Arnold Puyok
AS more and more disclosures are made at the ongoing hearing of Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Sabah illegals problem, Sabahans have begun to speculate in earnest about the matter, considered the "mother of all issue" in the state.
Some are angry at what they see transpiring at the RCI hearing so far, with witnesses testifying about various ways in which illegals were given documentation. But others prefer to adopt a wait-and-see attitude until more stories are told. Of course, the opposition leaders have been quick to capitalise on the issue even though they are struggling to find the right "angle" through which they can use to attack the Barisan Nasional.
Some of the opposition leaders have called the present government "illegitimate" while others want the electoral roll to be cleaned first before the general election in called. Former chief minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh, whose name is implicated in the illegal immigrant issue, defended his track record, saying that he did not break any law. He was also quick in passing the buck to the federal government who he said held the power to award citizenships to anyone.
Harris snubbed one of the RCI investigation officers when he was asked about the Project IC (or Project M). Calling the Project IC as a "false" story, Harris said he did not have time to respond to people who raise the issue. Interestingly, Harris's former boss Tun Mahathir Mohamad acknowledged Project IC and defended it as a "legal" process.
The RCI was established by Prime Minister Najib Razak who was under pressure from the public and leaders from both sides of the political divide. The decision to go ahead with the RCI is a popular one. In a survey conducted by the Merdeka Centre, an overwhelming 88% of the respondents agreed with the establishment of the RCI. Most of the respondents (11%) also said that they want the illegal immigrant issue to be debated in the coming election. This shows that the illegal immigrant issue is important and requires an urgent solution.
Not everyone is happy that the RCI is taking place. Obviously, Najib is taking a bold but risky political gamble as many Umno leaders are implicated in the issuance of Malaysian ICs through dubious means. The RCI works both ways for Najib and the BN. It works for Najib as it "proves" the sincerity of the government to address the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah; it works against the BN as the allegation of illegal immigrants being given Malaysian citizenship illegally happened throughout the BN's rule.
The stories recounted by the witnesses at the RCI so far show that the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah is complex and has no easy solution. Some of those alleged to have acquired Malaysian ICs illegally have become part of the society and have on numerous occasions participated in the country's electoral process.
Questions have been raised whether these "fake" Malaysians should have their citizenships revoked or whether they be allowed to remain as citizens based on humanitarian grounds. Public confidence can only be restored if the RCI is allowed to do its task without fear or favour. As the election looms, the public is expecting the RCI to wrap up its investigation soon and to propose immediate and long term solutions to the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah. That is not likely to happen, as the RCI has six months to complete its task.
Despite the rhetoric and posturing by commentators and politicians alike, the illegal immigrant issue is one touching on the country's security and sovereignty. Thus no parties should interfere in the work of the RCI or try to take advantage of it for their political gain.
Source: http://fz.com/content/tough-task-sabah-rci
Tuesday 29 January 2013
Monday 7 January 2013
Opposition Capers in Sabah
Opposition Capers in Sabah
By Arnold Puyok
Sabah politics has never failed to generate the interest of political pundits. Not only does Sabah have a lot of political mavericks known for their political stunts, Sabah politics is also as unpredictable as the weather. The withdrawal of two former BN strongmen, Wilfred Bumburing and Lajim Ukin, to align with PR has heightened the race to win public office in Sabah. BN is banking on its track record while PR is riding on the promise to form a transparent, democratic and people-friendly government.
The state-based opposition parties SAPP and STAR are also promising a better and more reliable government. But different from PR, they rely heavily on the “Borneo Agenda” to rally support. The PR-friendly groups such as APS (Angkatan Perubahan Sabah) led by Wilfred is tasked to go into the Kadazandusun areas to weaken STAR while Lajim’s PPPS (Pakatan Perubahan Sabah) is responsible for consolidating the Muslim support in PR.
