Barely 25 kilometres away from where Prime Minister Najib was busy attending 'staged' functions in Sabah, about 500 protesters called for 'independence' for Sabah.
KENINGAU: As Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak went about wooing support for his embattled government in this interior district of Sabah, he was kept blissfully unaware that the natives here are restless.
The stage-managed show of support for the federal government which is bitterly resented here for failing to raise the quality of life in one of the richest states, was in stark contrast to the heartfelt show of protest and call for freedom just down the road in a tamu (local bazaar) ground.
A mere 25 kilometres away from the Keningau town where Najib was busy attending special functions arranged for him by the state government, a group of about 500 locals waved half a dozen banners calling for ‘independence’ for Sabah.
The group led by State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah chairman Jeffrey Kitingan was celebrating a Kaamatan or harvest festival at the Apin-Apin Tamu Ground but they took the opportunity nevertheless to make their own political statement.
Denied use of a stage at the shaded tamu ground by the District Council they built a makeshift stage to put on their Kaamatan show.
An organising committee member told FMT that Umno and PBS politicians had pressured the District Office to deny them use of the stage.
Early this (Sunday) morning the organisers and Kaamatan revellers put up banners along the Apin-Apin road which Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor and entourage will pass on the way from Keningau to Tambunan for the launch of a community college called KDM College.
The crowd in Apin-Apin though dwarfed by the nearly 20,000 who turned out Saturday night for the national level Kaamatan celebration at Keningau Stadium, was high-spirited and intense.
Bias local media
Jeffrey, whose elder brother Joseph Pairin Kitingan, the PBS president and a deputy chief minister was busily escorting Najib on his two-day visit to Sabah, described the mood in Apin-Apin as excellent.
“We cannot any longer tolerate the colonisation by Malaya where we continue to be treated as a mere colony when we are so big and rich and yet our people are the poorest in Malaysia. How can we accept this?
“Just look at Keningau parliamentary seat itself is bigger than the states of Perlis, Penang and Malacca combined and yet we in Keningau only have one MP and two state assemblymen and one District Officer. This is unfair,” he said.
The wording on the the banners read: “Sabah adalah negara bukan negeri ke-12 Malaysia”, “Kami mahu Perkara 20 dilaksanakan“, “Hentikan penjajahan Sabah, laksanakan Perjanjian Malaysia” “Tolak Umno penjajah, Sabah negara merdeka“, “Kami menuntut hak NCR“, and “RCI untuk siapa?, Hapuskan Projek IC Mahathir”.
The local press though aware of the protest in Apin-Apin refused to acknowledge it and focused on Najib’s visit.
Those who attended the Apin-Apin Kaamatan celebration questioned the selective reporting in the face widespread disquiet in Sabah over its political future under the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition.
A resident who wished to be known only as Rayner told FMT they were disappointed with the pro-government slant to all news in the local mainstream media.
“Maybe it is their policy, maybe they are on the take, who knows with some editors being given datukships and JP and so on. They have become more vulnerable to exploitation, and certainly some have compromised their so-called independence,” he said.
Meanwhile, STAR flags were seen fluttering in many places here and in some areas side by side with the Barisan Nasional and PBS party flags recently put up to coincide with the Prime Minister’s visit.
Written by Luke Rintod
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/independence-for-sabah/
ReplyDeletefor my father's dream & the future of our children!
Your dream/wish just came true! The people are waking up out there and demanding Sabah independence from Malaya. This is great great news!
DeleteI was close to tears when you wrote that my wish just came true. Not yet was my secondary response, but soon! The new motto. "Ini Kali Lah - For my Father's Dream & The Future of Our Children!
DeleteThe revolution is NOW!
I LOVE THIS NEWS ITEM!
ReplyDeleteSABAHANS MAKE IT A FREQUENT EVENT TO DEMAND FOR INDEPENDENCE FROM MALAYA!
HIDUP SABAH INDEPENDENCE
MALAYANS GO HOME!
Everyday we will call out for our Independence!
DeletePlease don't blame the Malayans, but instead ask those who are righteous to support our noble cause! Don't forget they are many from across the sea who are our brother's, sisters and friends. We know who the real culprits and traitors are and by the grace of the Almighty, justice will prevail. At the end of the day, we want Sabah to be opened to the right kind of people regardless of where they come from. The rejects are not welcomed and will be kicked out. We must think out of the box if we want to bring Sabah to a higher level.
Ini Kali Lah. For my Father's Dream & The Future of Our Children
Malayans under UMNO leadership have been responsible for re-colonizing us and also created all our sufferings by their plunder of our resources.
DeleteThey controlled our lives for 48 years!
