Non-Muslim Bumis not benefiting from 'special position'

By Dominic Legeh

KOTA KINABALU: Former Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) vice-chairman, Simon Sipaun, has refuted the claim that Malays have special rights in the country.

He said there was no such thing as “special privilege” for the Malays in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

"What it says in Article 153 is the 'special position' of the Malays and Natives of Sabah and Sarawak.

"The 'special position' has, however, been interpreted by some leaders to mean 'special privileges.'

“But it looks to me that the non-Muslim Bumiputeras especially are not getting the same amount of “privileges” as enjoyed by the Muslim Bumiputeras," Sipaun said.

Citing scholarships and promotions in the civil service, he said that few non-Muslim Bumiputeras benefited from the “special position” unlike their Malay and Muslim counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia.

"Nowadays everything is visible... non-Muslim Bumiputeras don't benefit much from scholarship awards or promotions in the civil service.

"Eventually it will become a one-race, one religious type of civil service like in Peninsular Malaysia, where basically all in the civil service are Malays and Muslims.

"I just don’t see how all this can be related to the 1Malaysia concept being promoted now,” said Sipaun, when commenting on the raging controversy in the peninsula over Malay special privileges.

Still marginalised

Sipaun said that the Kadazandusun and Murut (KDM) community, which supposedly enjoy “special position” under Article 153, were still marginalised and hardly benefited from many aspects of development in the country.

"But instead of griping, the community should accept this fact as an opportunity to excel without relying too much on government handouts," said Sipaun.

He added that sometimes this was a “blessing in disguise” because it forced the community to work harder at success.

"This is sometimes a blessing in disguise because when you are left out, you work harder in order to survive.

"I have noticed a lot of our young KDM people are working in the Peninsula or Singapore... many of them migrated... many of them have doctorates and are working as chemical engineers or in other professional fields.

"To me, this is a good thing because if the government is not helpful to you, then you have to help yourself to survive,” said Sipaun.