Archive for category Sabah
Joseph Pairin’s greatest act of patriotism is to put an immediate end to the 40-year “merry-go-rounds” on the Sabah illegal immigrants problem and not to be a party or to give his blessing to another “merry-go-round” by heading a committee to review the RCIIIS Report
Kudos to the PBS President, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan for being hailed as a “true Malaysian patriot” by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Sunday.
I do not know whether this implied that Joseph Pairin’s brother is not a “true Malaysian patriot”, but in keeping with his responsibility as a “true Malaysian patriot”, Joseph Pairin’s final and greatest responsibility is to end the 40-year “merry-go-rounds” to resolve the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah which had mushroomed from the 140,000 figure which I cited in 1978 to some 1.5 million to 1.9 million today, completely changing the political demography and socio-economic circumstances in Sabah.
Pairin said his party had called for the formation of the RCI since it was established in 1985.
When I spoke in Parliament in March 1986 on the Fifth Malaysia Plan, where I devoted the bulk of my speech on Sabah and the problem of illegal refugees in the state, I estimated that there were about 300,000 Filipino illegal immigrants in Sabah.
I called on the Federal Government to take firm action to uphold the law, honour the Rukunegara, liberate Sabahans from the menace posed by the illegal immigrants by sending increased reinforcements of police and security forces, in particular marine police, to protect Sabahans from internal unrest and external threat fomented by the illegal immigrants. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Cabinet on Friday to appoint Joseph Pairin as Chairman of RCIIIS Implementation Committee and not RCIIIS Review Committee to demonstrate that BN has the political will to resolve the 40-year old illegal immigrants problem in Sabah
Posted by Kit in Parliament, Sabah on Tuesday, 18 November 2014
The Cabinet, as its weekly meeting on Friday, should appoint Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan as Chairman of the Implementation Committee for the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) and not just a Review Committee into the findings of the RCIIIS to indulge in another bout of merry-go-rounds purportedly to compile recommendations on what actions should be taken by the Federal Government on the RCIIIS Report.
The Pairin RCIIIS Implementation Committee should be given all necessary Federal and Sabah State government powers to immediately implement the recommendations of the RCIIIS, and all the relevant Federal and State Ministries and departments should come under its purview and direction.
The Pairin RCIIS Implementaiton Committee should be given two months to present a report to Parliament on the RCIIIS recommendations which it could not implement, state the reasons and seek parliamentary authority for the steps and measures which should be taken to deal with these aspects of the RCIIIS Report.
This is the only way to demonstrate that the Barisan Nasional has the political will to once and for all resolve the 40-year long-standing illegal immigrant problem in Sabah. Read the rest of this entry »
Pairin special committee on Report of RCI on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) the latest chapter of the 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabahans as it is proof of continued lack of political will with solution of long-standing problem completely out of sight
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Monday, 17 November 2014
On Saturday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak finally announced that the Cabinet at its Friday meeting on November 14, 2014 decided that the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into illegal immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) will be made public by the beginning of next month and that a special committee headed by the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan would be formed to look into the findings and compile recommendations.
Although Najib’s announcement was hailed by Barisan Nasional leaders in Sabah, the formation of the Pairin special committee on RCIIIS is only the latest chapter in the 40-year Great Betrayal of Sabahans as it is proof of the continued lack of political will to resolve the long-stand problem with the solution of a problem which had spanned over two generations completely out of sight!
At the opening of the 29th PBS congress in Kota Kinabalu yesterday, Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the people have high hopes for the Federal Government to put to rest the long-standing issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah and many were looking forward to learn about the findings by the RCIIIS and the solutions to the issue.
He said: “Effective implementation is needed, including stern enforcement. It also requires a strong political will. We need to eradicate the perception among illegals that they have the right to encroach on Sabah.”
Fat hopes indeed, as such political will are completely absent, or it would not have taken some seven months before publication of the Report of the RCIIIS.
Dare Pairin state when he expects the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to be resolved? In 2015, 2016, 2017, before or after the 14th General Elections, 2018, 2019 or even 2020? Read the rest of this entry »
Release Sabah RCI report now, not next month, Pakatan MPs tell PM
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Parliament, Sabah on Sunday, 16 November 2014
Ida Lim
Malay Mail Online
November 16, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Instead of next month, Putrajaya should release the long-awaited report on Sabah’s illegal immigrants issue immediately, in time for the document to be tabled in Parliament before it ends in two weeks, several Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs said.
