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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

STAR: Struggle for 20-Points is not false hope

“The reason advanced by Keningau Umno Youth regarding the struggle for the 20-Points is creating “false hopes” for the people especially the bumiputra communities in Sabah clearly reinforce STAR Sabah’s stand that outside parties like Umno cannot best defend Sabah’s rights” said Dr. Nicholas James Guntobon, Deputy Chairman of STAR Sabah and chief of the Interior Zone in response to the statement by Keningau Youth Chief in the papers yesterday.

“If we study properly the 20-Points, the Cobbold Commission Report, the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report, the Malaysia Agreement and the other documents culminating in the formation of Malaysia, we can see the vision, foresight and intellect of our founding forefathers in defending Sabah’s rights in the merger to form Malaysia” added Dr. Nicholas.

Despite the lack of experience and education, these forefathers did not lack intellectual ability and were able to formulate constitutional safeguards for the future of Sabah and its future generations.

Despite being better educated, some even in law, it will be sad for Sabah’s future if current leaders  cannot see how Sabah’s rights are protected in the 20-Points and the other documents as envisaged by our Sabah forefathers.

It has to be remembered that the surveys conducted by the Cobbold Commission only showed that roughly 1/3 of the people in Sabah were agreeable to the merger of Sabah with Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak to form Malaysia.

Merits in the 20-Points and Malaysia Agreement

Sabah leaders need to study in-depth and understand the entirety of the entire process and documents involved leading up to the Malaysia Agreement and the formation of Malaysia on 16th September 1963 and not just refer to the 20-Points or the Cobbold Commission Report in isolation.

If the 20-Points had been complied with or enforced together with Article VIII of the Malaysia Agreement, Sabah would have been autonomous, united and progressive today instead of being the poorest State, over-whelmed by illegal immigrants with the right to vote, insecure and unsafe and losing its autonomy and political franchise.

Ifs

If under Point 3 of the 20-Points, a new Constitution had been put in place instead of the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya disguising as the Constitution of Malaysia, Sabah would have maintained its autonomy and remained as an equal partner to Malaya and Sarawak instead of being 1 of the 13 states now.

If immigration under Point 6 had been strictly enforced, we would not have a huge influx of illegal immigrants and made worse by them being granted the right to vote and to determine the future of genuine Sabahans . Security and social problems would not have been problems today.

If borneonisation under Point 8 had been implemented, Sabahans would have had control of their own public service instead of being overrun by outsiders.   It is not just the loss of job opportunities or positions but Sabahans have lost more than 2 generations of human capital development due to their rightful positions being taken by outsiders.   This loss of human capital development have stunted the growth and development of Sabahans.   In addition, the lack of local knowledge of these outsiders have had a negative effect on the public administration and service to Sabahans.
 
Sabah should have control of its own finance, development funds and tariffs under Point 11.  In 2011 alone, out of a total of RM109 billion, a total of RM22.7 billion or 20.8% in federal taxes and revenue was collected from Sabah.  This sum excludes oil revenue and other forms of collections collected by other federal agencies like immigration which is targeted to collect RM200 million in 2012.   Lately, the federal government is also intending to extend the Registration of Businesses Act  to Sabah and with this extension, local authorities will no longer collect the trading licence fees and lose their right to approve trading licences.

Under Point 12, the special position of the indigenous races in Sabah, be they be KDM, Bajau, Suluk, Sungai, Bruneian, Rungus, Kedayan and so forth were supposed to be entrenched and enjoy special rights to those enjoyed by the Malays in Malaya.   One only need to ask oneself whether this had been fully implemented or the indigenous races have been marginalized and down-trodden?

Under Point 15, if the education system had been maintained until today and under State control, Sabahans today would have been towering over others in Malaysia instead of being downgraded to manual labour in the industrial factories in the Peninsular.