All the state-based opposition parties resort to sloganeering to woo new supporters. The very mention of “inikalilah” (this is the time) reminds one of STAR with its no-holds-barred approach in championing Sabah’s rights and autonomy. APS’s campaign motto is “ubah” (change), almost similar to PPPS’s “tukar”. Can PR and state-based opposition parties provide a strong challenge to BN that has more than 50 years of experience in electoral politics?
In the effort the deny BN any chance of winning, PR is determined to have a one-to-one fight with the ruling party. However, such a plan seems remote judging from the way PR deals with the issue of seat allocation. The chances for PR to win and deny BN’s two-thirds majority in Sabah are high if it allows state-based opposition parties to contest one-to-one against the ruling party in all the 60 state constituencies.
As PR’s main aim is to win Putrajaya, it will have to win a certain number of parliamentary seats in Sabah even though the task of winning has become difficult than ever. The SAPP’s strongholds are mainly in Chinese-majority areas. The state-based opposition party to watch is STAR, whose support is growing particularly in the Kadazandusun areas even though there has been rumour that the party has lost support following the allegation that it is funded by UMNO to split the support for PR.
STAR’s “Borneo Tea Parties” seem to bear fruits at least among young professionals, especially teachers. If STAR’s facebook account is used to measure the party’s popularity, the Sarawak-based party should be commended for its ability in attracting new members in such a short time.
SAPP had said that it managed to strike a deal with STAR. But Jeffrey Kitingan’s statement in the media that he is determined to “do it alone” squashed SAPP’s attempt at finding an amicable solution to end the squabble over seat allocation. It is possible for all the state opposition-based parties to contest against each other and thus give BN the advantage to return to power.
There are many reasons why Jeffrey refused to budge. First, Jeffrey has a bigger agenda in mind, one of which is to restore Sabah’s rights and autonomy through the Borneo Agenda. For Jeffrey, this can only be done if STAR has bargaining power in the legislative assembly. Second, in the event there is no clear winner in the election, STAR would have the chance to bargain as a coalition partner.
Seats allocation will remain a main issue among the opposition parties. PR might contest in all the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah depending on the outcome of its on-going negotiation with SAPP and STAR. However, on his visit to Sabah, Anwar Ibrahim said he is willing to contest only in areas where PR has a higher probability of winning.
STAR may contest in all 60 state seats. STAR may have no choice but to go into a collision course with APS in Kadazandusun-majority areas and PPPS in Muslim-majority areas. SAPP may have no choice as well but to compete with STAR. If this happens, it reduces the chances of the opposition to win. No amount of sloganeering and sophisticated campaign approach can help the opposition leaders topple BN unless they are willing to bury their ego and work as a team.
Retrieved from http://themalaysianinsider.com
By Arnold Puyok
Sabah politics has never failed to generate the interest of political pundits. Not only does Sabah have a lot of political mavericks known for their political stunts, Sabah politics is also as unpredictable as the weather. The withdrawal of two former BN strongmen, Wilfred Bumburing and Lajim Ukin, to align with PR has heightened the race to win public office in Sabah. BN is banking on its track record while PR is riding on the promise to form a transparent, democratic and people-friendly government.
The state-based opposition parties SAPP and STAR are also promising a better and more reliable government. But different from PR, they rely heavily on the “Borneo Agenda” to rally support. The PR-friendly groups such as APS (Angkatan Perubahan Sabah) led by Wilfred is tasked to go into the Kadazandusun areas to weaken STAR while Lajim’s PPPS (Pakatan Perubahan Sabah) is responsible for consolidating the Muslim support in PR.
All the state-based opposition parties resort to sloganeering to woo new supporters. The very mention of “inikalilah” (this is the time) reminds one of STAR with its no-holds-barred approach in championing Sabah’s rights and autonomy. APS’s campaign motto is “ubah” (change), almost similar to PPPS’s “tukar”. Can PR and state-based opposition parties provide a strong challenge to BN that has more than 50 years of experience in electoral politics?