The lawmakers said they want the report, which contains crucial findings by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the influx of immigrants into the east Malaysian state, to be dissected, debated and passed by federal lawmakers in the legislative house.
DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, a veteran politician who has been fighting the issue for a good part of his career, even called it “completely unsatisfactory” that the federal government had chosen to sit so long on the RCI’s report, when it was already completed in May this year.
He pointed out that the issue has haunted Sabah for decades now, and has caused the state “grave” security, social and economic problems.
“It is not a signal that the government is serious and sincere in resolving the longstanding issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah, which has completely changed the political demography in the state,” he told Malay Mail Online when asked to comment on Putrajaya’s decision yesterday to make the report public early next month.
“And it would appear that the whole thing – the release – was timed to be made after Parliament and Sabah state assembly meeting,” the Gelang Patah MP pointed out. Read the rest of this entry »
Feted abroad, but Ambiga gets banned from Sabah
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, civil society/NGOs, Sabah on Saturday, 15 November 2014
by Anisah Shukry
The Malaysian Insider
15 November 2014
Just a day after receiving an international award in Hong Kong, prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has been banned from entering Sabah ahead of her planned visit to Malaysia’s eastern-most state.
A letter informing the former Bar Council president of the ban was waiting for her when she returned to Malaysia yesterday, after she was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2014 ceremony in Hong Kong on Thursday.
The letter, from the Sabah Immigration Department, was in response to Ambiga’s own letter to them on Tuesday, informing them of her intention to visit Sabah on November 25 for a programme with the new people’s movement, Negara-Ku.
“I had written to them because I don’t want to fly all the way there just to be told I’m not allowed in. It was just a formality, to confirm there was no restriction.
“But then they wrote back and said they had rejected my application – even though I wasn’t even applying for their permission to enter Sabah,” the Negara-Ku patron told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »
Again, Putrajaya shows its bark is worse than its bite
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Law & Order, Religion, Sabah, Sarawak on Friday, 31 October 2014
COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
31 October 2014
In most countries, civil servants who do not obey cabinet directives are disciplined. But in Malaysia, cabinet ministers have to appeal or cajole civil servants to follow government directives or the law.
The latest is the Royal Malaysian Customs Department’s move to seize some 300 Christian CDs and books containing the word Allah from Sabahan pastor Maklin Masiau in klia2 last week.
Masiau’s case is not the first, and is most likely not the last despite assurances from Putrajaya that it respects the religious rights of all Malaysians under the Federal Constitution. Read the rest of this entry »
Challenge to make Sabah a model of corruption-free administration instead of topping the list among the most corrupt administrations in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Sabah on Sunday, 26 October 2014
Recently, anti-corruption is in the news.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had finally acted against illegal logging activity in Sarawak, with the arrest of a senior police officer who is head of a police district headquarters in the State and believed to have received RM16,000 in bribes.
MACC has estimated some RM100 million are lost as a result of illegal logging activity in Sarawak, which is a puny figure compared to the tens of billions of ringgit garnered by corruption every year.
Last month, eight customs officers were charged in Kuala Lumpur with 28 separate counts of receiving bribery involving a total sum of RM34,400 at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
These anti-corruption actions made quite a splash in the local media simply because there had been so little real anti-corruption news as distinct from propaganda to report for the past few years, even thought those arrested recently belong to the ‘flies” category in China’s anti-corruption campaign against “tigers and flies”. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP wins over six Pitas villages
Joe Fernandez| October 5, 2014
Free Malaysia Today
“Hearts and minds” initiative to improve quality of life in rural areas reaches poverty-stricken Northern Sabah.
KOTA KINABALU: Impian Sabah, a DAP Sabah outreach programme, seems determined to rub the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) nose in the dirt.
An Impian Sabah team turned up this time in Pitas, one of the poorest spots in Malaysia, to fund a basic access road for six villages with about 3,000 people to connect with the nearest town about 7.4 km away. Pitas is situated in the right wolf’s ear of Sabah on the map.
“We handed over RM33,000 on Saturday to the people at a ceremony in Kampung Dowokon, Pitas, for them to build the road,” said Sandakan MP Stephen Wong who also co-ordinates the Impian Sabah Programme.
“The money, sourced from the public, will cover phase one of the project. It will cover 3.8 km of the road,” Wong explained.