Certainly any Malayan who throw in their lot with us just as any illegals and are faithfull and loyal to Sabah could be considered as one of us in our struggle for independence.
Those who insist on chaining us to Malaya definitely have no place here and should go home!
Every time I think about our enslaved situation I weep.
APIN-APIN WILL BE THE STARTING API API FOR SABAH INDEPENDENCE
ReplyDeleteHIDUP SABAH INDEPENDENCE!
I am hoping Jeff and Dan can make some sort of official announcement. As a note, the STAR & UBF/UBS website needs a total revamp and soon. If they can't then perhaps they should have a party spokesperson or someone in public relations. My arse is itching for action!
ReplyDeleteAs for Parin, time is running out for him and his PBS party to get out of BN. The Almighty is all forgiving. Unfortunately for them I am not The Almighty.
ANY GOOD REASONS WHY WE SHOULD CONTINUE AS PART OF MALAYSIA???
DeletePairin in a traitor through and through! When he was elected to power because of the popular backlashed against UMNO he sold out Sabah for personal gains.
It is interesting that his brother has turned against him. May be it shows the extent of how much Pairin betrayed Sabah.
In relation to the voiding of the Malaysia Agreement, Daniel Jambun has said as much that our predecessors were unfairly pressurized and blackmailed (with foreign invasion scare etc) into accepting the Malaysia idea.
Legally any agreement or contract made under undue pressure by a third party (Britain & Malaya) and also which is lacking in transparent and good faith cannot bind the disadvantaged party.
There was also the element of fraud committed by the Malayan government in agreeing to let Sabah and Sarawak control their finances, resources and education policies and the administrative services. Since 1963 they have not honoured their promises but breached the 18/20 Points Agreement and Malaysia Agreement and understandings reached in various pre-Malaysia negotiations.
Further a very important legal point has not been fully explored. That is in around 1973 the Malayan government was requested to review the Malaysia agreement and hold a referendum. This was rejected by Najib's father PM Razak. This constitutes a serious breach of the agreements and denied us the right to have a say about whether we prefer to stay or get out of Malaysia.
By breaking their words they repudiated the various agreements.
An important point we must always bear in mind is that the Malaysia Concept was not the original concept which included Brunei and this changed again when Singapore left.
2 arguments put forward for including Brunei and Singapore was the foreign invasion blackmail pressure and the racial balance argument.
Malaya and Spore had first talked about "merging" as one country. Because Spore had a large Chinese population UMNO feared they would be outnumbered so they argued that including the Borneo colonies would help to balance the equation with the "natives" of Borneo.
This argument failed totally as both Brunei and Singapore were out of Malaysia. It ended up that UMNO engineered an imbalance by allowing millions of illegals into Malaya Sabah and Sarawak and securing their vote by giving them the right to vote. So this racial balance rationale went out of the window!
As for the foreign invasion blackmail scare no one invaded Brunei or Singapore although they probably are easy target in the 1960s.
So much for the foreign invasion.
We were told a pack of lies by the British and Malayans!
1973, thats another revelation that I nor a lot of people don't know about. I figure Najib feels that he hasn't lived up to his father's expectations. He probably won't since it will be under or just after his rule that Malaysia completely falls and Sabah & perhaps Sarawak finally break away.
DeleteFolks we can forget about getting any compensation because the funds are going down the drain as we speak. We have to live with what we got and what ever little we can get out of them. However I've got my eyes on that Musa fellow and the millions that he's stashed away. See the Sarawak Report!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/independence-for-sabah
Most if not all wars are started through lies and deceits.
DeleteSO MUCH FOR MALAYA'S DECEPTIONS & ASSURANCES! 48 YEAR DOWN THE TRACK & WE
DeleteSurprised eh?
Yes there was a request for a review of the Malaysia Agreement in 1973.
You can read this article in Wikisabah News about when a request was first made.
http://wikisabah.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/razak-rejected-request-for-sabah-review.html
"WikiSabah News: 'Razak rejected request for Sabah review'
Feb 19, 2011
KOTA BELUD: A former assemblyman, who served as a minister under Mustapha Harun’s Usno government, claimed that then prime minister Razak Hussein had in 1973 refused a request by the Sabah Alliance for a review of the assurances contained in the Malaysia Agreement and the 20-points as well as in the Inter-Governmental Report (IGC).
Ismail, who was an assistant minister in Mustapha's cabinet, also said that the word “review” of the Malaysia Agreement was a mutual understanding by both the federal government and the Borneo states that the assurances ..."
The new crop of Sabah opposition leaders have also asked for a review for the last few years. You can do a search on Wikisabah News and a list of all related articles will pop up. Read them all and you will be astounded by how much the Malayans have cheated us and kept us in the dark!
