I will cooperate with police, says Sipaun

Luke Rintod

Irked Sabah Umno members want the police to act against former Suhakam official Simon Sipaun for his blunt assessment of pre-1963 Sabah. (Watch Video on Sipaun's Speech)

KOTA KINABALU: A former vice-chairman of Human Rights Commission Malaysia (Suhakam), Simon Sipaun, is prepared to face the police over his statement that “life in Sabah was better prior to joining Malaysia in 1963”.

As a result of his blunt assessment of the current situation in Sabah, two Umno divisions from Tawau have lodged two police reports against him.

Tawau Umno deputy liaison chief Mohammad Jeffrey Rosman, who lodged the report yesterday, claimed that Sipaun’s statement was allegedly “misleading and seditious”.

Mohammad in his report said that Sipaun’s words on the sensitive issue could “mislead” the people to go against the government of the day.

“Sabah is actually being administered very well with many physical developments going on under the able leadership of hardworking and wise Chief Minister Musa Aman,” Mohammad said.

Sipaun, who spoke at last Saturdays inter-party dialogue, had been widely quoted in the local media as having said that “life in Sabah in a way was better prior to joining Malaysia in 1963 as it is more or less at par with then Malaya whose own development was also not that advanced at that time”.

He had said that while Malaya has since progressed by leaps and bounds, Sabah is now the poorest within Malaysia and afflicted with many perennial problems despite its wealth from natural resources.

‘No repressive laws’

Said Sipaun: “Admittedly, there was no development as seen today but Sabah was not alone as Malaya was not much better.

“There was no racial problem. Mixed marriages were very common. That’s why there are many ‘peranakans’ (babas and nyonyas) in Sabah.

“If Sabahans are now conscious of racial and religious divides, they learnt it from the peninsula.

“There were no illegal immigrants. There were no cases of Sabahans losing citizenship status while foreigners gained it without much difficulty.

“There were no repressive and draconian laws such as the Official Secrets Act (OSA), Internal Security Act (ISA), the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Sedition Act, the Police Act and the Proclamations of Emergency.

“There was no quarrelling over dead bodies.

“The composition of the civil service was multiracial. Meritocracy was appreciated, observed and practised. Corruption and ‘ketuanan Melayu’ were unheard of. The list continues.

“How not to miss pre-Malaysia Sabah?”

Unbiased discussion

When contacted by FMT today, Sipuan, the former state secretary, who is well into his 70s but is still active, said he had no problem with cooperating with the police on their investigation into the matter.
“I am in Kuala Lumpur at the moment until the weekend. I take note of the situation and will cooperate with the police investigation,” he said.

Organised by the United Borneo Front (UBF) chief Jeffrey Kitingan, the inter-party dialogue brought together several prominent figures from the non-government sector as well as political parties.

Former chief minister and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) leader Yong Teck Lee led a delegation of about 20 party officials.

He also presented a paper on the problems faced by the state since agreeing to form Malaysia in 1963.
The public seminar was geared towards starting an unbiased discussion on how to deal with the troubling issues that have cropped up in the state since 1963.

However none from the ruling Barisan Nasional parties – Umno, PBS, Upko, PBRS, LDP – had responded to the UBF invitation.

Also not present were Pakatan Rakyat parties, PKR and DAP.
Sabah PKR, however, marked its attendance through its leaders Christina Liew, Dr Chong Eng Leong and Guandee Kohoi.

Jeffrey and his group is seeking to compel the Federal government to comply with the many pre-Malaysia Day (1963) assurances, pledges and agreements to make Sabah and Sarawak autonomous governments within Malaysia.

Sipaun's previous release