Dowokon will share the funds with five other villages viz. Mandamai, Kobon Seberang, Perupok, Maliau Pusat and Maliau Layung. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP not for secession
John Joseph| September 3, 2014
Free Malaysia Today
KOTA KINABALU: DAP has clarified it had never advocated the secession of Sabah and Sarawak from the Federation.
“Advocating secession is sedition under Malaysian law,” acknowledged DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang during a visit here for Merdeka.
He was commenting on a statement by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Sipitang last Saturday that “Sabah belongs to Malaysia” and that action would be taken against those advocating the Borneo nation’s secession from the Federation.
Lim added that no political party, to the best of his knowledge, advocated secession from Malaysia.
What the DAP wanted to see, stressed Lim, was democratic change and reform in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
The Batu Sumpah Movement
Posted by Kit in Malaysian Dream, nation building, Sabah on Sunday, 31 August 2014
(via tweet)
At the launching of Batu Sumpah movement Keningau this morning, I quoted: “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting”.
At this morning’s annual routine ceremony for Batu Sumpah, Keningau District Office locked up its compound to prevent public access to Batu Sumpah.
At first Keningau DO gave approval for the routine ceremony. Very flattered that permission was withdrawn/compound locked when they learned that I would be here.
But there’s more than a silver lining for every cloud. The ridiculous lock-up of Keningau Batu Sumpah has inspired a Batu Sumpah movement.
Orang Asal NGOs 1st responese was to produce a replica of Batu Sumpah with the inscriptions of 3 oaths for the ritual ceremony to be performed – outsmart the lockout.
This has led to the idea to place a replica of Keningau Batu Sumpah in every Kampung in Sabah – fantastic step to spread the Batu Sumpah awareness in Sabah.
If there is a Batu Sumpah in every kampung – hundreds, thousands? – come about, must thank person who locked up the Keningau DO compound to block access to the Batu Sumpah.
Straw poll gives peek into restive feeling in Sabah, Sarawak
BY SHERIDAN MAHAVERA AND DESMOND DAVIDSON
The Malaysian Insider
1 August 2014
A straw poll has confirmed a trend that Sabah and Sarawak folk are becoming more restive, with many urban Sarawakians even talking openly about leaving the federation.
The straw poll of 100 revealed that 72% of Sarawak folk felt that leaving the federation was the best option, with only 14% in Sabah agreeing.
The straw poll also revealed that 43% of them believed that the best way for Sabah and Sarawak to solve their problems was to leave Malaysia and go at it alone.
Secession is considered treason under Malaysian law.
Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s response to Mabul attack resulting in death of one policeman and abduction of another, too little, too late and smacks of a cover-up
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Monday, 14 July 2014
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s response yesterday to the Mabul attack by Sulu terrorists when he visited Sabah on Saturday night, resulting in the killing of a policeman and abduction of another, is not only too little, too late but also smacks of a cover-up.
Najib’s order to the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to review the security system along the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) to be more detailed so that it cannot be penetrated by enemies should have been his first directive when Esscom was established after the Lahad Datuk incursions in April last year and not after 15 months of its establishment chalking up a disastrous catalogue of murders, abductions and violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sabah and Malaysia by Filipino terrorists.
Sabahans can still remember Najib’s boast at Esscom’s launch that Esscom was “the fastest decision made in the history of Malaysia in terms of creating posts in any government agency” but it has proved to be the most costly and unproductive of all government decisions, in terms of human lives, bad international image for the country, economic costs and public expenditures, resulting in a rare show of unity by Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament denouncing the ineptitude of Esscom and even demanding its abolition and replacement by a more effective security high command structure in Sabah. Read the rest of this entry »
What leadership is Najib showing when he refuses to make public the report of RCIII in Sabah although it has been presented to Putrajaya for close to two months after decades of foot-dragging on the issue?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Thursday, 10 July 2014
Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak cited Brazil’s ignominous 1-7 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals as the pitfalls awaiting Malaysia if there is an absence of leadership.
Unfortunately, Najib is one of the heads of government in the world who has a lot to learn from Brazil’s massacre by Germany, for in the past year, Najib has shown a singular lack of leadership as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
For instance, what leadership is Najib showing when he refuses to make public the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants (RCIII) in Sabah although it has been presented to Putrajaya for close to two months after decades of foot-dragging on the issue?
