leaders
including the execution of the Malaysia Agreement to induce and entice the
Borneo states to form Malaysia.
"Malaysia never existed before 1963 and Malaysia would
not have existed even today without Sabah and Sarawak," he said in a statement
here Monday.
He said that claims for the restoration of Sabah rights and
autonomy do not mean cessation, being anti-Malaya/peninsula or promoting hatred
for other Malaysians.
"Claiming for Sabah rights is nothing more than the
equivalent claim for Malay rights in the Peninsula. Claiming for these rights
also does not mean 'Sabah for Sabahans' or 'Sarawak for Sarawakians'.
"It is not even a shadow of a threat to the security
and well-being of the nation although it may seem to be a political threat to
the political powers that be.
"A political threat just like the political threat
posed by Pakatan Rakyat to the ruling regime does not mean a threat to the
nation or security of the nation.
"Such a political situation is but part and parcel of a
democracy.
However, the ruling regime does not see it that away and use
every possible government machinery to bully, harass and intimidate the
opposition," he said.
Jeffrey said the Minister should take a lesson from the
Prime Minister and realised the realities of the political power wielded by the
Borneo states and its people including the local BN leaders.
"The people in the Borneo states have awakened from
their slumber and now realise that their roles as kingmakers in determining the
federal government in Putrajaya and along with it the God-given opportunity to
voice and claim the restoration of the rights and autonomy of the Borneo
states.
"Sack the Ministers and Deputy Ministers from Sabah and
Sarawak today and immediately the ruling BN regime will find itself in the
opposition with the Minister himself as the "shadow" minister in the
opposition cabinet," he said.
He said the people of Sabah including Sabah Umno/BN leaders
and supporters are already joining the bandwagon to seek the restoration of the
Sabah rights.
"Even the claims for the return of the oil rights and
oil revenue, taken 95 per cent by Petronas and the Federal Government with RM58
billion taken in 2012, can no longer be ignored.
"Promises of development, one or two 'Tangki Biru
1-Malaysia', a few pieces of zinc and timber, a few million here and there, a
few hundred million of projects here and there, will no longer satisfy the
people in Sabah and Sarawak.
It will be more evident come the 14th general
election," he claimed.
"The official slogan may be 'Sabah Maju Jaya Dalam
Malaysia' (Sabah is progressive in Malaysia) but the stark reality on the
ground and in the kampung is 'Sabah Termiskin Dalam Malaysia' (Sabah is the
poorest in Malaysia).
"If the Minister wishes to take action against the
threats to the security and well-being of the nation, he should look into the
statements and threats issued in the name of Malay rights, Ketuanan Melayu, but
which are totally unrelated, as well as the religious bigots that incite racial
and religious hatred and are divisive to Malaysians," he said.
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Borneo activists put Putrajaya on edge
Joe Fernandez, Free Malaysia Today, September
25, 2013
The calls by several Sabah and Sarawak activists for
Putrajaya to honour the Malaysia Agreement is making some leaders' nervous.
It is interesting to note that Defence Minister Hishammuddin
Hussein did not mention Sarawak when he said that his ministry would help the
Home Ministry identify anti-Kuala Lumpur instigator groups who want Sabah to
leave Malaysia and are politicising the issue on Facebook.
Obviously, it would be bad news for the powers-that-be to
mention Sabah and Sarawak in the same breath when challenging any change
advocated, however, remote, in their current status in the Federation of
Malaysia.
Hishammuddin was speaking to the media after a parade in
conjunction with the 80th Malaysian Armed Forces Day at Dataran Merdeka in
Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
The Defence Minister said the talk on taking Sabah out of
Malaysia had been going on for the past several years and its promoters
evidently getting bolder because of official inaction.
He reiterated the heroic efforts made by security personnel
from Peninsular Malaysia in beating back a bunch of claimants from the Sulu
islands who seized a remote village in Lahad Datu in Sabah not too long ago.
Hishammuddin stopped short of issuing the usual threats as in
the past, but was careful at the same time not to appear to be too toothless in
Umno’s fixed deposit states.
After all, he is facing a six-cornered fight to retain one
of the three Umno vice-presidencies.
Hishammuddin also warned the separatists against flogging
the “Sabah for Sabahans” theme, last played up in the late 80s and early 90s by
the then ruling Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
No one remembers the old PBS battle cry being replayed in
recent years. Indeed, the nearest to the theme are constant reminders in
Facebook in particular illegal immigrants with and without MyKads are a
crushing burden and whose presence is no longer tolerable in Sabah.