Under Point 16, the federal government had failed to safeguard the constitutional safeguards that were supposed to be guaranteed for Sabah.   Instead, as a result of various constitutional amendments, the rights of Sabah had been trampled upon.   A very good example is the loss of Sabah’s oil and gas to Petronas with Sabah getting a meager 5% for all its oil wealth.  As reported by the Chief Minister, Sabah’s 5% is expected to amount to RM775.46 million which translates to Petronas getting RM14.734 billion from Sabah’s oil in 2012.
   
Under Point 17, a constitutional safeguard was to put in place for representation in the federal government.   In 1963, Malaya was only to get 65% of the parliament seats but today it has 75% of the 222-seats.    Sabah’s voice in Parliament is worsened with the Malayan-based parties like Umno coming and taking control of the seats in Sabah further diluting Sabah’s rights.   The problem is further compounded when the local representatives of the Malayan-based parties lose sight of their obligation to safeguard Sabah’s rights and sovereignty and instead follow the agenda of their party and their leaders in the Peninsular.

It is this loss or subjudication of Sabah’s agenda that makes Malayan-based parties like Sabah Umno being unable to best defend Sabah’s rights and autonomy.

And finally under Point 20, the status of our beloved TYT should rightfully be restored as the “Yang DiPertua Negara”.   As an independent, sovereign nation-state, our Yang DiPertua Negara should be accorded the status as Head of State accordingly.   If not for the formation of Malaysia, our Yang DiPertua Negara would have been accorded the same status in Kuala Lumpur as would have been accorded to the Sultan of Brunei or any other visiting Head of State.

20-Points Not False Hopes

By now, it should be very clear that there are no false hopes in the 20-Points or the position of Sabah as an equal partner in the formation of Malaysia.  Rather, the enforcement or compliance of the 20-Points and Article VIII will bring about wholesale upliftment for Sabah and its people.

The Sabah Umno leaders especially the youth leaders should emulate the opposition and champion the cause for the restoration of Sabah’s rights and autonomy under the 20-Points and the Malaysia Agreement and as an equal partner in Malaysia.  The time has come for them to stop treating them as fixed deposits but treat Sabahans and Sarawakians with respect and dignity and not alienate the two territories any further.

As a first step, in conjunction with 31 August 2012, Umno Sabah should insist that Malaysia is 49 years old now and not 55 and to honour Sabah’s Independence Day on 31 August 2012.

Dr. Nicholas James Guntobon is Deputy Chairman, STAR Sabah

71 comments:

  1. Make haste, STAR. Triple, quadruple your effort
    We are talking of terminal-ills causing parasites here. Please engage all your expertise to annihilate their colony. Really feeling sick

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    Replies
    1. I wonder what it meant by " struggles " in STAR.

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  2. Today, there is no use to harp on this 20P anymore. Unless for the purpose of academia, revisiting the 20P politically is always considered as only a political ploy by the opposition, period.

    Furthermore, politically motivated motive is not always appealing to the public and voters alike.

    20P is a matter of the past. It was a mere history which significance has effectively ended on the day the Constitution Of
    Malaysia was born and officially endorsed into law by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

    How do we regard 20P today? It was a preliminary guideline, an initial draft of extra constitutional-grade of law that suggested to be incorporated into the existing Malaya constitution of the time as a prerequisite or as part of the agreement (The MA)for Sabah to join Malaya. Yes, to merge with Malaya.

    Here, the question is no longer about false or real. It is not about 20P is relevant or rightly or wrongly conceived by our forefather either.

    Now it is about coming to our senses that 20P is no longer valuable in legal term nor politically beneficial in our daily life today.

    The fact that 20P's life span had effectively ended long time ago remind us that today 20P is nothing more than a ploy used by the opposition to trick the people of their votes.

    No one can able to revive the 20P at the expense of MA or The Malaysia Constitution (MC).

    The opposition can't simply usurp the the MC with 20P even if they form the next government.

    Shortly after joining Malaysia, Sabah leaders were duped into surrendering some of its autonomic powers to the federal government. How do the opposition take these lost-autonomies back to Sabah?

