L-R, Dr, Nicholas Bawin of Sarawak, P. Waythayamoorty, Chairman Hindraf movement,
Labour party MP, Virenda Sharma, and Daniel John Jambun of Sabah.
SHATTERED HOPES
AND
BROKEN DREAMS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Memorandum on the Fate of Sabah
in the Malaysian Federation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Presented by DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN, Esq.
At the House of Commons, London, the United Kingdom
March 9, 2010
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Good afternoon all Honourable Members of the House, ladies and
gentlemen.
First of all, I would like to record our most sincere gratitude having been
given this honour of presenting this memorandum before this esteemed
House. Today, marks a moment of honour for the people of Sabah, the
former North Borneo, for having been accorded this rare opportunity to
present a Memorandum a matter of grave significance, a matter which
affect our fate as the people of the Federation of Malaysia. We see this
as a historical event, a moment granted by God’s grace, in which we can
communicate under this honourable roof, to reminisce a milestone of
history half a century ago which was followed by sad events that in too
many instances happened with numerous misgivings.
For decades now, we the people of Sabah, have been haunted by ghosts
of history dating back to August 31, 1963, the day we gained
independence from Great Britain. Malaysia was conceptualised and
constituted with the best of promises, endearing in us hopes and dreams
for a greater future. It is with sadness that I stand here to witness that
what had transpired since September 16, 1963 had been a series of
events that had led us to the present situation in which we can justly
proclaim to be a situation of shattered hopes and broken dreams!
We therefore stand before this House, in good faith, to seek redress and
to appeal for an inclusive dialogue, which we hope will lead to a clearer
and brighter tomorrow to all parties concerned. I seek the indulgence of
this House to hear our side of the story and adjudge the events of the
past with a clear conscience and a sympathetic eye, and to lend us a
hand in seeking a just and righteous solution to our problem.
I would like to present three pertinent issues, which may or may not
have direct concern of the present British government. Firstly, we need
to take a critical review of the rationales and instruments for the
formation of Malaysia. There is the nagging question of justice in the
drafting of the critical Malaysia Agreement, the efficiency and integrity
off the Cobbold Commission, the reliability of the promises of the Twenty
Points, the Inter governmental Committee Report and the Malaysian Act,
historical documents which must be familiar to the knowledge of the
Honourable Lawmakers in this House. Secondly, is the perennial issue of
security which now affect the sovereignty of Sabah within Malaysia. And
thirdly is the case of the spiraling deterioration in the economic wellbeing
of the people of Sabah.
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Sabah’s Expectations of Malaysia vs Reality and the Malaysian
Agreement
The facts of history is that Sabah, a former British colony, achieved its
independence on August 31st, 1963. On September 16, 1963, it merged
with Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia
on terms agreed by all parties. The concept of merger and equal
partnership was introduced by Tunku Abdul Rahman to allay fears in
Sabah and Sarawak of the possibility of Malaya recolonizing them upon
the departure of the British masters.
The terms of this Federation are contained in various documents such as
the Twenty Points, the IGC report and of course the Malaysia
Agreement, which on paper protected the interests of Sabah and
Sarawak within this new Federation so that they do not lose their
autonomy in certain areas of governance which gave meanings and
substances to their independence.
Without doubt, this was the expressed hope of the founding fathers,
principally Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia; Lee
Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Donald Stephens and
Mustapha Harun of Sabah, Stephen Kalong Ningkan of Sarawak, etc.
Independent speeches were delivered by various leaders including
Razak, Tun Mustapha, Donald Stephens and Sir William Goode to during
the historic celebration of Sabah’s nationhood. I present several quotes
from them below:
Today, is a historic day for Sabah. It marks the beginning
of self-government and independence and the end of
colonialism.
–
Sir William Goode, outgoing Governor of North Borneo
(Sabah Times, Jesselton, August 1, 1963)
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The Tunku naturally uttered several historic statements on the
matter:
“The granting of self-government too would enable Sabah
to stand on its own feet as equal with Malaya, Sarawak and
Singapore.”
(Sabah Times, Jesselton, August 30th, 1963)
“The important aspects of the Malaysia Ideal, as I see it, is
that it will enable the Borneo territories to transform their
present colonial status to ‘self government’ for themselves
and absolute independence in Malaysia simultaneously...”
“The days of imperialism are gone and it is not the
intention of Malaya to perpetuate or revive them. When the
Borneo territories become part of Malaysia, they will cease
to be a colony of Malaya, they will be partners of equal
status, no more or less than the other States.”
(Strait Times, October 2nd 1962) The “other States” refer
to the other States entities of Malaya, Singapore and
Sarawak.”
Today, more than forty six years after independence, the people of
Sabah are asking what happened to these rosy pronouncements and
assurances. In fact the Sabahans have always been seriously
clarification as to why Sabah is now functioning as if it is only a colony of
Kuala Lumpur. Many still remember the warnings given by former
Indonesian president Sukarno, who said that Malaysia will not change
colonialism but will only shift its headquarters from London to Kuala
lumpur. Has Sukarno’s prophecy come true today?