Slowly the facts are being pieced together and we are getting a better picture....
NEW VISION THERE ARE 2 APPROACHES TO THE SABAH SARAWAK QUESTION
1. Those who only want to perpetuate the lie of independence in Malaysia or have not woken up to the lie argue for "autonomy" in Malaysia. This is a dead end solution because we are still a colony of Malaya.
2. Those who want real independence understand that if we ever wish to rid us of the parasite on our backs we have got get out of Malaysia for independence.
With independence we take back control of our resources.
We can wisely use our vast wealth to re-construct our country free from foreign interference of Malaya and any other countries.
We can build a strong self-defence force, improve or rebuild the infrastructures, Borneonise the public service, look after our own finances and taxes, re-construct the education and health services bring long awaited improvements to the majority of poor in the countryside.
There is so much to do and we are over 48 years behind!
So the sooner we free ourselves from Malayan colonial rule and stop the rot the better for all of us.
Rebuilding and rebranding a nation! I am excited and I can't wait. There will be so much to do and learn at the same time. It's as if it's already happening. Please tell me so!
DeleteYes, We need to restructure and revamp the whole system from A to Z. We must aim to be self sustainable and to always look for new avenues. We will triumph!
DeleteSabah RCI Just A Red Herring - FMT.
ReplyDeleteThat in a final analysis legalized illegals in Sabah are not Sabahans. They are Peninsular Malaysia residents (came in using the 'back door' apparently, and out they should be taken back by the issuing 'back door').
Could anyone elucidate on that article. I thought it's very enlightening.
SEND ALL ILLEGALS TO MALAYA LAH!
DeleteHow to do that?
Deletebanyak kapal Malaya berlabuh di Sabah atas dasar polisi kabotaj...gunalah kapal itu...senang cerita...
DeleteThe illegals and fake citizen problem is a sensitive issue which must be treated with care. I wish I could just dump them on a barge and ship them out but it's not going to be as easy as that. Perhaps now is a good time for all those here to provide some sort of solution or ideas and please be realistic. Don't forget sending them back is one thing, preventing them from coming back in is another problem. After looking at Sabah's topography, with the thousand of islands surrounding the coastline, it's a major task at hand. The US-Mexico border is even easier to guard.
ReplyDeleteSABAHANS MAKE YOU INPUT ON THIS SUBJECT - KEEP IT COMING
ReplyDeleteTHE MORE VIEWS WE GET THE MORE UNDERSTANDING WE HOPE TO REACH ON SABAH INDEPENDENCE!
Some people feel Sabah and Sarawak are inextricably melded (interwoven) or super-glued into the Malayan illegal colonial framework.
Therefore you cannot get out.
This is the big time defeatist and capitulationist view for losers, the misguided and traitors (may be a strong word)!
But Most of us feel we have been cheated and want to get Sabah and Sarawak out of Malaysia.
Suddenly many of us are awakened and inspired to go for independence. This is not just an overnight conversion. We have lived with the nightmares created by UMNO neo colonial Malaysia for 48 years! That is too long!
So first can we get out?
YES WE CAN- look at East Timor- many thought with Indonesia - so powerful and yet tiny East Timor fought and finally with a bit of help and its independence referendum got out the Indonesian colonial grip.
So did South Sudan fought and got its independence referendum.
So if they can what is special about our situation to prevent us?
If there is anything it will be the lack of will and determination to press on in the face of huge adversities!
Just check around us the countries which fought with might and main and ingenuity to free themselves.
Even the Burmese democracy movement finally achieve a success in the freeing of their leader and then winning a parliamentary seat. Boy was she one determined lady!
If you need inspiration read up on the Vietnamese independence struggle from domination by the Chinese, French, Japanese, and French again and then USA domination. Now they are free. Over 1000 years in the making but they made it!
And now Scotland wants to be free of English domination after 300 years.
So Sabahans ask not what your country (Sabah) can do for you but what you do for it!
Yes we can.
DeleteYou are right about the only thing stopping us is our will and determination. I would also include lack of knowledge and understanding.
I do admire the Vietnamese situation. They only manage to experience peace after all those years with the ending of the US-Vietnam War. The future generation don't have any grudges against the Americans or the French and they don't even want to talk about war. All they want is prosperity. Any grudges (Not Major) are actually held between the North and the South Vietnamese themselves. Yes not many people know this but there is still a small divide.