In fact, Najib will lose all credibility as leader and Prime Minister, particularly in Sabah, if he continues to lock up the Report of the RCIII in the vaults in Putrajaya, even though he is the first Prime Minister to accede to the demands of the Sabahans for a royal commission of inquiry on the issue. Read the rest of this entry »
Another fatal defect in Speaker Pandikar’s ruling that Malaysia is not a secular state was his sole reliance on Jamil Khir’s explanation and failure to canvass all views in Parliament on the controversial subject, including those from non-UMNO Ministers/MPs from BN
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Parliament, Sabah, Sarawak on Friday, 20 June 2014
Yesterday I said that Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had exceeded his powers and functions as Speaker of Parliament when he passed judgment on the Malaysian Constitution ruling that Malaysia is not a secular state.
This is because it is not the role or function of the Speaker of Parliament to interpret the Constitution and make a Constitutional ruling which becomes an authority quoted by all and sundry as the law of the land.
Although Pandikar has limited his interpretation to “merely for the purposes of this House” and not an opinion to be “an authority” in the country, there is no doubt that it would be quoted by various quarters as an “authority” both inside and outside Parliament to justify the arbitrary, dubious and controversial stand that Malaysia is not a secular state.
Another fatal defect in Pandikar’s ruling that Malaysia is not a secular state was his sole reliance on the explanation by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom and his failure to canvass all views in Parliament on the controversial subject, including those from non-UMNO Ministers and MPs from Barisan Nasional.
As the DAP MP for Bandar Kuching, Chong Chieng Jen had tried to point out in Parliament after Pandikar’s ruling yesterday, as far as Sarawak and Sabah were concerned with regard to the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Jamil was very wrong to say that Malaysia is not a secular state “berdasarkan kepada fakta sejarah yang menunjukkan bahawa Malaysia telah ditubuhkan berasaskan Kerajaan Islam Kesultanan Melayu dan Raja Raja Melayu merupakan Ketua Agama bagi negeri masing masing” – as both Sarawak and Sabah (and Singapore, which was a party to the Malaysia Agreement 1963) did not have a history of Malay Rulers. Read the rest of this entry »
M’sia not secular state – what say Sabah, S’wak?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Sabah, Sarawak on Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Malaysiakini
Jun 17, 2014
YOURSAY ‘Position of Sabah and S’wak, where there is no official religion, is clear.’
Malaysia not secular state, gov’t says
Aries46: The Federal Court has in no uncertain terms declared that we are a secular nation and this has been reaffirmed even in a High Court decision last month.
Even a layperson is aware that we are a constitutional monarchy and our constitution is based on secular and democratic principles under parliamentary supremacy.
Even Muslims are subject to the civil courts notwithstanding the fact that the Syariah Court has jurisdiction over their religious and customary family matters.
While the civil court may not have purview over matters related to the syariah court, the latter is also not empowered to trample on the constitutional rights and provisions under civil law that is legally binding and exclusive to non-Muslims, under the guise of conversion.
This is an injustice universally under any law, Islamic or otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib must take a clear stand – whether he is with the moderates or the extremists, whether he is for 1Malaysia or the very antithesis of 1Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Sabah on Wednesday, 7 May 2014
On 5th May 2014, the first anniversary of the 13th General Elections, Malaysians were torn by grave disillusionment with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for a year of failed policies and the dire prospect of a break-up of Pakatan Rakyat over hudud law.
The next day, the beginning of the second year of Najib’s second administration as Prime Minister could not have started on a more ominous note, heralding that Malaysia is heading for a new dark age where all the grandiloquent pledges and slogans of 1Malaysia, World’s Best Democracy and Government Transformation Programme would be consigned to the dustbins of history and replaced by undemocratic, repressive, unjust and draconian rule.
In the morning, the PR/DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok was charged in Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with sedition over her Chinese New Year “Onederful Malaysia” video, a 11-minute clip lampooning and criticising various failures of government policies.
It is supreme irony that one of the five criticisms in her video alleged to be seditious was about the security situation in East Sabah especially after the abduction of the Taiwan tourist in an island resort off Semporna in November last year – as on the morning that Teresa was charged, news were received of another abduction of a Chinese national in a nearby island off Lahad Datu at about 2.45 a.m. the same day!
