Get back history before reclaiming rights, activist tells Sabah, Sarawak state governments
Zainal showing his book on his right hand and the Inter-Governmental
Committee Report and Malaysia Agreement 1963 on his left hand.
KUCHING: Sarawak and Sabah must first reclaim their history which was purposely lost before they can start to reclaim their rights in the Federation of Malaysia.
This is because when history is denied to society it may disappear for good, opined Zainnal Ajamain, a Sabahan who is active in reclaiming Sabah’s rights as provided in the caveats and safeguards in the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGCR) and the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63).
He lamented that the formation of the Federation of Malaysia was the missing chapter in the nation’s history – the part that was denied to Malaysians as well as people of the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak for the last 52 years.
He noted that the rights of the people of Sarawak and Sabah were enshrined in the IGCR and MA63, which were finally incorporated into the Federal Constitution (FC).
“We have very little time left to reclaim our history and with it our rights.
“The people in the Borneo Territories have eight more years to create awareness about this part of our history, failing which we shall be people without understanding about our past,” he said at the launch of his book entitled ‘The Queen’s Obligation’ here yesterday.
Zainnal said it was critical for the people in Sabah and Sarawak to dig deeper into the formation of Malaysia, push for the writing and studying of the history of the formation of Malaysia, organise healthy discourse and create the necessary awareness among the people with regards to their rights that were clearly spelt in the IGCR, MA63 and the FC.
“This is our birthright. It shall be our legacy to the future generations of Sabahans and Sarawakians,” he stressed.
He said Sabahans and Sarawakians, including politicians, should stop being delusional and start demanding for something which most of them knew very little about and were totally not prepared for.
He said the British had indeed left the people in Sabah and Sarawak with entrenched safeguards in the supreme law of the country.
The British, he added, even made it in such a way that even the highest law making body in the country – Malaysian Parliament – cannot touch or change the caveats and safeguards written in the IGCR and MA63.
Thus the people in Sarawak and Sabah must read and understand both the IGCR and MA63 properly, he continued.
He asked if the people in Sabah and Sarawak were clueless about their own rights and their own value, how then, could they bargain with anyone including the federal government.
Zainnal believed it was about time that all the people in Sabah and Sarawak must be assertive about their history, and read and understand it fully.
In addition, the people in Sabah and Sarawak, young and old, must have the knowledge and confidence to engage their ‘Trust Administrator’ about their rights, he asserted.
Equally important, he added, Sabahans and Sarawakians must be able to get their demands fulfilled in accordance with the IGCR, MA63 and the FC – no more no less – and not the 20 or 18 points memorandums.
Zainnal argued that the 20 or 18 points memorandums did not provide the safeguards for the Borneo states. He noted that in the case of Sabah, apart from four pieces of paper signed by local political parties in North Borneo at that time, there were no other documentations which could substantiate the claim.
“Those who read and analyse the 20 points memorandum closely will find that it contains no protection for Sabah and some points were headlines plagiarised from the Cobbold Commission report.
“The 20 points memorandum was never even considered in the ‘great compromise’ which was the Inter-Government Committee’s working parties and plenary sessions,” he elaborated.
He, however, was not sure of the contents of the 18 points memorandum signed by the political leaders in Sarawak during that time.
Zainnal is an economist by profession, graduating with a Masters degree from University of East Anglia.
He has held several high ranking positions in government and government think- tanks and has worked as a university lecturer, senior researcher, stockbroker and economist, and published several papers in international journals.
He is the co-founder of the United Borneo Front and a passionate activist promoting the Formation of Malaysia and Malaysia Agreement 1963,
Sabah Rights in the Federation, Sabah Oil & Gas rights, development of BIMP-EAGA and abolishing the long standing Cabotage Policy.
Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/10/29/get-back-history-before-reclaiming-rights-activist-tells-sabah-sarawak-state-governments/#ixzz3px8gLxrE
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