In the effort the deny BN any chance of winning, PR is determined to have a one-to-one fight with the ruling party. However, such a plan seems remote judging from the way PR deals with the issue of seat allocation. The chances for PR to win and deny BN’s two-thirds majority in Sabah are high if it allows state-based opposition parties to contest one-to-one against the ruling party in all the 60 state constituencies.
As PR’s main aim is to win Putrajaya, it will have to win a certain number of parliamentary seats in Sabah even though the task of winning has become difficult than ever. The SAPP’s strongholds are mainly in Chinese-majority areas. The state-based opposition party to watch is STAR, whose support is growing particularly in the Kadazandusun areas even though there has been rumour that the party has lost support following the allegation that it is funded by UMNO to split the support for PR.
STAR’s “Borneo Tea Parties” seem to bear fruits at least among young professionals, especially teachers. If STAR’s facebook account is used to measure the party’s popularity, the Sarawak-based party should be commended for its ability in attracting new members in such a short time.
SAPP had said that it managed to strike a deal with STAR. But Jeffrey Kitingan’s statement in the media that he is determined to “do it alone” squashed SAPP’s attempt at finding an amicable solution to end the squabble over seat allocation. It is possible for all the state opposition-based parties to contest against each other and thus give BN the advantage to return to power.
There are many reasons why Jeffrey refused to budge. First, Jeffrey has a bigger agenda in mind, one of which is to restore Sabah’s rights and autonomy through the Borneo Agenda. For Jeffrey, this can only be done if STAR has bargaining power in the legislative assembly. Second, in the event there is no clear winner in the election, STAR would have the chance to bargain as a coalition partner.
Seats allocation will remain a main issue among the opposition parties. PR might contest in all the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah depending on the outcome of its on-going negotiation with SAPP and STAR. However, on his visit to Sabah, Anwar Ibrahim said he is willing to contest only in areas where PR has a higher probability of winning.
STAR may contest in all 60 state seats. STAR may have no choice but to go into a collision course with APS in Kadazandusun-majority areas and PPPS in Muslim-majority areas. SAPP may have no choice as well but to compete with STAR. If this happens, it reduces the chances of the opposition to win. No amount of sloganeering and sophisticated campaign approach can help the opposition leaders topple BN unless they are willing to bury their ego and work as a team.
Retrieved from http://themalaysianinsider.com
Role of Sabah and Sarawak in nation-building
Role of Sabah and Sarawak in nation-building
By Arnold Puyok
TO BUILD a nation is not easy. It took the Americans more than 200 years to finally find their identity. Hence, there surely is a lot of work to be done to transform Malaysia into a solid nation. It is indeed a work-in-progress. We must remember, Malaysia is just 49 years old (from its founding in 1963), way too young compared with major countries, such as the United States, China and India, just to name a few.
In order to build a successful Malaysian nation, Malaysians must be willing to put aside their political and cultural differences. However, this will be an enormous challenge as not only are Malaysians divided politically and culturally, they are also divided regionally. A case in point is Sabahans and Sarawakians who are separated from their peninsular Malaysian counterparts by the South China Sea.
The main challenge confronting the government of the day (and any government to come) is to bridge what I call the political and cultural gap in Malaysian society. This endeavour must start with the effort to truly integrate Sabah and Sarawak into the Federation of Malaysia. Since 2008, Sabah and Sarawak are considered by many as the ruling party Barisan Nasional’s (BN) “fixed deposits”. The label came after the East Malaysian states helped the BN return to power by contributing 56 parliamentary seats in the 2008 general election.