Former Petagas state assemblyman James Ligunjang was furious
with Hishammuddin for putting the Sabah for Sabahans theme under government
scrutiny.
“If Sabah is not for Sabahans, then for who?” he asked
rhetorically in a text message as soon as news of the Defence Minister’s
controversial remarks broke in Kota Kinabalu.
Ligunjang, was once executive secretary of PBS which he
ditched in 1994 for the breakaway Parti Demokratik Sabah (PDS), now the United
PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko).
He like many Sabahans and Sarawakians feel that “it is high
time that we stood on our own two feet”.
Ligunjang said this approach was the only way for the two
states to realise their full potential.
It is common knowledge that anti-Malaysia comments from
Sabah and Sarawak in Facebook originate from these two states.
Indeed, these comments may be viewed by Putrajaya as
bordering on treason or sedition and calculated to pit people against each
other on both sides of the South China Sea and cause public alarm.
These comments are more a reflection of the perennial
question in Malaysian Borneo since Sept 16 1963: “How did we get into this
situation (being in a Federation with Peninsular Malaysia on the other side of
the South China Sea)?”
Such sentiments translate into Facebook Pages like “Sabah
Sarawak Keluar Malaysia”, moderated by Doris Jones, a UK-based lawyer from
Sabah.
There have been calls in Facebook from Peninsular Malaysia
for her to be arrested.
While Hishammuddin’s pre-occupation is with retaining his
Umno vice-presidency, he is also capitalising on the Achilles Heel of the ruling
Malay elite that they would not want Sabah and Sarawak issue to challenge their
so-called dignity and Malay political supremacy and dominance.
However, there’s nothing that Putrajaya can do about the
numerous anti-Malaysia comments in Facebook or emails circulating in
cyberspace.
On the one hand, Putrajaya would not want to make heroes out
of zeroes.
The more Putrajaya shrieks in public about the issue of
Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, the worse it will be for them as it will be
tantamount to opening the Pandora’s Box.
Putrajaya first pretended to be deaf, dumb and blind when
activists in Sabah and Sarawak started “wagging their tails”.
They pretended to be much bigger than anything that can be
thrown at them.
Meanwhile, multiple themes on Malaysia are being promoted by
individuals locally or groups based abroad and which certainly do not run foul
of the law.
Besides the “we want to stand on our own two feet” lobby,
State Reform Party (Star) Sabah chairman and Bingkor state assemblyman Jeffrey
Kitingan, for one, has been questioning Putrajaya on the Federal Government’s
non-compliance of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
Jeffrey has long been chanting the same mantra since the
late 80s and was even incarcerated for this under the Internal Security Act
(ISA) in 1990 for two two-year terms, the second cut short in time for the 1994
state elections during which he won Bingkor for the first time.
Then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad openly accused
Jeffrey of plotting to take Sabah out of Malaysia to be its president. Jeffrey,
upon his release, claimed that Mahathir advised him not to tell the people what
they did not know and not to make the people smart.
Mahathir, in retaliation, alleged that RM4 billion –
apparently the difference between spot prices and long-term contract prices –
went missing during Jeffrey’s tenure as Sabah Foundation director.
Jeffrey has denied the allegation and welcomed an
investigation. A PriceWaterHouse audit found no criminal wrongdoing on the RM4
billion.
An unrepentant Jeffrey wants the 20/18 points in the
Malaysia Agreement to be honoured – a Federation of Malaya and a Federation of
Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak as one country with two systems like in China.
Jeffrey’s Borneo Heritage Foundation has agreed to sponsor
an international forum Malaysia 50 Years On – Expectation vs Reality in Kota
Kinabalu on Oct 5.
At least nine papers will be presented by local and
international speakers. The conference is being organised by former Borneo Mail
managing director and former Star Sabah deputy chairman Paul Voon.
Former Sabah state secretary Simon Sipaun has been
preaching, even after being questioned by police not so long ago, that “life
was better in Sabah before Malaysia”.
Sipaun’s beef is that “the people in Sabah are living in
fear”, their country swamped by illegal immigrants as racial and religious
polarisation a la Malaya takes root.
Sipaun will moderate the conference. He will also present a
paper on his favourite theme in a late September conference on “Malaysia 50
Years” at the National University of Singapore.
Some activists want to restore the sovereignty of Sabah and
Sarawak won on Aug 31, 1963 and July 22, 1963 through the Declaration of
Independence from British colonial rule.
Surprisingly, for the first time in 50 years, the Sarawak Government
observed July 22 this year as Liberation Day.