Teresa was telling the truth, but telling the truth has become sedition in Najib’s Malaysia as the Prime Minister has forgotten his promises to repeal the draconian and colonial Sedition Act. Read the rest of this entry »
Release the RCI report on Sabah illegal immigrants
By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.news
21.4.2014
Kidnappings and illegal immigrants – these are issues that are closely related, because they raise the pressing question of how secure Sabah’s east coast really is. So when a Chinese tourist and a Filipino worker were abducted by gunmen from Singamata Reef Resort off Semporna on April 2, proving once again that marauders from around the surrounding areas and the Philippines can easily penetrate Sabah’s eastern border, the incident also reminded us how easily illegal immigrants have been hopping into Sabah over the decades.
This naturally led to another question. A Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) was established in 2012 to finally investigate the issue of Sabah’s illegal immigrants, and it concluded its hearings on September 20, 2013. But after seven months, we have not yet been told what the six-man panel have recommended. When will the RCI findings be revealed?
Is the Federal Government, as usual, waiting for the right timing to release the findings so that it can use the occasion for its own political leverage? Or is it holding back because the recommendations may be detrimental to its own position? Read the rest of this entry »
Outpouring of grief and respect by sea of humanity at Karpal’s funeral reaffirmation of Malaysians’ support for justice, rule of law and democracy – the very ideals Karpal fought for in his whole life
The outpouring of grief and respect by a sea of humanity at Karpal Singh’s funeral in Penang yesterday was a reaffirmation of Malaysians’ support for justice, the rule of law and democracy – the very ideals which Karpal had fought for in his whole life.
For four days, Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age or gender, grieved at the sudden and shocking death of Karpal at an accident at the North-South Expressway near Gua Tempurung.
The nation-wide grief and shock over Karpal’s death was so great and overwhelming that over these four days, the great tragedy of MH370 with 239 passengers and crew vanishing without any clue since March 8 and the shocking ESSCOM security situation with a tourist from China abducted at the Singamata Reef Resort off Semporna on April 2 were momentarily edged aside.
But Karpal, if still alive, would want proper closure for these two shocking events. Read the rest of this entry »
Government’s denial syndrome in both MH370 disaster and ESSCOM crisis are biggest stumbling blocks in efforts to restore national and international confidence in the security and good governance in Malaysia
The government’s denial syndrome in both the MH370 disaster and ESSCOM crisis are the biggest stumbling blocks in efforts to restore national and international confidence in the security and good governance in Malaysia.
The Malaysiakini interview by the former Sabah Police Commissioner from 2002 to 2004, Ramli Yusuff describing the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) as “ridiculous” because of the duplication of the chain of command in ESSZONE is serious food for thought and basis for immediate decision by the Cabinet.
The ESSCOM director-general Datuk Mohamad Mentek’s boast during the first anniversary celebrations of ESSCOM on April 1 about the ESSCOM’s twin successes in combining the role of the four components in Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) – Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) and public agencies – and to stop abductions of foreign tourists have proved to be most premature following another abduction in five months and less than 24 hours of the ESSCOM’s first anniversary celebrations.
Recounting from his experiences as Sabah Police Commissioner about a decade ago, Ramli advocates that ESSCOM should be headed by the state police chief to avoid duplication of the chain of command and to ensure a better grip on security operational matters.
Ramli said it is ridiculous to have ESSCOM which creates a conflicting chain of command, and wants ESSCOM to be headed by the police or army, but he prefers the police because this is an internal security matter.
As ex-Sabah police commissioner, Ramli thinks that Mohamad Mentek is not suitable to be the ESSCOM director-general as he is from the Immigration Department and “doesn’t know operational matters”. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang, Pakatan trio to probe into effectiveness of Sabah maritime force
The Malaysian Insider
– April 15, 2014
Four opposition MPs are on a mission to find out if the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) is nothing but a white elephant, following the kidnapping of two foreign women from the Singamata Reef resort off Semporna on April 2.
It comes on the heels of a series of kidnappings from the eastern side of the state – which is a top tourist draw – even after the RM300 million security unit was set up last year following the Lahad Datu intrusion.
In November last year, Taiwanese Chang An Wei Chang was abducted in a raid at the Pom Pom island resort in Semporna, while Taiwanese businessman Li Min Hsu, 57, was killed, when gunmen opened fire during the attack.
Chang was released in December, 36 days after she was kidnapped, after negotiations with the kidnappers.
DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang and three other opposition MPs – Jimmy Wong (DAP – Kota Kinabalu), Stephen Wong (DAP – Sandakan) and retired First Admiral Mohamad Imran bin Abdul Hamid (PKR – Lumut) – are on a mission to find out what Putrajaya can do to ensure Esccom operates more effectively. Read the rest of this entry »
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