Tunku Abdul Rahman kept assuring us that Sabah was now
independent; that it was no longer a colony and that Sabah will have its”
absolute independence” in Malaysia. What Tunku Abdul Rahman said
was exactly what we expected Sabah to gain and benefit from being part
of the Federation, i.e. being a fully autonomous state within the
Federation. But contrary to that promise, the reality today is that Sabah
has become the 12th state of Malaya. Federal government leaders,
dominated by Malayans, today can arbitrarily change, at their whims and
fancies, whatever they wish to suit their needs and convenience. They
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even ignored the Twenty Points and the Malaysia Agreement and made it
sensitive to even talk about them.
The Problem of the Illegal and Legalised Immigrants in Sabah
About half of Sabah’s population of 3.25 million today are foreigners.
Out of this number, 750,000 are undocumented or without travel
documents or work passes. Dr Chong Eng Leong paper, “Human Rights
and Citizenship: Its impact on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights,”
presented at the SUHAKAM Roundtable Discussion on July 31, 2006
refers.
Of these, 60,000 are categorized as refugees and about 153,000 to
418,000 are those supposedly given work passes. In addition there are
those with false documents but over and above these numbers are the
600,000 who have been given genuine Malaysian identity cards or
MyKads by higher authority under “Projek IC Mahathir” (Dr. Chong Eng
Leong, Ibid.)
The most serious and obvious injustices inflicted upon Sabah is the
deployment of non-citizen to become voters, thereby depriving citizens
of the right to democracy and self-determination. The main category of
foreign voters comprise the 600,000 who have been given Mykads,
under “Projek IC Mahathir.” This project was widely debated in the local
papers in 2006. A witness to a trial on an election dispute confessed in
court to possessing a dubious identity card, telling the magistrate that
he obtained his IC through “Projek President Mahathir.” This evidence
was never contested, and nor has there been any denial form the former
Prime Minister.
Security and Sovereignty
Most of these foreigners come from a neighbouring country (the
Philippines) which, incidently, has yet to drop its territorial claim over
Sabah. By the sheer number of the illegals from the Philippines alone,
with their settlements surrounding all the major cities and towns, this
claim could be easily legitimized. Sabah is now a haven for escaping
terrorists, rebels and kidnappers. JI or Jemaah islamiyah, a terror
network, has been identified as having its presence in Sabah. So is Darul
Islam Sabah. Hence, with the presence of armed foreigners on our soil,
Sabah is no longer a secure state.
This begs the question: Where is the security that the founding fathers
of Malaysia had promised us? With the explicit support of Great Britain,
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we had been hard-pressed to join in the formation of Malaysia, in the
name of security from Indonesia’s Confrontation and Phillippines’ claim.
But as it turned out, today Brunei, which opted out following a rebellion,
and Singapore which was later expelled, are doing so much better. There
is therefore no denying that Brunei had been far-sighted, and Singapore
had been ironically blessed by its expulsion.
Reverse Take Over
As the number of non-citizens are now rapidly outnumbering the local
population in some areas (Dr Jeffery Kitingan, Justice for Sabah, Table
4.1), it is merely a matter of time for this foreign population to spread
and overwhelm the whole of Sabah. SUHAKAM’s former Commissioner,
Prof. Hamdan Adnan, once said that a foreigner reverse takeover is
imminent if the trend continues unabated.
Poverty
Sabah is a rich state endowed with much natural resources such as oil
and gas, timber, fertile agricultural land and tourism potentials. With a
population of just about three million, Sabah offers abundant promises
for
vibrant
economic
development
and
enviable
prosperity.
Unfortunately, Sabah today is the poorest state in Malaysia (according to
the government’s Malaysia Plan Report). Most of Sabah’s timber has
already been harvested without any heed to sustainable supply
management, and over eighty percent of the agricultural land develop
for oil palm belong to corporate giants owned by west Malaysian
companies. Ironically, Sabah is Malaysia’s largest oil palm producer with
60% of the nation’s palm oil being produced in Sabah. Sabah is also one
of three Malaysia’s oil producing states, producing more than 73,000
barrels of crude petroleum per day. Why then is Sabah poor and
financially dependent on the federal government? The answer is simple:
It is either that Sabah is not getting its fair share of its own wealth or is
the victim of mismanagement, or both. UNDP (United Nation
Development Program) put the State poverty rate at 24.3% of the
population.
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Poorest State
Sabah, once the richest state in Malaysia, is now the poorest. Most of
the poor are Natives in the rural areas, including paddy farmers,
fishermen and smallholders. The state government of Sabah has one of
the highest budget deficit in the country amounting RM252.89 million
(2006). With a population of 3.25 million, its per capita income currently
stands at RM9,536 compared to RM18,040 for Malaysia. This show a
huge disparity with Sabah’s per capita income way, way below the
national standard. Where do our riches go to? To be exact: to the
Federal Government. Sabah can never be rich as long as our State cake”
is continuously divided into thirteen.
