Activist denies falling into ‘trap’ over ‘Malay’ classification in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU – Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (Bopim) leader Daniel John Jambun today denied he had fallen into a “political trap” over an issue about Article 160 of the federal constitution.

He said there is already a widespread concern among non-Malaysians about Muslim indigenous people being classified as “Malay”.

Jambun told The Vibes that these concerns stem from the data stored in MyKad, as verification can only be done at the National Registration Department (NRD).

He said he had written three letters to the NRD but yet to get any response.

He added that there should be no “Malay in Sabah” as defined under Article 160, only “Bumiputera Sabah”, however, this is not defined in the federal constitution.

The only “Malays” that exist in Sabah are “Brunei Malays”, who are referred to as “Orang Brunei”.

Jambun said figures released by the Election Commission and the Statistics Department confirmed the presence of a large number of the constitutionally defined “Malays”.

“The question is: who are these people? This is why we need the high court to declare the definition of ‘Malays’ as noted in Article 160(2).”

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.

He was also responding to Sabah activist Zainnal Ajamain, who said Bopim’s plan to seek a court declaration on the definition of “Malay” is akin to “throwing a spanner for Putrajaya to fix”.

Article 160 defines “Malays” as people who are Muslim and habitually speak and follow Malay customs.

Article 161A refers to the definition of natives of Sabah, which provides Article 153, that in turn provides the special positions of the indigenous people of Sabah.

Unlike Sarawak, which clearly defines the indigenous groups in the state, Sabah’s Interpretation (Definition of Native) Ordinance Cap 64 does not clearly define who indigenous people are.

There are more than 40 indigenous groups in Sabah and the process of amending the ordinance to include the full list of ethnic groups is a work in progress.

Further to the claim of the presence of a Malay population in Sabah, Jambun highlighted anti-immigration activist Chong Eng Leong, who wrote in his book that there were 303,500 Malays in Sabah in 2000.

“Such a large number could not have originated from Malaya, or Singapore for that matter.

“By 2020, the number could have easily doubled or even tripled,” said Jambun. – The Vibes, March 25, 2021