KOTA KINABALU – A human rights group will file an originating summons at the Borneo High Court on the definition of “Malay” in Article 160 of the federal constitution.
The Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (Bopim) decided to make the move following the alleged indiscriminate issuance of Malaysian identity cards to non-Malays in Sabah, with their races therein stipulated as “Malay”.
“We want the court’s declaration on a point of law related to the first and second prongs of the said article,” said its president, Daniel John Jambun.
“At present, the National Registration Department (NRD) may be indiscriminately handing out Malay MyKad to every Muthu, Duterte and Monsopiad in Malaysia.
“Besides ‘Malay’ in Sabah, the Statistics Department also has ‘other Bumiputera’ as another category, separate from the Orang Asal.”
However, there is no mention of “other Bumiputera” in Article 161A, which deals with the special position of natives in Sabah and Sarawak.
“There’s widespread talk on various social media platforms in Sabah that Muslims from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia, among others, are allegedly holding Malay MyKad in the state,” said Jambun.
He added that these Muslims from other countries may be in Malaysian electoral rolls.
“I have been fruitlessly urging NRD for months to confirm that such MyKad are not in their data bank. I sent them a letter, followed by several reminders.”
He expressed confidence that the court will agree with Bopim that the first two prongs of Article 160 must be read together.
This should rightfully entail that Malay MyKad be confined to Malaya, or Peninsular Malaysia, he said.
“The first prong on language, culture, customs and traditions relates solely to the second prong.”
The second prong, Article 160(2), states that “Malay” means “a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom” and:
(a) was before Merdeka Day born in the Federation (Malaya) or in Singapore, or born of parents one of whom was born in the Federation or in Singapore, or is on that day domiciled in the Federation or in Singapore; or,
(b) is the issue of such a person.
Jambun said the article means that only the descendants of those classified as Malay under the second prong by Merdeka on August 31, 1957 are eligible to get Malay MyKad.
‘Orang Asal are not Malay’
Jambun lamented NRD’s apparent reading of the first prong in isolation and allegedly issuing MyKad widely in Malaya and Sabah to Muslims and converts.
“All Malays in Malaya are Muslim, but not all Muslims are Malay.”
He said the intention of the framers of the federal constitution on Article 160(2) is clear: Malays are descendants of Muslims, speaking Malay, and born or domiciled in Singapore or Malaya by August 31, 1957, i.e. Merdeka in the peninsula.
“If the first prong is read in isolation, any Muslim in Malaysia can be classified as Malay in their MyKad. In that case, if not eligible under the second prong, they would literally be holding fraudulent MyKad.
“In that case, they should be purged from the electoral rolls.”
He cited Muslim Orang Asal in Sabah as a case in point. He also believes that non-Orang Asal Muslims in the state, like the Bajau, Suluk and Barunai, among others, may be holding Malay MyKad.
“The Muslim Orang Asal in Sabah cannot be listed as Malay. They own NCR (native customary rights) land as natives. Malays can’t own NCR land and are not natives in Sabah.”
He cautioned the Sabah Lands and Surveys Department against allowing holders of Malay MyKad to own NCR land in the state, as Article 161A does not allow Malays as listed under Article 160(2) to own such land in Sabah.
Jambun said his curiosity on this matter was aroused when anti-immigration activist Chong Eng Leong mentioned in his book, Lest We Forget – Security and Sovereignty in Sabah, that there were 303,500 Malays in the state in 2000.
“Such a large number could not have originated from Malaya,” said Jambun.
By 2020, 20 years later, the number could have easily doubled or even tripled, he estimated. – The Vibes, March 23, 2021
