Thursday, May 30, 2013
Sarawak Sovereignty Movement demands full
autonomy
A movement, rumoured to be backed by the powerful in Sarawak, is
demanding for full autonomy in the state based on the 18-point Malaysia
Agreement.
KOTA KINABALU: A new civil movement from Sarawak, calling
themselves Sarawak Sovereignty Movement (SSM), is demanding full autonomy for
the state.
The movement which was launched in April 2013, posted its
schedule of demands for autonomy on its website and Facebook account, backing
its claims with details of Sarawak’s history.
According to SSM secretary,
Lina Soo, full autonomy sums up all the terms and conditions for Sarawak (and
for Sabah too) agreeing to form Malaysia with three other independent countries
as equal partners being Malaya, Singapore and North Borneo (Sabah) in
1963.
“Brunei in its wisdom decided not to follow the crowd because
Malaya did not agree to accord it ‘equal partnership’ status,” said
Soo.
Singapore, she said pulled out in 1965 also after failed to to get
federal to accept it as an equal partner.
“The original Malaysia concept
of five countries (including Brunei) had dwindled into three countries in
Malaysia.
“The concept was dead. The legitimacy of Malaysia is therefore
in doubt,” she said in a statement to FMT here.
According to Soo,
Sarawak’s autonomous status was spelt out clearly in the 18 Points Agreement
with Malaya.
“These were safeguards for Sarawak having given up its
independence and agreeing to form Malaysia.
“Sarawak reserved its
sovereign right to control its own immigration, finance and resources and
requirement for ‘Borneonisation’ among other important conditions Sarawak’s
sovereignty was recognized- at least on paper,” she reminded.
However,
the Malaysian federal government’s failure to honour the terms of the Malaysia
Agreement for the past 50 years is evidenced by the pillage of their resources
and centralisation of control over the two states/countries.
“The Kuala
Lumpur control and exploitation of Sarawak oil has seen very little oil money
flowing back to Sarawak but seen as being siphoned to develop
Malaya.
“With the growing awareness of Sarawak’s diminished and
disadvantaged position after giving up its independence to form Malaysia, a new
generation of Sarawakians have begun agitating for Sarawak independence rights,”
she said.
‘Deviations invite trouble’
SSM, she said, is of the
opinion that the Malayan government is contented that Sarawak and Sabah freely
agreed to form Malaysia and they are forever a part of Malaysia.
“(But)
many in the two countries now are asking if Sarawak and Sabah freely made such a
decision, then they are free to leave Malaysia like Singapore,” she
claimed.
SSM which is helmed by Morshidi Abdul Rahman, was first given
publicity in Sarawak newspapers last month but hardly mentioned in other
media.
He reportedly asserted that Sarawak is a sovereign nation – a
territorial and constitutional entity – that has power to vote on its own laws,
collect taxes and the right to own its natural resources.
Meanwhile, a
leader from ruling Sarawak Barisan Nasional has warned Sarawakians not to
deviate from the original concept of Malaysia.
Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku
Jaafar, who was also a former parliament deputy speaker, when asked for his
opinion on SSM, said Sarawakians must refrain from divisive politics.
“We
have our constitution – the supreme law of the nation, with which act and work.
Do not stray from original concept of the Federation…,” Wan Junaidi said, adding
that “deviations invite troubles”.
His double-edged statement has lent
credence to certain local speculations that SSM is backed by “the powerful” in
Sarawak who also seek to strengthen its autonomy, not to fall prey to a scheming
central power that seeks to weaken Malaysia’s largest state, like it did to
Sabah.
Sabah and Sarawak are regarded to be nations-within-a nation as
both have autonomous rights granted to them in laws, written in pre-Malaysia
conditions and also in other treaties and documents including in the Federal and
State constitutions.
The clamour for full autonomy in both Borneon states
had recently increased due to the high awareness of disparity in income and
development between them and the 11 Peninsular states which they accused of
“stealing” the states’ rich for Malaya’s own exploitation.
Ironically,
both Sabah and Sarawak, while endowed naturally to be Malaysia’s richest, have
ended at the bottom-end of Malaysia’s poorest states, 50 years after agreeing to
form a Federation with Malaya.
Before you send me to Kamunting, realise I am not advocating Sabah leaving Malaysia.
But I think it is high time Sabahans have a good, long think about the status quo.
As it is, things cannot stand.
Last I checked, Sabah is still the poorest state in Malaysia. Nabawan in Sabah is the poorest town in the country, with a 70-per-cent poverty rate.
