By : QUEVILLE TO
KOTA KINABALU: The question
of who is a Sabah “native” as well as the dubious position of children of mixed
parentage has been brought to the attention of the state government.
Kepayan assemblyman Edwin
Bosi has asked the state government to rectify the “blunder” of labeling the
offspring of natives and the Chinese as “Sino-Natives”.
He also wants the government
to stop classifying non-Malay bumiputeras as “others”.
He said there was no logic
in the term and that the children from such marriages should be called Sino-Kadazan,
Sino-Dusun, Sino-Murut, Sino-Rungus and so on to reflect their heritage.
“(Sino-native) is not a
race,” he said in his maiden debate speech on the motion of thanks after the
head of state’s policy speech at the Sabah Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
Bosi said the state
government should advise the National Registration Department (NRD) to stop
using Sino-Native as an official term.
He said the term Sino-Native
as a definition of a native of Sabah itself was not clear.
He went on to note that
Sabah has three laws addressing the issue – (Definition of Native) Ordinance
1964, Article 161A (6) (b) of the Federal Constitution and Article 41 (10) of
the Sabah State Constitution.
“However, the word native is
not clearly defined compared to the “Malay” race which is clearly defined in
the Federal Constitution. Therefore, the definition of native is broad and open
to so many interpretations.
“This has resulted in a
confused state of affairs opening opportunity for abuse,” he said.
BN aware of issue
Bosi said the state Barisan
Nasional government was aware of the problem and had set up a high-powered
committee in 2003 under the Housing and Local Government Ministry to look into
the matter and find solutions but nothing had come of it.
“What has happened to the
committee and what is the outcome?” he asked.
Bosi said that apart from
the wrong usage of the Sino-Native term, the NRD also did not recognise the
Sino-Kadazans as people of mixed parentage.
“In fact, persons who have Chinese
and Kadazan parents have been asked to choose either Kadazan or Chinese as
their race.
“I don’t think this is fair
for the person because he or she has two races. Sabah is really unique and this
is what makes us proud,” he said.
“I hope that in the future a
person from the indigenous community will never to be asked to put their race
as ‘others’,” he said.
At the same time, Bosi also
appealed to the government to make a decision and quickly resolve the status
issue of former Sri Tanjung assemblyman, Jimmy Wong.
“The matter is still hanging
and it is an injustice to Jimmy Wong,” he said.
Earlier, Bosi hoped the
government would cooperate with the opposition elected representatives in
carrying out their duties to assist the state government in developing Sabah.
“In order to achieve this
objective, the government must help the opposition elected representatives by
giving us the power to appoint our People Development Leader (PKR), provide us
with offices and to allow us to attend meetings at the District Council or City
Hall,” he said.
Elephants death
On another note, Bosi called
on the state government to continue the investigation and find those
responsible for the death of the 14 pygmy elephants in the Mt Rara Forest
Reserve in December last year.
Based on reports, he said
there had been signs of poisoning.
He said the government
however must go on record and announce the findings of the investigation and
bring those responsible to book because the incident had given a bad image of
Malaysia, especially Sabah.
He said the country was
already being attacked by foreign NGOs on the orangutan habitat and palm oil
plantation issue.
He said the government must
announce the results of the postmortem, type of poison used and whether
investigation is still being done to find those responsible.
“Is the government
considering listing the pygmy elephants as a protected species under Schedule 1
of the 1997 Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment?” he asked.
Bosi also asked if the
government still allowed logging and forest clearing for palm oil plantations
since the government was promoting the tourism industry, particularly
eco-tourism.
He noted that the issue of
the pygmy elephants death vanished to thin air after the Lahad Datu incursion.
“Before we totally forget
about it I appeal to the government to continue with the investigation and find
those responsible and subsequently charge them in the court of law,” he said.
Kementerian Kerajaan Tempatan dan Perumahan bersetuju mengenai cadangan supaya Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara membenarkan penggantian status Sino-Native kepada Sino-Kadazan, Sino-Dusun dan sebagainya bagi pendaftaran suku kaum dalam sijil lahir, kata Menterinya, Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor.
