By : JOE FERNANDEZ
THE SOVEREIGNTY of Sabah,
Lahad Datu or no Lahad Datu, rests with its people. That should be the legitimate and logical
response to what appears to be the problem, on the surface, in Lahad Datu and
notwithstanding the fact that the Police have described the situation as
complex, meaning fraught with untold difficulties and no doubt potentially
grave and hidden dangers ahead.
This Sovereignty cannot be
transferred to foreign powers and has never been transferred with or without
the consent of the people at any point in history to Brunei, Sulu, Spain,
Britain, Philippines or Malaysia. Sovereignty remained at all times with the
people.
The Sovereignty factor is
borne out by the fact that Indonesia under then President Sukarno made Ganyang
Malaysia (Hang Malaysia) the thrust of his Konfrontasi Policy against Kuala
Lumpur and London.
Sukarno rightly, in
hindsight, described Malaysia, as a neo-colonialist plot hatched by London and
Kuala Lumpur against the people of Sabah and Sarawak. The Indonesian president
railed that Malaysia was a bad British idea in Borneo.
Manila concurred with
Jakarta and not entirely because it backed the defunct Sulu Sultanate’s –
without territory long before Spain in the Philippines -- designs over Sabah.
Indonesia was in turn
vilified in the local and British media as a big crocodile, along with the
Philippines, and just waiting to swallow Sarawak and Sabah respectively after
the British leave.
Indonesia and the
Philippines providentially became bogeymen, so-called security issues, for the
Malayan and British Governments in Sabah and Sarawak.
Lahad Datu mythological land
point for Sulu datus
There should be a debate on
this and who has turned out to be the real big crocodile in the region.
I had intended to time a
comment piece on the Sovereignty of Sabah after all sides had their say on the
Lahad Datu standoff and the defunct Sulu Sultanate's claim to Sabah, more
accurately the so-called northern and eastern parts. Both the Brunei and Sulu
sultans never ventured in Borneo beyond the coasts for fear of the fierce
head-hunters in the interior.
Anyway, here goes.
The intruders in Lahad Datu
seem to be focussing on the eastern seaboard, Lahad Datu in particular, for a
start. The hidden dimension here is that
the intruders may be standing up as much for their Muslim brethren in Sabah who
are Malaysian citizens marginalised and disenfranchised by the continuing
influx of other illegal immigrants.
That may not be entirely a
separate issue. At the end of the day, the Sabah claim may yet prove to be a
red herring. Meanwhile, we can only keep a wary eye on the Sabah claim in mind
in demolishing it in Lahad Datu, and soldier on nevertheless in the hopes of
seeing some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.
Lahad Datu, as local myths
go, was the first landing point in Sabah for the datus (traditional chieftains)
from Sulu and they referred to the land they saw around them as Sabah (a kind
of banana – Pisang Sabah - also found in the Philippines) since there were many
Sabah plants where they landed. It’s noteworthy that the intruders involved in
the on-going Lahad Datu standoff has chosen this region to make a statement.
History of England reference
point for Sabah
The question of the defunct
Sulu Sultanate having any private property rights to Sabah or any part of Sabah
does not arise.
A distinction must be made
between Sovereignty and property rights, whether public or private. They are
not one and the same thing.
In England for example, the
King no longer owns the entire land area of England as declared by William the
Conqueror of Normandy, France, in 1066, after he killed English King Harold II
at the Battle of Hastings and forced the local aristocracy to flee, many to
Constantinople. Crown land is state land. State land cannot belong to a foreign
power.
King William I set up a
feudal system, parcelling out the land to the new Norman-French aristocracy in
return for taxes and supply of men in times of war, to rule England. The
aristocracy allowed the peasantry to work their land in return for a share of
the crop and supply of able-bodied men in times of war.
