KOTA KINABALU – A Sabah activist has expressed concern about a claim that Malaysian identity cards stipulating the holder’s race as Malay are being indiscriminately given to non-Malays in Sabah, saying it will put Malays in Peninsular Malaysia on “defensive”.
Zainnal Ajamain, a Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) activist, said that the plan by an NGO called Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (Bopim) to seek a court declaration on the definition of “Malay” in Article 160 of the Federal Constitution is akin to “throwing a spanner for Putrajaya to fix”.
He said this is because the word “Malay” is being tossed about by federal leaders for political convenience and to hold on to power.
He said the plan by Bopim is making the NGO fall into a political trap.
“Basically, we (East Malaysians) don’t talk about this matter because it is a game and some are falling into the trap,” said Zainnal, who served as adviser to the Sabah government in the federal-state MA63 talks during the Warisan-led state government.
In a statement on March 23, Bopim president Daniel John Jambun had accused the National Registration Department (NRD) of indiscriminately handing out MyKads to non-Malays in Sabah.
Jambun said Bopim is going to file an originating summons at the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak seeking a declaration on the definition of “Malay” in Article 160.
The Vibes is made to understand that Bopim had picked up the matter via social media discourse. Asked to provide an instance of such indiscriminate MyKad issuance, the group refused to give any due to their lawyer’s advice.
Jambun said he had written three letters to the NRD over the matter, but until now has yet to receive a clear reply on the issue.
It is understood that such matters are only handled by the NRD head office in Putrajaya.
Jambun had also said that besides the racial category of “Malay”, the Statistics Department also has “other Bumiputera” as another category, separate from the Orang Asal.
However, he pointed out, there is no mention of “other Bumiputera” in Article 161A which deals with the special position of natives in Sabah and Sarawak.
Commenting on this, Zainnal said that while the sultans in West Malaysia have authority over Islam in their respective states, the term “Bumiputera” does not even exist in the federal constitution and therefore there is no such privilege stipulated therein.
Overall, he said that a Malay, as defined in accordance to the constitution, cannot own land in Sabah as a Malay is not native to the state.
Since East Malaysians are not Malays as defined under Article 160 of the Federal Constitution, they are not enjoying the privileges of the Malays as stated in Article 153.
He said Sabah has learnt its lesson in the past when non-natives abused a loophole in the state laws to acquire the native certificate (Sijil Anak Negeri) and acquired massive tracts of lands for themselves.
Zainnal said this begs the question over who the real natives in Sabah are. Unlike Sarawak which defines its indigenous people clearly, Sabah’s definition remains a work in progress.
He stressed that even before Sabah joined in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, its Interpretation (Definition of Native) Ordinance (Sabah Cap. 64) had not been properly amended although there have been efforts to do so.
This has been the case despite many political parties and alliances having taken power in the state.
There are currently over 40 ethnic groups in Sabah.
Zainnal also stressed that one glaring matter related to the racial issue in Sabah is NRD giving “bin” and “binti” prefixes to Dusun and Murut ethnic people in the state.
Such use can be easily interpreted as the person being Muslim; as such, many face problems getting married in the church.
He also cited instances of indigenous pagans who are arbitrarily assigned the religious status of Islam by the authorities, although this can be corrected by approaching the NRD. – The Vibes, March 24, 2021
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