On top of that, a small private army has landed in Lahad Datu intent on claiming Sabah as its own.
If we had a referendum, what with all the “free citizenships” Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration has so benevolently bestowed upon foreigners, would Sabahans actually have the numbers to keep the state in Malaysia?
Or would our new Sabahan brothers and sisters vote overwhelmingly to become part of the Philippines or even choose allegiance to the Sultan of Sulu?
A wanted Filipino fugitive is also now finding safe haven in the state, rumoured to have family connections on the Sabah government.
So much for Sabah “prospering” under Barisan Nasional rule.
Sabah politicians have called on the federal government to do something about the massive influx of foreigners into the state for a long time.
Only now has a Royal Commission of Inquiry been called, and it has confirmed what most of us already knew.
That we have been betrayed.
What right did the former prime minister have to give citizenships to foreigners as he liked?
What he did might have been technically “legal” but it was morally wrong and it was a betrayal of the state, a betrayal of the Sabah people and going against the heart of the 20-point agreement that said the state had jurisdiction over immigration matters. Not the prime minister.
And can Sabahans trust PKR to change things, when Sabah’s PKR is a toothless body helpless to even choose its own leaders? When all decisions are centralised and it has no say in choosing who should lead it into the state?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim attempted to parachute another West Malaysian in to lead Sabah PKR like he did with Azmin Ali.
What next? Azmin Ali as Sabah chief minister? If that happens, I am surrendering my passport and moving to the Philippines.
It is time Sabahans said, “Enough”. It is obvious that Putrajaya and Pakatan Rakyat are deaf, dumb and blind to what Sabah really needs and what Sabah really is.
Sabah is not “just” another state. It was equal party to an agreement between Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia. Each had special status, certain rights, and to this day the federal government has chosen to piss upon the spirit and the words of the agreement.
If Sabah is to become more than an impoverished state beholden to cruel masters, it has to start rejecting subjugation.
The first step is saying a big, firm “No” to West Malaysian-based parties like Umno and PKR who are more interested in pushing the Malay agenda than the Malaysian agenda.
(I might perhaps make an exception for Sabah DAP, which has a long history in Sabah, refreshingly free of the stupidity displayed by both Umno and PKR in the recent years.)
Some say Sabah is “selfish” for harping about its rights when it should think of “Malaysia” as a whole instead of its special privileges.
Basically, Sabah should just lie on its back and think of Malaysia? Brilliant.
That has not worked now, has it? The more Sabahans demur, the more our rights are stripped away. Most of the state’s revenue goes to the federal government while Sabah just has to make do with the leftovers.
This is the sad truth: Unless you have lived in the state, know its peoples and have a firm grasp of its issues, you are in no position to solve its problems.
So Sabahans should have no reason to vote for PKR or Umno when they have the (barely arguable) better choice of either the SAPP or STAR.
All our “questionable” guests? Deport them. We have an army. We have a navy. And the Philippines will have to take responsibility for all its people who have run our way. As should the Indonesians.
Revoke all of Dr Mahathir’s freely-given citizenships. I may sound cruel and heartless, but there is no other way. And truth is, we should have done that years ago.
To encourage better relations with our West Malaysian siblings, we should encourage them to come to the state but under “skilled migrant” rules.
We need doctors. We need teachers. Civil engineers. Encourage people who want to help build the state to come over, but under the restriction that if they want labour it has to be Sabah labour.
God knows Sabah needs the jobs.
And if you have lived and contributed enough, then why not give them “Sabah PR” status.
Let Sabah choose who it will embrace, and if we want to be choosy, we should have every right to be.
If not for the state’s poverty and poor infrastructure, it would be a heaven on earth. The sunsets are spectacular. The beaches are amazing. Even our cloud formations are nothing like you will ever see in the Peninsula.
The people are laidback. Less judgmental. Not as uptight.
I experienced far more racism and ostracism in one year living in Selangor than I have in all my years living in Sabah. So please, don’t patronise us Sabahans by talking about 1 Malaysia.
Sabahans are not asking for anything but what we deserve: to be treated with dignity and as equals. Not as indentured slaves, fit only to be trampled and used by Putrajaya.
By right, we should even be asking for Labuan back. Haris Salleh had no right to hand Labuan over, as Dr Mahathir had no right to give out citizenships to illegal immigrants.
There is no point now to look back. All Sabah can do is move forward. And it can only do that with the strength of its own people because there can be no help found in Umno or PKR.
Sabah deserves better than liars or traitors.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer.
