KUCHING – Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sarawak chairman Baru Bian has proposed several steps Pakatan Rakyat should take in order to strengthen relations within the Federation of Malaysia.

These steps include the revisiting of the 18/20 points of the Malaysian Agreement and the rights and privileges of the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, he said.

Respect rights

“For national integration to truly begin, at least between Sabah/Sarawak and Peninsula Malaysia, the rights of the two states as enshrined in the 18/20 points Malaysian Agreement must be examined and dealt with,” he said.

“With the political events of 3/08 that has swept the nation, thel focus in the next general election is once again on the two states as it were prior to the formation of Malaysia in 1963.”

He said that all political leaders must win the support of Sabah and Sarawak,  which is crucial for the control of Putrajaya.

“Perhaps, this is a blessing in disguise as some of the states’ rights which were conveniently abandoned by federal leaders in the past, may now be revisited,” said Baru in a paper presented at a PR "Two party System" symposium held recently in Kuala Lumpur.

He said: “First and foremost, the step to recognise Sept 16 as Malaysia Day must be lauded as it signals a gesture of one willing to accept historical truth.

“As in the case of a marriage, it is recognising one’s neglect of duties and responsibilities to the other. But declaring the day as a public holiday per se brings no significance to Sabahans and Sarawakians without pondering and recognising the terms of the agreements that made Sept 16 possible,” he said.

National integration vital

“For national integration to truly begin, at least between the two East Malaysian States and Peninsula Malaysia, these rights must be examined and dealt with, even though 46 years have passed since Malaysia was formed. I guess it is still better late then never,” he said.

The signing of the Malaysia Agreement on the July 9, 1963, signalled the birth of the Federation of Malaysia.

It was an agreement signed between the Federation of Malaya, Britain, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore.

The actual proposed date for the formation of Malaysia was Aug 31, 1963, to coincide with the independence day of Malaya and the British giving self-rule to Sarawak and Sabah.

However, the date was delayed by opposition from the Indonesian government led at the time by Sukarno and also attempts by the Sarawak United People's Party to delay the formation of Malaysia.

Because of these factors, an eight-member UN team had to be formed to re-ascertain whether Sabah and Sarawak truly wanted to join Malaysia.

After ascertaining the support from the Borneo states, the proclamation of Malaysia was finally made on Sept 16.

Partners or lackeys?

Baru added, “Today, the question often asked is whether Sabah and Sarawak ‘joined’ Malaysia or they ‘formed’ Malaysia, as this would have serious implications on how the relationship between the Federal Government and the states of Sabah and Sarawak be conducted”.

Baru  spoke on the 18/20 points agreement or memorandum made between the Federal Government and the two eastern states prior to the formation of Malaysia. The agreement, he said, was written for the purpose of safeguarding the interests, rights, and the autonomy of the people of Sabah and Sarawak upon the formation of the federation.

According to Baru, the key to cultivating unity towards national integration between Sabah/Sarawak and Peninsula Malaysia is to overcome the national historical amnesia about Sabah and Sarawak’s equal partnership in the federation.

“Recognition must first be made of the pre-guaranteed rights pursuant to the 18/20 Agreements, which were affirmed and recommended by the Cobbold Commission.

“Like any marriages that have deteriorated, a process of reconciliation must commence immediately to restore the relationship; and in the context of our discussion, in the hope that we may move forward towards our common desire for a national integration of all races in Malaysia. I therefore propose to highlight only certain areas of concern for our consideration today,” he said.

Religion

The feedback, he said, gathered from the majority non-Muslim population of the two states were unequivocal that there should be no state religion in two states and that the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to them.

He said that it was reported by the said Commission that "but even with guarantees of freedom of religion, for the Borneo states, we have met with strong resistance from many non-Muslim communities to the idea that these federal provisions should apply to the Borneo territories.

‘We consider that this is a matter for the peoples of the Borneo territories (which have a non-Muslim majority) to decide for themselves at a later stage when fully elected representative bodies have been constituted. We recommend therefore that the federal provisions should not be extended to the Borneo territories in the meantime."

Baru said: “Taking these points fully into consideration, we are agreed that Islam should be the national religion of the federation. We are satisfied that the proposal in no way jeopardises freedom of religion in the federation, which in effect would be secular. 

“But today the banning on the imports of ‘Alkitab’ (the Malay version of the Bible) and other Christian literature into Malaysia have been carried out with religious zeal and fervour through the years on grounds that the use of some words (by non-Muslims) like ‘Allah’ is offensive to the Muslims.

