KOTA KINABALU - Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s verbosity over a list of recyled projects on Budget 2014 and his spineless silence on the Allah issue is in sharp contrast with his counterpart in Sarawak.
Musa and Taib Mahmud are CMs of once ‘independent’ nations who signed the Malaysia Agreement in 1963, thus stepping in together with Federated Malaya and Singapore (who got purged out two years later) into a newly formed Malaysia.
At that time among the key ingredients were mutual respect, religious freedom and autonomy.
But the years have seen Sarawak remain ‘independent’ in many ways and Sabah acutely compromised and squandered of its rights and resources. A World Bank Report in 2011 declared this oil producing state as the poorest in Malaysia
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The crumbs dished out to Sabah and Sarawak in the recent Budget 2014 speaks volumes of where the states are on the national priority scale.
And the recent Court of Appeal decision overruling a 2009 High Court decision allowing the use of the term ‘Allah’ in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of Christian publication The Herald has compounded matters.
The issue has further distinguished Sarawak from Sabah.
Sabah rolls over for Putrajaya. Sarawak doesn’t. Sarawak has no Umno and it’s CM is no lackey to Putrajaya.
Sarawak’s self-esteem as a state and ‘nation’ within Malaysia is intact as was visible when its Chief Minister Taib Mahmud acknowledged and officiated for the first time Sarawak’s independence day on July 22 .
And Musa made no murmur.
Sarawak has remained friendly yet kept their distance. Sabah lives in Putrajaya’s pockets.
Sarawak has even found oil on land to circumvent Petronas’s grip and do away with the shouting and screaming for a royalty review.
No need for Putrajaya?
Taib can, if he must, run Sarawak without federal assistance. And importantly too is the fact that he has the covert ‘backing’ of Dayak majority Kalimantan.
At his recent Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu convention, he put the federal government, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the Malaysian judiciary system in its place when he said: “We cannot alter the status quo in Sarawak”.
He was reacting to the ‘Allah’ ruling, adding that the court decision was not binding on Sabah and Sarawak. He mocked the purportedly ‘tolerance’ of peninsular leaders and dished out his own Sarawakian wisdom on co-existence and religious harmony.
One would have to be really stupid to not realise exactly what he meant.
Was the rebuke too much for Putrajaya?
Affronted ‘beings’ in Putrajaya toy with the ‘slap Sabah, and Sarawak will feel the reverberation’ theory.
Was this puerile thinking behind the unexpected directive from the Home Ministry to seize the Herald at the Kota Kinabalu Airport last Thursday.
The copies were meant for Sunday’s mass in Sabah churches. According to the weekly’s editor Fr Lawrence Andrew no reason was given for the seizing.
A hue-and-cry later Putrajaya intervened and ordered the released of the copies but the weekend was in the way and Sabah parishioners never got their copies.
Yesterday Idris Jala, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, decried the Home Ministry’s actions to arbitrarily seize the copies.
“It’s a misunderstanding …They should not have withheld the distribution of The Herald in Sabah,” he said adding that it was against the prime minister’s promise to Sabah and Sarawak, which was the freedom to practice and use the term ‘Allah’ in prayer.
Najib had said that the Court of Appeals decision to overturn the High Court ruling on the use of the ‘Allah’ word in the publication did not affect Borneo Christians.
But Tamparuli assemblyman Wilfred Bumburing said Najib’s assurances were rendered useless by the action by the Home Minister.
“My greatest fear is that the government will succumb to the pressure from NGOs in Malaya to extend the ban to Sabah and Sarawak.
“But my past experience with BN tells me that shouting and rhetorical appeals and pleading by our leaders will come to nothing because the leaders of dominant Umno will just close their ears,” said Bumburing.
Bumburing quit Upko last July to form Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah (APS) and later contested the Tamparuli state and Tuaran parliamentary constituencies on PKR ticket in the last GE.
There is simmering anger at the treatment being vented out against Sabah’s Christian community.
If one is familiar with Karl Marx, one knows of his “religion is the opium of the poor” theory and in Sabah and Sarawak, people are poor, very poor and there are more closet Christians than there are Muslims in Sabah. Sarawak is predominantly Christian.