Kuching blogger Lina Soo organised a conference at the same
time on Sabah and Sarawak’s 50 years in Malaysia. Jeffrey was among the
speakers. She moderates a 916 Occupation Day Page in Facebook.
The UK-based Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BOPIM),
headed by former Star Sabah deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun, has been making
the rounds of several western capitals – Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva and London
– raising awareness on “Malaya’s colonisation of Sabah and Sarawak”.
The BOPIM campaign has been inspired by the contents of
declassified colonial documents on Malaysia released in London but not by
Putrajaya.
These documents appear to indicate that the British were
convinced that Malaya would colonise Sabah and Sarawak after they left.
Daniel John hopes to hit the international circuit again
soon but has been handicapped somewhat since Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman P.
Waythamoorthy joined the government.
Waythamoorthy used to be BOPIM’s honourary international
adviser in the United Nations, the US State Department and the House of Commons
in the UK.
There’s a case in the High Court of Borneo claiming that the
Petroleum Development Act is unconstitutional and illegal.
Activists are alleging that Putrajaya has been stealing
Sabah and Sarawak oil and gas since 1976. They want the fields returned before
they run dry in 15 years and compensation at eight per cent interest per annum
compounded yearly for the stolen commodities.
Other running themes in FaceBook and emails are that
Malaysia is a failure – lack of security, poverty and unflattering comparisons
with Singapore and Brunei are being cited.
Among others are Sept 16 is Occupation Day since there was
“no referendum” on Malaysia; Malaysia is a Bad British Idea; the Sabah Royal
Commission of Inquiry is set to be a Great Whitewash and the UN should revisit
Malaysia in Borneo following allegations of colonisation.
The betting in Sabah and Sarawak is that Putrajaya’s own
“guilty conscience on Malaysia”, will eventually kill them in Borneo.
The activists are realistic enough to be convinced that it
would not be enough to say “boo” when the day comes for “Putrajaya to flee from
Borneo in sheer terror with its tails between its legs”.
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Sabah must seize control of education
Queville To, Free Malaysia Today, September 25, 2013
The current remote-control implementation of education
policies in Sabah has resulted in high dropout rates in schools, indiscipline,
truancy and low quality education
KOTA KINABALU: When Sabah joined Malaysia in 1963, its
educational system was revamped to suit the new nation. But 50 years on, there
is a growing realisation that education here borders on mediocrity if not
worse.
The stories now are of school dropouts, indiscipline,
truancy, low-quality education and even a lack of command of the most basic
language and communication skills.
It is the opposite of the education system available during
“the good old days of British rule”, says Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan
and he wants the state government to take note of this fact.
He claims federal control over education has led to poor
administration, lack of quality control, bad planning and poor implementation
of school projects had resulted in the coward spiral of the system in the
state.
Now he wants the Sabah government to review and re-assess
the education policy and administration in Sabah with the aim of taking back
control.
He wants to see the “re-establishment of Sabah’s own
Ministry of Education and a vision towards building towering Sabahans that will
drive the growth of Sabah into a developed nation status.”
Commenting on the decision by the Sarawak government to
build more technical schools and a pledge by philanthropist, Teo Han Tong, to
help fund a new RM1.4 million school building for the 84-year old SJK Kuok Ming
in Tawau, Kitingan said this was an eye-opener of the state of education in the
two states.
He singled out the decision of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib
Mahmud and his government in building more technical schools in Mukah, Kapit,
Baram and Betong in an effort to get more rural Sarawakian children to pursue
technical education as commendable.
“The Sabah government should emulate their Sarawak
counterparts and build more technical and vocational institutes and colleges
and upgrade existing ones to enhance the technical skills of Sabahans and at
the same time hasten the pace of creating technically skilled and techno-savvy
Sabahan youths.
“In the fast-paced modern world, job-seekers with better
technical and technology skills not only stand a better chance of employment
opportunities and career advancement but they will also contribute to and
expedite the economic growth of Sabah.
“Nowadays, even a store-keeper in a medium-sized outfit will
require computer knowledge and skills in enterprise resource planning (ERP)
software,” he said.
Sabah education has regressed
He added that by re-establishing education under Sabah
control, the Sabah government can better manage and plan for the development of
local human capital.
“After 50 years of Malaysia, education and human capital
development in Sabah appears to have regressed and not progressed as it should
have.
Kitingan said he endorsed the recent call to empower the
Sabah Education director which emphasizes the need for education to be under
state control once again.
At the moment, he said, it is floundering under the weight
and distance of remote control by Malayan policy-makers and federal bureaucracy
compounded by the lack of knowledge of local extenuating circumstances.
