Star wants Harris to ‘redeem’ himself in time

By Daniel John Jambun
KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh has been advised to stand up for Sabah, if not for Sarawak as well, and thereby redeem himself in time finally in the eyes of the people instead of continuing to defend Putrajaya, for no rhyme or reason, “in defiance of the longterm interest of the state”.

This is the best advice that the State Reform Party (Star) can give Harris “who appears determined to commit political suicide a second time, the first being in 1985”.

“If Harris really cares about the future of our children, grandchildren and the generations unborn, he will not continue to support our present status of being virtually enslaved by Putrajaya,” said Star deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun. “If we still have any dignity left at all in us, we would forge our own destiny and be masters of our own house instead of continuing to kowtow to Putrajaya.”

Daniel was responding to a statement by Harris in the local media on Sat and in which he renewed his dare to Star chairman Jeffrey Kitingan to debate him on the allegation that Putrajaya was pursuing internal colonization policies in Sabah and Sarawak.

Daniel said that unless Harris proved locus standi on the issue; the people will still be left with the same impression that they had of him since 1985 i.e. Big Nuisance Value, Small Political Value.

Asked to explain the people’s lingering “perception” of Harris, Daniel said this was related among others to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the handover of Labuan to Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia), and the signing of the so-called oil agreement when the related Petroleum Development Act was unconstitutional.

“Harris was tainted forever by Mahathir raising his hands in 1985 and declaring that Umno will swim or sink with Berjaya,” said Daniel. “Sabahans knew that day for the first time who was Harris. That was the trigger off point for Sabahans to kick out Berjaya by voting for the Parti Bersatu Sabah.”

The people of Sabah, he stressed, were merely endorsing in their “perception” what Mahathir himself had once said in describing Harris.

Harris, continued Daniel, “had still not learnt the lessons of 1985” and was continuing to root unasked for Putrajaya in Sabah instead of distancing himself from the Federal Government, remaining neutral, holding his peace or at least agreeing to disagree to disagree like a gentleman on the issue of internal colonization.

Harris, reminded Daniel, could not be the honest broker for us with Putrajaya on the internal colonization issue if he at the same continued to remain in a state of denial.

“The evidence of internal colonization is all around us from Putrajaya’s ketuanan Melayu concept to Sabah being the poorest state in Malaysia and many other issues in between,” said Daniel. “Yet Harris remains deaf, dumb and blind to our continued servitude. Why should we be linked with Peninsular Malaysia, across the South China Sea, when we can be on our own like Brunei and Singapore and doing well instead of being dirt poor?”

Touching on Harris’ expressed intention to debate Jeffrey on internal colonization through the media, matching statement for statement, Daniel welcomed the intended move “provided the former Chief Minister could contribute something more than hot air”.

The issues related to internal colonization, according to Daniel, include marginalisation and disenfranchisement of locals through the continuing influx of illegal immigrants; and the illegals entering the electoral rolls after misleading the authorities, and by fraud and deception, obtaining Malaysian personal documents in defiance of the Constitution.

He does not rule out the possibility that National Registration Department (NRD) officials in Putrajaya, as previously alleged numerous times, had either knowingly or unknowingly issued Malaysian personal documents to these illegal immigrants. Those who received Malaysian personal documents from Putrajaya must leave Sabah, he added. “Only those eligible foreigners recommended for Malaysian personal documents by the state government can stay in Sabah.”

The enormous and excessive power of the Federal Government can, must and should be taken away and returned to the states in keeping with the concept of Federation, stressed Daniel, the federal civil service downsized and reined in on administrative law, the autonomy of Sabah and Sarawak restored with the Federal Government confining itself to defence, foreign affairs and national economic planning in Borneo; Malaysia brought back as a two-tier Federation; the Federal Government shared equally by Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak; the Doctrine of the Separation of Powers restored; and “fanatics and racists” denied the Prime Minister’s post which should be open to Sabah and Sarawak as well. 

Daniel suggested that besides defending Putrajaya against the allegations of pursuing internal colonization policies in Sabah and Sarawak, Harris could also explain the loss of the self-determination that both states obtained on 31 Aug 1963 and subsequently left dormant after the Federal Government pledged to comply with four constitutional documents and/or conventions on Malaysia viz. the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63); the 20/18 Points (20/18 P); the Inter-governmental Committee Report (IGCR); and the Cobbold Commission Report (CCR).

“The non-compliance of these four constitutional documents/conventions not only equates with internal colonization but means that Malaysia did not come into being at all on 16 Sept 1963 and our status of 31 Aug 1963 therefore remains undiminished under international law,” said Daniel. “Harris should keep this in mind when he tries to root for Putrajaya.”

Daniel said that Star and its allies in the United Borneo Alliance (UBA) took the view that Putrajaya would have been in compliance if “local traitors had not been willing to be proxies and stooges for the Federal Government to facilitate internal colonization policies in Sabah and Sarawak”.
“It’s these traitors who had emboldened Putrajaya to embark on colonial divide-and-rule tactics like pitting the Muslims and non-Muslims against each to create racial polarisation a la Peninsular Malaysia,” said Daniel. “Borneonisation, which is being observed more often than not in the breach, is one example being used by Putrajaya to pit the people against each other.”

Daniel, in summing up, said that Putrajaya had no option but reverse its internal colonization policies in Sabah and Sarawak and comply with the four constitutional documents/conventions or accept the reality that Malaysia does not exist in the two Borneo states whose self-determination of 31 Aug 1963 remains undiminished by 16 Sept 1963 i.e. the latter date being a nullity in international law and the Constitution.

“In short, Sabah and Sarawak are independent countries and have been so since 31 Aug 1963 and are not members of the so-called Malaysian Federation,” said Daniel. “That’s the position that a UBA-led state government would take in Sabah and Sarawak and advise the United Nations Security Council accordingly if there’s continued non-compliance.”

The Star Sabah and Sarawak initiated, formed and led UBA includes the Sarawak National Party (Snap); the Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF), the Borneo Forum (BF), the Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMA), KoKaKoBa, an NGO in Penampang, other NGOS still in the process of signing up, and the proposed Star chapter in Peninsular Malaysia to help build a Borneo-based and led 3rd Force in the Malaysian Parliament.