These seats were crucial in ensuring the BN’s slim electoral victory. Many analysts (including this writer) have predicted that the BN will return to power but not necessarily with Sabah and Sarawak as its fixed deposits anymore, depending on changes in the dynamics of local politics. Sabah and Sarawak’s fixed deposits status has brought them to national prominence. Sabah, in particular, has been receiving numerous development assistances from the Federal Government.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan Sabah received the largest financial allocation of more than RM16 billion. More Sabahans were also appointed to hold important positions in the federal cabinet. Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, for instance, was appointed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to helm the influential Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Afdal, the Ministry of Rural Development. These cabinet portfolios are normally reserved for key Umno leaders from peninsular Malaysia.
Despite the special treatment given to Sabah and Sarawak, many are not happy with the fixed deposits label. They ask: if Sabah and Sarawak did not contribute the 56 seats to the national parliament, would they receive the same treatment today? Would the BN withdraw its fixed deposits (special treatment) when Sabah and Sarawak could no longer offer better interest rates (electoral support)?
When the democratically elected PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) was in power, it was pushed into the political wilderness by the Mahathir administration simply because the party was championing state rights and autonomy. This caused Sabah to lag behind in terms of infrastructural development. Despite peninsular Malaysia’s marked development progress, Sabah and Sarawak are still way behind.
It is important for the government to set politics aside for the sake of nation-building. Sabah and Sarawak must not be regarded as fixed deposits anymore. Sabahans and Sarawakians have suffered a lot due to “bad politics” played by self-serving leaders. The Federal Government must not alienate Sabahans and Sarawakians just because they are politically and culturally different. Sabahans and Sarawakians are loyal Malaysian citizens who want to be treated equally as their fellow Malaysians in the peninsular Malaysia.
If the government is serious about building a strong Malaysian nation, Sabahans and Sarawakians teach us that we all can live in peace and harmony if we are willing to accept each other’s political and cultural differences. In Sabah and Sarawak, ethnic tolerance is high. There have never been any ethnic riots in Sabah and Sarawak throughout Malaysia’s 49 years of history. Ethnic harmony is intact thanks to inter-ethnic marriages. Regional identity plays a more important role than do ethnicity and religion. It does not matter whether one is Kadazandusun, Bajau, Murut, Lundayeh or Bisaya, racial identity is not as strong as in peninsular Malaysia.
While many of the indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak have embraced either Islam or Christianity, they take pride in their cultural roots. That is why when the “Allah” issue came about, Sabahan Muslims came to defend the right of their Christian counterparts to use the word “Allah".
Najib is correct when he said that Sabah is a model for the 1Malaysia policy even though many acknowledge the fact that 1Malaysia existed in Sabah and Sarawak long before it was conceived. The introduction of the 1Malaysia concept and the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak into the country’s mainstream development by the Najib Administration is a step in the right direction towards building a Malaysian nation.
However, this must be done by acknowledging the religious and cultural diversity of the people of Sabah and Sarawak. The journey of building a Malaysian nation started long ago when the country’s founding fathers drafted a constitution that respects the democratic right of every Malaysian citizen such as the right to religious beliefs, the right to vote, the right to form a political party and so on.
The people in Sabah and Sarawak were also accorded with certain rights due to their religious and cultural uniqueness. If the powers-that-be recognise these rights and make every effort to educate Malaysians to respect and accept them, we are in the right track to building a successful nation.
The original version of this posting can be found at http://fz.com/content/role-sabah-and-sarawak-nation-building.
By Arnold Puyok
TO BUILD a nation is not easy. It took the Americans more than 200 years to finally find their identity. Hence, there surely is a lot of work to be done to transform Malaysia into a solid nation. It is indeed a work-in-progress. We must remember, Malaysia is just 49 years old (from its founding in 1963), way too young compared with major countries, such as the United States, China and India, just to name a few.
In order to build a successful Malaysian nation, Malaysians must be willing to put aside their political and cultural differences. However, this will be an enormous challenge as not only are Malaysians divided politically and culturally, they are also divided regionally. A case in point is Sabahans and Sarawakians who are separated from their peninsular Malaysian counterparts by the South China Sea.