ReplyDelete“Kementerian saya bersetuju dengan syor ini dan akan mengadakan perbincangan dengan Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara untuk dilaksanakan sewajarnya,” kata Hajiji ketika menyampaikan ucapan penggulungan bagi Kementeriannya dalam Persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN), ke-14 bagi penggal pertama, di sini, kelmarin.
ReplyDeleteCadangan tersebut telah disyorkan oleh Adun Kapayan, Dr. Edwin Bosi ketika membahaskan Ucapan Dasar Kerajaan pada persidangan DUN ke-14 bagi Penggal Pertama, kelmarin.
ReplyDeleteSementara itu, Hajiji menegaskan bahawa sehingga kini Kerajaan Negeri belum membuat keputusan ke atas syor Jawatankuasa Kabinet mengenai status perakuan Tafsiran Anak Negeri pada tahun 2002 dan 2003.
ReplyDeleteKatanya, perkara ini perlu dikaji dan diperhalusi secara terperinci supaya kerajaan tidak membuat keputusan sewenang-wenangnya sehingga memudaratkan kepentingan Anak Negeri pada masa akan datang memandangkan ia amat rumit dan sensitif.
ReplyDeleteDalam hal yang lain, Hajiji berkata semua Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT) di seluruh negeri akan memperhebatkan lagi usaha untuk menangani masalah kebersihan.
ReplyDeleteKatanya, antara langkah yang diambil adalah melancarkan Kempen Anti Kutu Sampah (KAKS) yang bertujuan untuk melaksanakan Undang-Undang Kecil (Anti Sampah Sarap) Seragam 2010 di mana semua pegawai penguatkuasa di semua PBT telah diberi kursus perundangan tentang cara-cara mengambil langkah ke atas kutu sampah.
ReplyDeleteDalam pada itu, pihak PBT telah diminta untuk mengemukakan senarai tandas- tandas awam yang perlu diperbaiki, dinaiktaraf dan dibina baru untuk mendapatkan peruntukan kewangan daripada Kementerian sama ada di peringkat Negeri atau Persekutuan.
ReplyDeleteSementara itu, Hajiji menafikan dakwaan Adun Sri Tanjong, Chan Foong Hin yang menyatakan banjir kilat yang sering berlaku di Pasar Besar Tawau adalah disebabkan oleh sistem perparitan yang tidak diselenggara.
ReplyDeleteKatanya, kejadian banjir kilat ini sebenarnya disebabkan oleh pertembungan air laut pasang dengan aliran air di parit besar.
ReplyDelete“Keadaan ini tidak dapat dielakkan kerana kejadian berlaku disebabkan fenomena alam. Bagaimanapun, cadangan pemasangan kunci air akan dikaji kesesuaiannya kelak,” katanya.
ReplyDeleteDalam hal yang lain, Hajiji berkata penender tertinggi bagi lot gerai perrniagaan dalam bulan Ramadhan di Pusat Bandar Sandakan hanyalah bernilai RM2,100 sebulan dan bukanlah RM5,000 sebulan seperti yang didakwa Adun Sekong, Datuk Samsudin Yahya.
ReplyDeleteKatanya, daripada 207 gerai yang disediakan oleh Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan (MPS), hanya 83 lot sahaja yang ditawarkan melalui sistem tender dengan harga simpanan RM100 sebulan manakala yang selebihnya pula ditawarkan melalui cabutan dengan harga RM85 sebulan.
ReplyDelete“Semua peniaga yang menyertai tawaran tender dan cabutan lot semasa bulan Ramadan adalah bumiputera,” katanya.
ReplyDelete“Mereka yang tidak berjaya dalam tender akan ditawarkan lot cabutan.
“Sistem tender yang diperkenalkan ini adalah selaras dengan matlamat Kerajaan untuk mewujudkan sistem pemberian yang telus dan adil kepada rakyat,” katanya.
ReplyDelete