Oil Revenue
Oil and gas belong to the state but in 1976 the federal government
made the state surrender this state resource to a central government
agency, PETRONAS. It is said that that the “Double Six” Tragedy
(airplane crash at Sembulan which killed senior Sabah cabinet members,
including the then Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens, the former Donald
Stephens) was the result of the refusal by Stephens to sign away
Sabah’s oil right in Labuan then. Soon after Tun Fuad’s funeral, Harris
Salleh signed the agreement. In return the state gets only 5% of the oil
revenue. Why? Why do we get only 5% of the revenue from oil, when in
the first place, it is a state resource? Who gets the other 95%? How
much revenue earnings have been generated from Sabah’s oil and gas,
including their by-products?
Felda and Felcra
Land given out to Felda and Felcra by the State Government for the
purpose of development assistance to the landless local was never
implemented. According to the former Chief Minister, Harris Salleh,
300,000 hectares have been given to Felda/Felcra for this purpose. We
know of no one Sabahan having benefited, although perhaps there may
be a few. So who are the rest of the beneficiaries? Who is reaping the oil
palm harvest from our land? Obviously, justice must be served. And
these lands must revert back to the State Government and their
utilisation reviewed as part of our economic revival and poverty
eradication programmes.
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Political
The enormous political implications of the non-citizens currently holding
citizens’ identity cards are mind boggling. It is frightening to
contemplate the ramifications of the fact that they can vote, as they
have been recruited and mobilised by certain political leaders in the BN
(the Barisan Nasional or National Front) ruling coalition. In fact most of
these “voters for hire” have been recruited as members of UMNO (the
United Malay National Organisation), the backbone of the BN.
Even a fellow BN member had openly admitted that illegals could be in
BN parties. Chin Su Ling, Youth Chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, a
component of the BN said there is a possibility that many illegal
immigrants have become members of various BN component Sabah.
(Borneo Post, Tuesday, September 19th, 2006). These foreigners may
just be “voters for hire” at present but once they can organize
themselves, they could be in a position to control Sabah UMNO and elect
their own representatives into the State Assembly and Parliament. Once
this is achieved they could take over the government and change the
rules of the game in their favour. This is not impossible.
How did Sabah’s population grow so fast? Are we more fertile than
Sarawak or the peninsular? NO! The high growth in Sabah’s population is
explained by the high arrivals of foreigners, many of whom were later
exploited to become voters through the “Project IC.” Worse, these
foreigners who obtained MyKads through the backdoor also claim to be
Bumiputeras (sons of the soil). They are in fact The New Bumiputeras!
These new “natives” are now the same number as the natives!
Source of Socio-economic Problems
This large foreign population in Sabah also presents a heavy drain on the
economy and social services fund. One estimate puts this cost to the
State between RM271 million to RM811 million a year. They also take
away from the local quota for education in schools and institutions of
higher learning. They use a lot of medical facilities and health care
services and encroach onto natives lands, producing squatter colonies.
They also rely on low cost housing schemes provided by the
government. They are also involved in drugs. According to the police,
90% of drugs are from the Philippines. They steal water and electricity
through illegal connections and pollute the environment. Employment
wise, many illegals are now running taxis, mini buses as drivers.
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“The illegal immigrants are the mother of all problems in Sabah”
– Dato Bakri Zinin . High ranking Police Officer, Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur
Conclusion
The root cause of Sabah's dilemma is the fact that the InterGovernmental Committee Report had failed to ensure Malaysian
Government compliance with the Malaysia Agreement on a continuous
basis. Various ‘modification’ and ‘adjustments’ had been surreptitiously
inserted into the national governance mechanism which had trapped us
into subservience and compliance and in the process eroding much of
our rights and privileges.
The IGC must be revived and the United Kingdom, along with Singapore,
Sarawak, Sabah and Malaya (the Federal Government), must play an
active role as sympathetic and just former master to institute effective
and enduring rectifications. This is the least that we can ask for. This is
also the way forward. The United Kingdom is the first stop in our mission
to revive the IGC. Efforts are also being made at this material time in
Kuala Lumpur by Dr Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan, the chairman of the
Common Interest Group Malaysia (Cigma) to seek the same redress and
review of the terms of independence And formation of the Federation of
Malaysia. Likewise we are mobilising a similar mission to Singapore prior
to seeking a dialogue with the Sabah and Sarawak State Governments
on the same issue.
With respect and reverence we lay our hopes and desires before this
honourable House for a redirection of the negative trends that beset us
in Borneo, in the full confidence that a vehicle to the future can be
chartered for justice and truth, to pick up the pieces of the shattered
hopes and broken dreams.
Thank you.
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