The issue is so deep that Parti Rakyat Sarawak which is anchored in Christian Iban inlands is worried.
Said PRS deputy youth chief councillor Sempurai Petrus Ngelai: “The government must honour the 10-point solution agreed to prior to the last general election.
“Otherwise support for Barisan Nasional in Sarawak and Sabah could drop significantly if this issue is not resolved adequately.
GE14 is not far away and in time to come, zinc sheets, rice bags and RM500 ‘angpau’ will be happily received but not returned in votes.
According to Bumburing the scenario is clear to everyone.
“Everyone understands the reasons. Everyone feels the heavy descend of the infringement of their fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitution of the country they helped form in 1963.
“(In that sense) I salute the firm stand taken by the Chief Minister of Sarawak who stated unequivocally that the banning of the Malay bible is ridiculous and nonsensical.
“I challenge Musa to come out and declare his stand on the issue,” said Bumburing.
Perkara 20 tu harus dilaksanakan untuk melindungi rakyat Sabah.
ReplyDeleteSalleh Said Keruak, berkata penjelasan sebenar berhubung dokumen 20 Perkara bagi melindungi Sabah berikutan pembentukan Malaysia perlu dibuat bagi mengelak parti pembangkang memperalatkannya untuk kepentingan politik.
DeleteBarisan Nasional (BN) terus memperjuangkan asas dalam dokumen itu tetapi hakikatnya ialah 20 Perkara itu hanya memorandum dan bukan perjanjian yang ditandatangani.
DeleteAda di antara perkara tersebut yang dimasukkan ke dalam dokumen perjanjian Malaysia dan Perlembagaan Negara.
DeleteHak rakyat Sabah dan negeri Sabah pasti terbela oleh Barisan Nasional dan pada pandangan saya, kita hormati pandangan masing-masing dan saya sendiri tidak pernah menyentuh soal "kesahihan" dokumen 20 Perkara kerana ia bukan perjanjian cuma memorandum-Salleh
DeleteDatuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, berkata kandungan dan semangat dokumen 20 Perkara bagi melindungi Sabah berikutan pembentukan Malaysia sah dan relevan hingga bila-bila kerana ia termaktub dalam laporan Jawatankuasa Antara Kerajaan (IGC) dan Perlembagaan Persekutuan.
Delete20 Perkara yang dimuatkan dalam satu memorandum oleh tujuh parti politik pada 1962 dan dikemukakan kepada IGC itu, bukan dokumen rasmi kerajaan, tetapi semata-mata satu memorandum politik.
DeleteApa yang rasmi mengenainya ialah perbincangan dan penerimaan perkara berkenaan oleh IGC dan akhirnya penerapannya ke dalam Perjanjian Malaysia serta Perlembagaan Persekutuan, kata Ongkili.Salleh yang bersetuju dengan pandangan itu berkata, beliau turut menyatakan perkara yang sama.
DeleteJust a 'word' can destroy the unity we have now..be careful.
ReplyDeletememang benar..perkara kecil boleh menggemparkan satu dunia jika terus dibahaskan dan dipolitikkan.
DeletePembangkang mmang takut dengan musa sebenarnya. Sebab itulah kenapa Pembangkang sentiasa membuat fitnah kepada ketua menteri Sabah itu.
ReplyDeleteBila sudah jadi pemimpin, inilah antara risikonya.jangan pandang mudah tanggungjawab yang dipikul oleh pemimpin kita.
DeleteThe Controversy over Kalimah Allah should never have gone to Court. An adversarial system of adjudication which pits one side against the other cannot resolve satisfactorily complex disputes that intersect notions of religious and ethnic identity.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the controversy which has burdened us for almost three decades is more about protecting identity than about preserving the sanctity of a hallowed term. It is fear about how identity would be undermined if what is perceived as an exclusive religious symbol is usurped by others that has triggered a strong reaction from the Muslim majority. Christians and others who have taken a position against Muslim sentiment are also motivated to a great extent by the prevailing ethnic divide in the country.
