By Dukau Papau
When Sabah and Sarawak people talk about separation or secession, it means that they are fed-up with being part of Malaysia and see no hope for their future except by opting out, says Sabah’s maverick politician Jeffrey Kitingan.
“It is wrong to say that talk of secession is treasonous and threaten to cite those who do for sedition,” State Reform Party (Star Sabah) chief Jeffrey said when responding to reports that talk of secession is treasonous.
He said: “It is wrong for any leader, or even the federal government and its ministers, to keep on threatening the people and warning them every time there is a mention of wanting to get out of Malaysia.
“Instead, the leaders should take the opportunity to listen to the grouses of the people.
“They cannot seem to understand, or refuse to understand, the truth behind the discussions and calls for Sabah and Sarawak to get out of Malaysia.”
‘Acknowledge the rising call for separation’
Jeffrey went on to point out that the federal government should acknowledge the rising call for separation/secession as a serious sign of dissatisfaction among the people of the two Borneo states who are crying for solutions to their deeper, underlying problems.
After 50 years in Malaysia, Malaysians were becoming more and more aware of the true history of the country’s formation in 1963, the distortion and manipulation of the true history and the unfair treatment of Sabah, Sarawak and their people.
“The true history is Malaya gained independence on Aug 31, 1957, and Malaysia was only formed on Sept 16, 1963, through the federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (which left in 1965) as equal partners.
“There was no Malaysia before 1963 and there would be no Malaysia today without Sabah and Sarawak.”
He lamented that what has since transpired was that from 1976, Sabah and Sarawak were demoted and downgraded to be the 12th and 13th States of Malaysia.
What Fuad Stephens said…
“This is not the Malaysia that the founding fathers of Sabah and Sarawak had wanted. In fact, Fuad Stephens in 1963 rejected Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei becoming the 12th, 13th and 14th states when he stated:
‘If we had been asked to join Malaysia at the time Malaya achieved independence and Britain made it possible for us, the story would have been a different one. Now that ‘Merdeka’ has been Malaya’s for some years, and we are still struggling towards it, Malaya’s proposal that we join as the 12th, 13th and 14th states savours of imperialism, of a drive to turn us into Malayan colonies …. To join Malaya, while we are still colonies … The implication is to hand (ourselves) over to your control.’
Jeffrey added: “The indigenous natives are marginalised and Sabah is over-run with illegal immigrants granted dubious MyKad and given voting rights, with the racist Umno treating Sabah as its colony, as fixed deposit and private property.
“Umno in its racism and racial and religious extremism cannot be better, for even the Pehin Sri Chief Minister of Sarawak (right) wants his successor and other leaders to keep Umno and its brand of politics out of Sarawak.
“All in, the people in Sabah and Sarawak cannot be blamed for wanting to opt out of Malaysia, since they see no light at the end of the tunnel and their future growing dimmer and dimmer by the day.
“Instead of threats from his ministers, what Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak can do as a positive step is to immediately set up a cabinet-level National Malaysia Review Committee to review the Malaysia Agreement, which is long overdue for 40 years.” – Malaysiakini
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