Freeze on native certificate: Govt flouting the law

By Charlie Rudai

KOTA KINABALU: The state government must lift the freeze on the issuance of native certificate as it is an infringement of the constitution and a burden to Sino-natives in Sabah.

VK Liew, the deputy minister in the PM’s department, said the constitution clearly states that a 'native' is a citizen if one is the child or grandchild of a person of a race indigenous to Sabah and born either in Sabah or to a father domiciled in Sabah at time of birth.

"It is a constitutional right of those who into this category. Such right cannot be denied because to do so is unconstitutional," he said, after officiating the Liberal Democratic Party's(LDP) 1Malaysia 1Hope Christmas celebration near here over the weekend.

Since the freeze on native certificate, which was to used to validate their status, Sino-natives in Sabah have been facing problems such as transferring properties to their children who do not possess the Native Certificate, said Liew who is LDP president.

"We definitely cannot deny them their rights. Many practical problems have surfaced since the freezing of the issuance of native certificate in the 80s to those qualified," he said.

Liew, who is also in charge of the country’s Law Reform committee, said the state authority will have to address the issue quickly.

He added that the freeze on the issuance of Native Certificate itself was an infringement of the constitution.

"We have no choice or alternative in the matter but to rectify the issue immediately as it touches the constitutional right of these people," he said.

Issuance of native certificate was frozen by the state government in 1982 after reported abuses by those not qualified for it, including foreigners, getting the document.

The certificate is a valid document for a person of mixed parentage to be accorded native rights.

The controversy gathered steam after two Umno assemblymen Samsudin Yahya and Hajiji Mohd Noor, who is also local government and housing minister, questioned the right of Sabah DAP chief Jimmy Wong to hold such a certificate.

Hajiji had, during the recent state legislative assembly sitting, claimed Wong did not qualifiy as a Sino-native and that the state native affairs Council had been instructed to revoke his native certificate.

The council comes under the purview of the ministry of local government and housing. The issue backfired on the state government, which was forced to defend itself after Wong questioned its motives.

He said that while he indeed had a right to the certificate, the government was mum on thousands of 'new' Malaysians in Sabah who had obtained bumiputera rights and privileges.