As part of the education review, he suggested the Sabah
government also re-assess the financial requirements and needs of Chinese
schools and not just leave the matter to the Chinese and business communities.
“The government should fund the construction of school
buildings, libraries and computer classes and not just make token contributions
at the end of the year especially during election campaign periods to fish for
votes of the Chinese community.
“This funding is more critical and justifiable in Sabah
where in many Chinese schools the enrolment of non-Chinese students is more
than one-third and in some instances where some students have to be turned away
for lack of vacancies.
“The Chinese and business communities can still play their
part and with the additional funding from the Sabah government, the Chinese
schools can focus more on educational teaching and development,” he said.
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It is time to have more than one
definition for the term mother-tongue. It is time to have more than one meaning
for the term mother tongue. How many mother-tongues does a bi-racial person
have? How many mother-tongues does a tri-racial person have? Is English the
mother tongue of Jamaicans? I am sure Swahili and Zulu are not as popular as
English in Jamaica. I am sure English is widely used in Jamaica. I am sure
Jamaicans are comfortable with English. Jamaicans and New Yorkers may speak
English with a different accent. In a multi lingual nation like Malaysia, some
Malaysians do speak English at home. Thus, English is the mother tongue of some
Malaysians. Many Malaysians do code
switching when communicating. Many Malaysians are bi-lingual. Those Malaysians
who are comfortable with English should be allowed to claim English as their
mother tongue. Those Malaysians who value English should be allowed to claim English
as their mother tongue. People should be allowed to claim two mother tongues if
that’s what they want to claim. In short, we need several definitions to the
term “mother tongue”.
Coming to the schools in Malaysia,
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar is in favor of teaching mathematics and
science in the mother tongue, not English. But English is a mother tongue to
those Malaysians who claim it to be a mother tongue. There are different kinds
of Malaysians and some may consider English to be their mother tongue. Some may
have two mother tongues. Every family is different. This is the diversity; and
diversity is the strength of Malaysia. Some of us are good in English, others
good in Malay, and still others good in Tamil or Mandarin. Some mother tongues
are good in the private sector, while others are good in the government sector.
Some mother tongues are good in basketball while other mother tongues are good
in long distance jogging. I hope Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar will accept
the fact that some Malaysians who value English as a family first language will
be allowed to accept English as their mother tongue. I think that accepting mathematics and
science to be taught in the various
mother tongues is a good idea provided English is recognized as a mother
tongue too for those who consider it as a mother tongue. Those who want to have
two mother tongues should be allowed to do so. We need to find several
definitions for the term mother tongue. It is indeed a good idea to support the
teaching of mathematics and science in the mother tongue because this idea will
probably get votes from all the different mother tongues including English. We
will end up with multi-stream education (including English stream). Diversity
is indeed the strength of Malaysia. I hope Malaysians will vote for politicians
who accept English as a mother tongue in Malaysia. Multi-stream education will
give parents and students more choices.
Diversity is indeed the strength of
Malaysia. A Chinese who eats nasi lemak is probably from Malaysia. An Indian
who uses chopsticks when eating is probably from Malaysia too. A Malay who eats
stir fry noodles is probably from Malaysia too. And this is why Malaysia is
truly Asia. Malaysians are a lot luckier than they realize. The co-existence of
Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures have helped to enrich Malaysia. Teaching mathematics and science in the
mother tongue is indeed a good idea because it is in line with Malaysia’s
diversity. And Malaysia’s diversity is Malaysia’s strength. English is a mother
tongue among some Malaysians. Therefore, mathematics and science should be
taught in Chinese to those who claim Chinese as a mother tongue. Mathematics
and science should be taught in Tamil to those who claim Tamil as a mother
tongue. Mathematics and science should be taught in Malay to those who claim
Malay to be their mother tongue. Mathematics and science should be taught in
English to those who claim English as their mother tongue. Any politician who accepts this idea will
probably get votes to build a diversity vote bank. You build a vote bank by
getting support from the different communities. If you can play the diversity
card well, you can build the diversity vote bank; and the diversity vote bank
will make the difference in the 14th General Elections (GE14) in
Malaysia. I’m almost about to predict that GE14 will be won by the diversity
vote bank. So build your vote bank, Mr.Politician.
After reading this posting of mine,
please copy and remail it to as many people as possible; and those who receive
the remail copy should also remail it to others, who in turn should remail it
to others. Please use Facebook and
Twitter to spread the word around. We must get the word around to as many
people as possible.
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