    Unless the opposition win the Putrajaya power with 2/3 seat majority and the PR controlled fed. govt. is willing to give back to Sabah what is rightly belong to Sabahan, there is good reason not to waste your time with 20P indulgence.

    But, if the opposition wants to dig a gold trophy out of the 20P's graveyard, they can point out that the current regime has tangibly failed to adhere and deliver responsibly what is legitimately due and deserved by the Sabahans as stated clearly in the book of The Malaysia Agreement.

    By: Birispunya Biris

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    1. d whole point is 2 remind & educate tis generation so dat they can tell d next generation truth about Sabah originally joined Malaysia as partner based on 20P agreement..d 1st generation has almost died out now its our generation to continue & carry this torch...failing which d truth shall be buried with this very generation of native Sabahans.U & I will hav 2 answer to d next generation......

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    2. Just telling and reminding won't do. We have to live up the truth. These obstacles are a waning eclipse

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    3. The Federal Government should fulfill the 20 points agreement for Sabah. These are the terms and conditions to protect Sabahans rights during the Malaysia formation.

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    4. what a moron and horrible thinking by a an idiot.

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    5. Yang siBiris tu memang terkeluar liur nincompoopnya
      Bukan saja badass malah moronass. Lardass juga mungkin
      Itu yang tak nak budge tu. Berat sangat dah terlebih makan

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    6. Lobotomy is suitable to release biris off his raining saliva nuisance. What is that movie again about obesity? Eating lying down was the norm. Perhaps call it cacacacadworld

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    7. In my sense of respect, I think Sabah is still free to have its own religion. We are free from being tied up to one religion. I pretty satisfied with this.

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  3. Biris you are going down. We are standing in our truth.

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    Replies
    1. What kind of truth?

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    2. biar setiap orang tentukan pilihan mereka sendiri.

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    3. The truth is, he just simply said standing his truth.

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  4. We are going organic. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, STOP !

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    Replies
    1. Agree, stop use chemical pesticides. Use natural weed and pest repellant.

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    2. No matter what you do, the weed and pests are always ther.

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    3. Keep applying that elbow grease. It will do a whole lot of wonders to mind and body

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    4. Ah huh, and use it on the people as well.

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  5. Star membangkitkan isu Perjanjian 20 Perkara boleh, tapi Pemuda UMNO Keningau tidak boleh.

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    Replies
    1. You are talking crap
      Hidup dengan kubur dua dunia berlainan. Crap mrntality. Go take a dump in craplalehland. Penjangkit

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    2. biasalah politik, semua pun mahu dimainkan.

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    3. pembangkang semua pun dia mahu jadi hero..

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    4. Pedulikan STAR la..cikai mah.

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    5. Star ni byk cakap saja.. ketuanya pun JK raja katak.

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    6. Perjuangan untuk 20 perkara memang penting agar Sabah dapat hak dan kepentingannya.

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  6. Star raising up 20 points agreement is called struggle. When Umno youth do the same, Star called it false hope.

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    Replies
    1. Umno youth whatever, you are digging your own grave. It' s a dead difference.

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    2. Can STAR wins? I don't so!

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    3. 'Can STAR wins?' When STAR wins you'll self correct to 'Can STAR win?' or 'STAR WILL WIN' when you focus on STAR.

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    4. kalau Star mampu menang...nanti pru13 dia bukan saja mahu tanding BN tapi juga SAPP dan PR..

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  7. Let us celebrate Malaysia independence tomorrown 31st August.

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    Replies
    1. pergilah ko sendiri..............!!!!!!!!!!!

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    2. tak pernah saya merayakan hari merdeka...!!! ikut cuti merdeka adalah juga...!!!

      itu PATI pilak pun ikut raya merdeka sebab durang urang melayu malaysia udah...

      1 juta pilak mahatir merayakan merdeka Malaysia esok...!!!

      2.5 juta rakyat Sabah merayakan Hari Sabah 49 tahun merdeka juga esok...!!!

      dan lain-lain penduduk merayakan Malaysia 55 tahun Malaysia, Malaya dan Sabah Merdeka juga esok...!


      ko tidak percaya..??? tengoklah sendiri.....

