The following is an open Letter to Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang, Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak on the rights of Sabah & Sarawak written by Daniel John Jambun reproduced from the e-mail I received.
"We want to call on Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang to prove that he's a 'somebody' as he implies by briefing the people on his track record in defending the rights of Sabah & Sarawak under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.
We challenge Jabu to an open debate on the issues raised by Cigma during the briefing to members of the House of Commons in London on Mar 9.
Jabu is turning a blind eye to the serious plight of Malaysians in Sabah.
Or, is it more likely that he is actually ignorant about the horrendous problems faced by Sabahans, for example, because he had not been to Sabah often enough.
Cigma’s memorandum titled “Shattered Hopes and Broken Dreams” detailed Sabah’s expectations upon independence as was promised by Tunku Abdul Rahman and under the Malaysia Agreement, the Intergovernmental Committee Report and the 20 Points, the issue of state security and threats to national sovereignty through ‘reverse takeover’ arising from the influx of illegal immigrants, poverty, unfair sharing of oil revenue, lack of fair benefits from land alienation to Felda and Felcra, and other socio-economic problems as a result of the unjust distribution of wealth and opportunities for Sabah from the national economic cake.
Over the past 50 years, “various modifications and adjustments” to the M’sia Agreement have eroded the rights and privileges of Sabahans. Forty-six years after independence, Sabah is now the poorest state despite its abundant natural resources.
Whatever good we had received from Malaysia, is all totally negated by the fact that we are not secure as a state, and that the federal government had reaped a huge economic harvest from Sabah and returned so little to us.
Since the takeover of Umno/BN in Sabah in 1994, Sabah had been plundered to the point of becoming the poorest state in Malaysia. We are in such dire straits with a very uncertain future, so what is the point of praising the government?
Jabu surely knows that Sarawak had no better deal in Malaysia than Sabah.
He must not think Sabah is in the same position as Sarawak which still has some of its original rights intact.
Even Umno daren’t enter Sarawak. But we in Sabah are in a much more different situation. We are under a state government which is under the directive of Kuala Lumpur.
Brunei which opted out of Malaysia, and Singapore which later left the federation, are in a much better economic position regionally and globally. In fact, with all the rich natural resources that we have, Sabah should be richer than Brunei.
We reiterate that we are ready for an open debate on these issues with Jabu anytime at any venue of Jabu’s choice. Let the people judge who is a "nobody in his own country."
At the moment, the consensus of public opinion is that Jabu is a proxy & stooge of the ruling elite in Kuala Lumpur & hence a traitor to our people.
There is nothing wrong in Cigma (Common Interest Group M'sia) calling for the re-activation of the Inter-Governmental Committee on the M'sia Agreement. The IGC was meant to be a permanent institution to monitor the M'sia Agreement.
Jabu must explain why the IGC has fallen into inactivity & disuse over the years.
We call upon the M’sian Federal Gov't and the gov'ts of Sabah, S'wak, S'pore & the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland to return to the IGC as soon as possible, failing which we will relentlessly pursue the matter further in various international forums.
We appeal that the gov'ts of Indonesia & the Philippines be accorded observer status at the IGC.
The presence of Indonesia will ensure that the re-colonisation of Sabah & S'wak by Malaya, after the departure of the British, is reversed. The late President Sukarno of Indonesia did warn against re-colonisation when he launched his policy of konfrantasi (confrontation) & ganjang M'sia (hang M'sia) in 1963.
The presence of the Philippines will ensure that we can bring the so-called Sabah claim to a closure.
Following the successful briefing at the House of Commons in London on Mar 9, we intend to pursue the introduction of an EDM (Early Day Motion) on the M'sia Agreement in the British Parliament as soon as the forthcoming UK General Elections are over.”
Daniel John Jambun
Deputy Chairman
Common Interest Group Malaysia (Cigma)
Kota Kinabalu 19, Mar 2010
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With all due respect, we must first introspect upon ourselves of why are we in such a state? Is it really because of the Federal Government's interference? We had vast resources, yes. But who plundered it indiscriminately, who's pockets were filled? Not to mention of no such planning for forestation. Our construction projects are also overpriced, hence the many leakages in our own spending.
ReplyDeleteTake for example Sutera Harbour, which is owned by a Singaporean. The whole project is purportedly said to have cost a little over RM 1 billion. With that same amount of money, the State PWD can only build THREE, LOW QUALITY flyovers. Speaking of our roads, are also in a total mess, low quality but overpriced.
State Government officials also used to lavish themselves with big imported cars like 'Ninja turtles', whilst at the same time, promoting Belilah Barangan Tempatan. If one department had 200 ninjas, it would total RM40 million. Sometimes one official would have had 3 or 4 'official' cars. It's just hypocritical.
If you would compare to Brunei, yes, on paper it does look better, low taxes, free education, etc. But it is 'artificial' in the sense that the whole economy is sustained by oil. Once it finishes in say 30 years, then all realities come crashing in. That is what happened to us. We plundered our own minerals and sold out our own state. The ONLY justification we have against the Federal Government is the royalty of oil.
Recent years budgets are also fueled by Federal. And amongst all the states in Malaysia, Sabah obtained a sizeable chucnk. UMS which cost 1 billion was also funded by Federal. In fact, prior to BN's entering into Sabah, there was nothing that we had, intangibly speaking. We only had old buildings, Yayasan Sabah being the most majestic.
We have to look upon ourselves before deflecting criticsm upon others. Are we capable enough to run our own state? Do we have the knowledge? And most importantly, are our politicians honest enough to make a brighter future for Sabahans?