ReplyDeleteExpectedly, the stances adopted by some politicians, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have exacerbated the situation. Because issues of identity are at the centre of politics and power in our multi-religious, multi-ethnic nation, they are hoping to reap a harvest from the Kalimah Allah controversy. In the process, society is becoming even more polarised along religious lines.
ReplyDeleteThis is why politicians and religious leaders should desist immediately from misconstruing the Court of Appeal decision on the use of Kalimah Allah in the Catholic weekly, The Herald, which has no bearing upon other Christian publications or the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible.
ReplyDeleteBila isu sensitif seperti ini dibahas secara terbuka, mulalah wujud ketegangan di antara penganut2 yang berkenaan dan lebih buruk lagi wujudnya perasaan dendam antara mereka.
DeleteIt is wrong of them to demand that the ban on the term in the Catholic weekly be extended to Sabah and Sarawak where it has been used in daily prayers in churches for more than a hundred years. Since the Catholic Church is appealing against the decision in the Federal Court, all individuals and groups should allow the judicial process to take its course.
ReplyDeleteMore important, Prime Minister, Dato Sri Mohd Najib should assure everyone that he is determined to uphold the letter and the spirit of the ‘10 point solution’ that he had signed on 11 April 2011 in which he spelt out his commitment to the exercise of the freedom of religion of the Christian minority within the context of the Malaysian Constitution.
ReplyDeleteIt is a significant document in the shape of a letter to the Chairperson of the Christian Federation of Malaysia because it provides guarantees to a minority that resonate with the tradition of Muslim Rulers protecting the position of Christian and other minorities that harkens back to the Prophet Muhammad’s (may peace be upon him) celebrated treaty with the Christians of Najran.
ReplyDeleteChristians in Malaysia should at the same time see the 10 point solution as an arrangement which expects them also to understand and empathise with the feelings of an extraordinarily accommodative majority community which has genuine concerns about its identity.
ReplyDeleteThat's why we need to understand the history and what was in it.
DeleteFor these reasons, highlighting the 10 point solution at this juncture would help considerably to reduce the prevailing mistrust and suspicion between the majority and minority communities.
ReplyDeletewe need to respect both side..whatever the decision made, need to accept.
DeleteIn the ultimate analysis however what really matters is not who uses the term Allah but whether all of us are willing to strive to the utmost to perform those good deeds which alone demonstrate our love for Allah.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you..the real matter is not the use of term Allah.
DeleteProjek Tanjung Aru Eco Development yang bernilai RM1.7 bilion adalah untuk rakyat.
ReplyDeleteIanya bertaraf antarabangsa yang akan dinikmati oleh semua lapisan masyarakat.
ReplyDeleteKetua Menteri Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman berkata pelaburan itu pastinya akan memberikan impak positif dan manfaat yang besar kepada rakyat Sabah, khususnya dalam menyediakan peluang-peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk tempatan.
projek pembangunan bersepadu seluas 280 hektar yang telah direka oleh arkitek terkenal di peringkat antarabangsa menawarkan pembangunan merangkumi pelancongan, rekreasi, kediaman, komuniti dan komersil untuk memenuhi keperluan pasaran tempatan dan antarabangsa.
ReplyDeleteProjek Tanjung Aru Eco Development akan merangkumi pembangunan rumah bandar (townhouses), kondominium, vila, Maritim Square, Marina Retail, MICE Hotel (Meeting, International Convention and Exhibition Hotel) Beach Resort, padang golf, Kelab Perahu Layar, Marina dan lain-lain bertaraf antarabangsa
ReplyDeleteprojek berimpak tinggi tersebut akan meningkatkan pertumbuhan dalam semua sektor ekonomi termasuk sektor-sektor perkhidmatan seperti pelancongan, penginapan dan aktiviti penyediaan makanan dan minuman, perdagangan borong dan runcit, pertanian dan pengangkutan.
ReplyDeleteDalam fasa pembinaannya nanti, kesemua rantaian bekalan yang berkaitan dengan sektor pembinaan akan menerima manfaat daripada pelaksanaan projek ini.
ReplyDeleteProjek ini telah mendapat sokongan penuh daripada kerajaan persekutuan dan ia selari dengan agenda Program Transformasi Ekonomi (ETP)
ReplyDelete