I have not read much about Sudan so I'll jump straight to East Timor. The Timorese are much more poor, less educated and their situation under Indonesia was much much worse but they took on the might of the Indonesian Military including the Kompassus (Special Forces) who were famous for most of the atrocities. No doubt they had a little help, but the Timorese freedom fighters sacrificed themselves for the sake of freedom and independence. Then we have Myanmar. Their situation is again different but never the less the Burmese have lived under suppression. They are however very hardworking and fast learners. I foresee that Malaysia will loose FDI to Myanmar, hands down.
Independence for Sabah: I've always said Sabahans & Sarawakians are more then capable but we will still need outside help. We have to act fast and act now because of the current situation within Malaysia. The first step is a Referendum for Independence before anything else. While this is happening, we then have to work on a new constitution and plans for a system on government & economy. I am sure a lot of these have already been though of, just need to fine tune. The right people with the right experience and qualifications are also required for necessary post and not just any tom dick or harry which is what we have now.
NOTHING IS SUPER-GLUED- THE UNIVERSE IS DRAWING APART
DeleteRE-ARRANGING THE MAP
The Roman empire, the British empire, the French, Spanish Portuguese, Soviet Union all imploded and disintegrated after experiencing rapid territorial expansion....the US sphere of influence shrinks daily as it fights distant enemies...The world map has changed many many times like flowers blooming and withering away.
What is "Malaysia" - nothing more than a pint size British colonial re-arranging of the South East Asian map...to include Malaya Singapore and the Borneo colonies....Brunei Sabah and Sarawak...(and if you forgot Labuan which was a separate British colony from 1848! Astounding@!)
Unfortunately re-arranging the map can cause huge problems as the British did everywhere they went...
So when they re-arranged our map we ended up under Malayan rule run by proxy (nominally) British regimes which became colonial plunderers.
48 years of being Malayanized and colonized in Malaysia has not change the people's aspirations to be free and independent if what the people of Apin-Apin independence demonstration against Najib's flash by Sabah visit.
Apin-Apin will in time become the landmark for Sabah's road to independence!
So if 500 villagers are prepared to say no to Malayan UMNO colonial rule we the educated intelligentsia should be ashamed if we cannot join in the growing movement for independence!
My simplistic mind is thinking. A baby is foisted upon me and I don't even remember when I had the baby. I can think of someone :
ReplyDeletea) is covetous of my wealth
b) is out to ruin my reputation
Man... I'm in a mess. What's my redress?
They treated us innocent babies and force fed us with their cooked up "Malaysia"!
DeleteWe are grown up now and can fight better! How about just joining in and spread the word around!
(The ravished innocent babe will have to get a new dress...like an army uniform and go for revenge as in the movies)
I like where this is going already. Fashion gurus, come on board. We need a mass production here, What's it going to be? Red, black, camouflage, ahhh... I think I have the idea. What about fashioning it ala armoury with a shield colour? The STAR.
Delete-YES VOTE FOR INDEPENDENT-
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Out.
ReplyDeleteI like the bit on the fashion guru. I'll let you guys choose, so long as it's meaningful.
ReplyDeleteAs of now, the independence petition is going out full swing but not as fast as I would like it to be. I am opening all channels. The internet is still limited. I suggest for all those who have relatives in the rural areas to create your own hard copy signed petition for the folks. I do not want to have any limits. The more the better. For facebook, search for "William H Wallace" or email highlanderofborneo@gmail.com
Have patience- Rome was not built in day.
DeleteToo many petitions can cause confusion- need to focus one national objective and unite propel around it.
However, it would be a good idea to spread the good word to the rural areas- the people here are those who need to have independence most. "Malaysia" has been used to cheat them of the fruits of real independence- that is progress in the social and economic well being.
Some of us have been plugging the issue for over 50 years.
We are still doing it.
We know that even if we don't live to see our country win independence we have laid the ground and spread the consciousness of our national identity- Not "Malaysian" but Sabahan or Sarawakians!
In the mean time we continue with our fight for independence! We never give up hope and We shall overcome some day.
Hidup Sabah Sarawak Independence!
The two petitions clearly state their differences. I get you - Rome wasn't built in a day but some small urgency is required (50 years eh!). I do have my reasons to the urgency. As for spreading the words to the rural areas, it is being worked out as we speak. The suggestion was to get the folks to sign an actual written petition and combine it with the online one at a later stage.
DeleteWilliam H Wallace (highlanderofborneo@gmail.com)
Starships were meant to fly
ReplyDeleteHands up and touch the sky
Can't stop cause we're so high
Let's do this one 'This Time'
Starships were meant to fly
Hands up and touch the sky
Let's do this one 'This Time'
Can't stop
We're higher than (many other)
We're higher than (many other)
We're higher than (many other)
For a prop? It's from Niki Minaj
Duchess of Kent declared the opening of Batu Berendam Airport in 1952.
ReplyDelete