“Christian magazines using these so-called offensive word and other terminologies are threatened with non-renewal of permit to publish further. There are cases still pending in our courts today challenging all these restrictions which clearly amount to jeopardising the freedom of religion; in particular the rights of Christians from Sabah and Sarawak who prior to the formation of Malaysia had the absolute freedom to practice and propagate their belief.

“More appalling is that the ‘Alkitab’ has to be classified under Section 22 of the Internal Security Act as a document prejudicial to national security. It is ridiculous that the Holy Scriptures is categorised as such.

“In fact last month, a consignment of 10,000 copies of the ‘Alkitab’ from Indonesia was held up at Kuching Customs on grounds that the word ‘Allah’ was used. Appeals to the Home Minister failed and the consignment was returned to the consignor, thus depriving Christians of their religious right as enshrined under the Federal Constitution.

Citizenship
 
Baru said the main problem regarding citizenship is that many people who were born and lived in Sabah and Sarawak even before the formation of Malaysia do not have identity cards or birth certificates because they were ignorant of the requirement to apply for the papers and the lack of a proper registration system in many rural areas.

“Today, as a consequence, children of such parents are also deprived of citizenship rights. Some are unable to pursue further studies and even barred from taking public examinations. A system must be emplaced by the Federal Government to address this dilemma.

“On the other hand, thousands of illegal immigrants in Sabah have been issued with identity cards, which have enraged locals." The illegal act has not only brought about a political imbalance but also caused social problems in the state.

Special position of the indigenous races

Under Article 153, and because of the May 13, 1969 riots, the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced. The NEP aimed to eradicate poverty irrespective of race by expanding the economic pie so that the Chinese share of the economy would not be reduced in absolute terms but only relatively.

The aim was for the Malays to have a 30% equity share of the economy, as opposed to the 4% they held in 1970. Foreigners and Chinese held much of the rest.  

“Sabah and Sarawak, although rich in natural resources like, petroleum, LNG, land and forests, are now amongst the poorest states in Malaysia.

“Clear abuse of this policy has been going on for  years by those in authority. The poor remain poor,” he said, pointing out that the UNDP report for 2004, stated that Sarawak remained in the bottom half of a ranking of states by incidence of poverty, having slipped behind two more states (Kedah and Perlis) since 2002.

“Notwithstanding this policy, a clear National Economic Agenda as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat leaders should be immediately looked into with a focus on all races.

He said that the recent uproar over the true ethnicity of one Marina Undau invoked serious thinking on who are deemed natives in Sarawak under the laws, especially in light of the present development of inter-marriages between natives and non-natives.

“Although having an Iban (Sea Dayaks) father and a Chinese mother, she was deprived of the chance to do matriculation on grounds that she is not a bumiputra/native. To date, there is no case law that has defined the meaning of “native” under Article 161A (6)(a) of the Federal Constitution.

“We read in the media that the issue for Marina has been resolved through a Cabinet decision, which they say would apply to others in the same position.

“Be that as it may, it is my submission that an amendment of the said Article together with the Sarawak constitution must be made immediately for the sake of clarity.

He added that the legal position must be clear, including children born of parents where the father is a non-native and the mother is a native.

“Implications from such an understanding affect other areas of life like inheritance of and dealing in proprietary rights like NCR lands, the opening of ASB accounts, and all the rights enshrined in the federal and state constitutions accorded to such a native person,” said Baru, who is a prominent lawyer in NCR land cases.

“If such a case is not resolved today, I am afraid the natives are a dying race in Sarawak.”

Civil service and public scholarships

Most of the federal heads of department in Sabah and Sarawak are not locals.

“What about the members of the Public Service Commission itself? How many of its members are from Sabah and Sarawak? What about the Administration Diplomatic Service (ADS) department? How many Sabahans and Sarawakians are recruited into this service to this day?

“Many scholarships are given out not on ‘needs-basis’ but on ‘who you are basis’. A living example is myself.

"In spite of coming from a poor family and a pure Sarawak native, I was deprived of a scholarship when I furthered my education overseas. Today, there are thousands in the same category in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said. 

On issues of language and education, Baru said languages of bigger native tribes in the two states are taught in schools.

He proposed that other languages of minority native groups in the two states should also be taught at the primary school level.

“These minority groups must be allowed the opportunity to develop their own curriculum and the federal and state governments must support them or their cultures will fade away."