As Duke William II of
Normandy he claimed, i.e. before 1066, that he had the right to the throne of
England by consent of the dying previous English King, Edward the Confessor,
and Harold II who succeeded the former as King. Harold II, as King, defeated
Herald II of Norway who also claimed the throne of England. He left the south
undefended and William walked to an easy victory there over the whole country
as he busied himself with Herald II in the north of England.
Pro-Malaysia Suluk, Bajau
marginalised, disenfranchised
My interest in penning this
comment piece is not the Lahad Datu standoff per se, the Sulu claim to Sabah,
the RCI or the forthcoming 13th General Election which may even be aborted in
Sabah.
My interest is on the fact
that the Lahad Datu standoff highlights the fact that no Referendum was held in
Sabah on Malaysia, or for that matter in Sarawak, Malaya and Brunei, to provide
for a legitimate transfer of sovereignty to Malaysia. Sovereignty, apart from
private property rights in Sabah, is one of the main issues raised by the
intruders involved in the Lahad Datu standoff.
Ironically, local Suluk and
Bajau community leaders endorsed Malaysia in 1963, but now claim just preceding
Lahad Datu albeit belatedly that they have been marginalised and disenfranchised
ever since then (1963) but remained silent for this long for fear of the Orang
Asal turning Sabah into a Christian state. They point to the fact that the
Pala’u (Orang Laut) or Bajau Sea gypsies are still stateless.
Chinese community leaders were
dead set against the new Federation which they viewed as an unnecessary
compromise with their newly-achieved freedom.
Orang Asal leaders wanted
Sabah to enjoy their independence for a time before looking at the idea of
Malaysia again. They wanted further details on the new Federation.
Again, there should be a
debate on this “Mother of All Issues” in Sabah and Borneo.
Instead, Putrajaya is
continuing to harp on bringing development to Sabah and Sarawak, already the
poorest Nations in Malaysia as declared by the World Bank in Kota Kinabalu in
Dec 2010.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the
Opposition Alliance, is banking on its Buku Jingga to add Sabah and Sarawak as
well to its electoral booty.
Man does not live by bread
alone!
At present, the written
Constitution of Malaya is being passed off as the written Constitution of
Malaysia. Constitutional law experts, please take note and enter the debate for
a novel development!
A Constitution is not so
much about law but is the ultimate political document reflecting history and
Adat as well. However, anything deemed unconstitutional is unlawful and hence
illegal.
The present so-called
Malaysian Constitution does not reflect the reality – political, historical,
Adat -- in Sabah and Sarawak. It’s not a political document that represents or
can represent Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia.
Leaving aside the question
of Referendum, Malaysia in fact has an unwritten Constitution based on the
written Constitution of Malaya, Batu Sumpah, and the various constitutional
documents on Malaysia from Sabah and Sarawak. It’s unwritten because Malaysia,
except in the case of Singapore merging with Malaya, cannot be viewed as an
extraordinary event like war, revolution or independence evoking the need for a
written Constitution.
Sabah, Sarawak independent
before Malaysia
At present, the Federation
of Malaya is clearly masquerading as the Federation of Malaysia.
This is why Putrajaya refers
to Sabah and Sarawak as the 12th and 13th states.
This is why Putrajaya claims
that Malaysia is 56 years old this year, the anniversary being calculated from
the 31 Aug, 1957 "Independence" of Malaya and not from 16 Sept, 1963
when the Malayan and British Governments dragged Sabah and Sarawak into
Malaysia with the “connivance”, for want of a better term, of the Singapore
Government and the Brunei Government remaining silent.
Sabah and Sarawak did not
become independent through Malaysia as the history books claim.
In Singapore, the people
voted for independence through merger with Malaya via Malaysia. Sabah and
Sarawak would be in Malaysia to facilitate the merger of Chinese-majority
Singapore with non-Malay majority Malaya. The facilitation would be through
adding their Orang Asal and Muslim populations to the Malay population in
Malaya and Singapore.
Sabah became independent on
31 Aug, 1963. Sarawak became independent on 22 July, 1963. Independence was
their natural self-determination.
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