Housewife thanked Dr M for Projek IC

Fawziah Abdul - Thanks Dr.Mahathir for granting me Malaysian Citizenship...

Housewife Fawziah Abdul wants to thank former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for making her a citizen 10 years after she illegally slipped into Borneo from the southern Philippines in search of a better life.

The 50-year-old lives on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, where her tin-roofed shack jostles for space with more than 1,000 others in a slum where children play beside heaps of rubbish.

She is hopeful that her three children will get a new home and identity cards if she votes for the government again.

With a general election due within seven months, the 13-party ruling BN coalition is banking on Sabah and neighbouring Sarawak state on Borneo island to prolong its 55-year grip on power.

But its support in the two Borneo states, which account for a quarter of parliament seats, is showing signs of slipping.

A large presence of Muslim immigrants, like Fawziah, has fuelled complaints of government discrimination against Christians who have also been a bedrock of government support.

Fawziah said she was a beneficiary of a secret plan said to have been approved by Mahathir that has helped fuel a five-fold surge in Sabah's population since the 1970s and turned it into a vote bank for the ruling coalition.

"I am part of Project Mahathir," she said, referring to the plan. "I was told to turn up at an office with two photographs and some money," added Fawziah, who showed her identity card that lists her as a Sabah-born citizen.

Surirumah dapat warganegara dalam 'Projek Mahathir'

Seorang penduduk Sabah mengakui menjadi sebahagian daripada "Projek Mahathir" dan mendapat taraf kewarganegaraan Malaysia selepas memasuki negara ini secara haram dari selatan Filipina.

Surirumah berkenaan, Fawziah Abdul, 50, dalam laporan agensi berita Reuters itu berkata beliau juga ingin menyampaikan penghargaannnya kepada bekas perdana menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad atas peluang itu.

"Saya merupakan sebahagian daripada Projek Mahathir... Saya diberitahu supaya pergi ke satu pejabat dengan dua keping gambar dan sedikit wang," kata Fawziah dalam laporan itu.

Fawziah juga menunjukkan kad pengenalan yang menyatakan beliau sebagai seorang warga yang dilahirkan di Sabah, menurut laporan itu lagi.

Beliau seterusnya menjelaskan bahawa "Projek Mahathir" itu merupakan "rancangan sulit" yang dikatakan telah diluluskan Mahathir.

Projek berkenaan, menurut Reuters, membantu memacu peningkatan populasi Sabah kepada lima kali ganda sejak 1970 dan menjadikan negeri itu sebagai simpanan tetap untuk undi kepada BN.

Laporan itu juga memetik kenyataan seorang pengkaji politik di Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah yang berkata, kekecewaan masyarakat minoriti di negeri itu boleh menyebabkan Pakatan Rakyat berjaya meraih sehingga 10 daripada 25 kerusi parlimen.