The main challenge confronting the government of the day (and any government to come) is to bridge what I call the political and cultural gap in Malaysian society. This endeavour must start with the effort to truly integrate Sabah and Sarawak into the Federation of Malaysia. Since 2008, Sabah and Sarawak are considered by many as the ruling party Barisan Nasional’s (BN) “fixed deposits”. The label came after the East Malaysian states helped the BN return to power by contributing 56 parliamentary seats in the 2008 general election.
These seats were crucial in ensuring the BN’s slim electoral victory. Many analysts (including this writer) have predicted that the BN will return to power but not necessarily with Sabah and Sarawak as its fixed deposits anymore, depending on changes in the dynamics of local politics. Sabah and Sarawak’s fixed deposits status has brought them to national prominence. Sabah, in particular, has been receiving numerous development assistances from the Federal Government.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan Sabah received the largest financial allocation of more than RM16 billion. More Sabahans were also appointed to hold important positions in the federal cabinet. Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, for instance, was appointed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to helm the influential Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Afdal, the Ministry of Rural Development. These cabinet portfolios are normally reserved for key Umno leaders from peninsular Malaysia.
Despite the special treatment given to Sabah and Sarawak, many are not happy with the fixed deposits label. They ask: if Sabah and Sarawak did not contribute the 56 seats to the national parliament, would they receive the same treatment today? Would the BN withdraw its fixed deposits (special treatment) when Sabah and Sarawak could no longer offer better interest rates (electoral support)?
When the democratically elected PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) was in power, it was pushed into the political wilderness by the Mahathir administration simply because the party was championing state rights and autonomy. This caused Sabah to lag behind in terms of infrastructural development. Despite peninsular Malaysia’s marked development progress, Sabah and Sarawak are still way behind.
It is important for the government to set politics aside for the sake of nation-building. Sabah and Sarawak must not be regarded as fixed deposits anymore. Sabahans and Sarawakians have suffered a lot due to “bad politics” played by self-serving leaders. The Federal Government must not alienate Sabahans and Sarawakians just because they are politically and culturally different. Sabahans and Sarawakians are loyal Malaysian citizens who want to be treated equally as their fellow Malaysians in the peninsular Malaysia.
If the government is serious about building a strong Malaysian nation, Sabahans and Sarawakians teach us that we all can live in peace and harmony if we are willing to accept each other’s political and cultural differences. In Sabah and Sarawak, ethnic tolerance is high. There have never been any ethnic riots in Sabah and Sarawak throughout Malaysia’s 49 years of history. Ethnic harmony is intact thanks to inter-ethnic marriages. Regional identity plays a more important role than do ethnicity and religion. It does not matter whether one is Kadazandusun, Bajau, Murut, Lundayeh or Bisaya, racial identity is not as strong as in peninsular Malaysia.
While many of the indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak have embraced either Islam or Christianity, they take pride in their cultural roots. That is why when the “Allah” issue came about, Sabahan Muslims came to defend the right of their Christian counterparts to use the word “Allah".
Najib is correct when he said that Sabah is a model for the 1Malaysia policy even though many acknowledge the fact that 1Malaysia existed in Sabah and Sarawak long before it was conceived. The introduction of the 1Malaysia concept and the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak into the country’s mainstream development by the Najib Administration is a step in the right direction towards building a Malaysian nation.
However, this must be done by acknowledging the religious and cultural diversity of the people of Sabah and Sarawak. The journey of building a Malaysian nation started long ago when the country’s founding fathers drafted a constitution that respects the democratic right of every Malaysian citizen such as the right to religious beliefs, the right to vote, the right to form a political party and so on.
The people in Sabah and Sarawak were also accorded with certain rights due to their religious and cultural uniqueness. If the powers-that-be recognise these rights and make every effort to educate Malaysians to respect and accept them, we are in the right track to building a successful nation.
The original version of this posting can be found at http://fz.com/content/role-sabah-and-sarawak-nation-building.
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