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  8. kalau ko urang malaya ko ikutlah, siapa peduli, kami urang Sabah hanya mahu merayakan kemerdekaan Sabah yang ke 49 tahun ja, hari Malaysia pada 16sept depan. tolong jangan paksa kami urang Sabah. Fahaaaaaaam....!!!!!

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  9. As a result of ingesting everything artificial

    moronic mentality is pervasive.

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    Replies
    1. Pemimpin umNO adalah moron....... pemutarbelit fakta sejarah...

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  10. Borneonisation process in State still in going on and all that just for Sabahans sake.

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    Replies
    1. Pembangkang sudah habis modal nak lawan BN.

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    2. BN kempis otak lawan isu pembangkang...

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    3. pembangkang makin terdesak sudah...

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  11. Perkara 20 masih lagi relevant sehingga ke hari ini.

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  12. Kita menanti berita dari kerajaan Sabah, dan mengharapkan isu ini akan menjadi perhatian.

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  13. harap kerajan akan melakukan semakan 20 perkara ini dan mana2 yang sudah tidak relavant harap penyelesaian akan dapat dicari.

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  14. Harap semuanya berjalan dengan lancar dan keadaan bertambah baik dari masa ke semasa dan bukannya bertambah buruk.

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  15. Revision may needed as to monitor the points.

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  16. In any way the 20 points need to be revised in order to have it relevant.

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  17. Sampai bila 20P dipolitikkan? Tiada kesudahan pun sama juga bohongnya.

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    Replies
    1. harap pekara ini tidak jadi bahan politik oleh parti2 politik.

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    2. memang sudah dipolitikkan pun...

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  18. semua pun boleh janji macam-macam. tapi ikhlas atau tidak itu yang jadi soal.

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    Replies
    1. janji2 politik biasalah...dalam politik tiada soal ikhlas atau tidak..

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  19. semangat patriotik harus ada dalam diri setiap orang. selamat menyambut hari kemerdekaan.

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    Replies
    1. Semangat ini harus dipupuk sejak kecil lagi.

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  20. Kasi tau STAR lain kali sajalah.Mungkin rakyat pertimbangkan STAR dalam tahun 2020.Itu pun kalau masih wujud.

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  21. Star, lain kali saja lah..

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  22. Hahaha
    Yang bilang INI KALI LAH ialah STAR.
    Yang bilang LAIN KALI bukan STAR tetapi BN dan lain-lain.
    Jadi, untuk BN dan lain-lain tunggu lain kali lah.

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  23. Pura2 pasang bendera malaysia padahal PTI. Pok kana bagi IC ka tu.

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    Replies
    1. Hahhahaa... Tengok sajalah yang driver bas tu pasang bendera besar di bas dorang tapi driver and konduktor basnya macam pilak. huhu

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  24. Memang bagus kalau 20 perkara itu dapat ditunaikan tapi yang tak bestnya bila isu ini menyebabkan perpecahan di kalangan rakyat sendiri.

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    Replies
    1. perkara 20 akan dilaksanakan jg.

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  25. Selamat Hari Merdeka semuanya:)

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  26. Hal ini patut diberi perhatian sewajarnya. Kalau tak dapat dipenuhi bagi olasan yang mampu diterima kaal.

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  27. Membiarkan perkara ini berlanjutan hingga ke hari ini hanya akan menyebabkan ketegangan semakin teruk.

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  28. goverment will definitely look into this matter

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  29. Perjanjian 20 perkara harus dikaji dan ditunaikan.

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  30. Kerajaan negeri harus menunaikan janji agar rakyat tidak kehilangan keyakinan terhadapnya.

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  31. State government should voice out to strike the 20 perkara. It is for the people rights.

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  32. kalau betul struggle, saman la kerajaan persekutuan atau bawa kes ini ke mahkamah antarabangsa.. jangan setakat berjuang dimedia semata untuk mendapatkan undi..

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