(Borneo Post) - KUCHING: The 18/20 Point Malaysia Agreement must be defended as political legacy for both Sabah and Sarawak, said Borneo Heritage Foundation chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
“If we don’t defend it as legacy, we and our future generations will lose. It is an important political legacy,” he said at the soft launching of Borneo Legacies Centre at Taman BDC Stampin here last Sunday night.
Jeffrey, also United Borneo Front (UBF) chairman, was referring to the 18 points agreement (Malaya/Sarawak) and 20 points agreement (Sabah /Malaya) signed before September 16, 1963 – the official date Malaysia was formed.
According to him, Sabah has lost most of the 20 points after Umno came to the state and decisions are made by Kuala Lumpur which makes Sabah treated like a colony and not an equal partner in Malaysia.
“You (Sarawak) are still very lucky. So, don’t lose it,” he said. He also pointed out there was nothing sensitive anymore about the points in 18/20 Agreement, because everybody knew about it and had the means to know it.
The Borneo Legacies Centre owner Dr Elli Luhat said the 18/20 Agreement was one of the documents to be showcased there.
“To me, it’s a legacy signed by the country’s forefathers. If we don’t preserve it, it will be gone someday. If we don’t do this, I don’t think my children and grandchildren will know about it,” he said.
The centre is located at Lasan Denak, Lorong B4 Taman BDC which is also the house of Elli, chairman of DLT Group of Companies.
Elli also said the centre aims to preserve the ‘empurau’ fish, and ‘gaharu’ (agarwood), ‘belian’ (Borneo Ironwood) and rubber trees which he regarded as the indigenous fauna and flora of Borneo.
He pointed out the rearing of empurau, and planting of gaharu, belian and rubber trees can uplift the socio-economy of the Dayaks.
On another matter, he also informed the audience that his term as member of the Malaysia Rubber Board (LGM) which recently expired was not renewed.
perkara 20 menjadi antara isu pada masa ini, perkara ini harus kita perjuangkan.
ReplyDeleteFor me Jeffrey the 20 point is the serious issues to manipulated. So 20 point is our right as long as Sabah still with Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteTidak perlulah pening-pening lagi mengenai 20 perkara ini. Selagi Sabah dengan Malaysia selagi itulah 20 perkara sah untuk Sabah dan hak penduduk Sabah.
ReplyDeleteDatuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made an assurance that Sabah will always be a priority in Malaysia’s development and hoped the people of the state would continue supporting him towards that objective.
ReplyDeleteThe Prime Minister said he was also committed to repay the spirit of unity brought by the eastern friends to the nation, the same as his late father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in merging North Borneo with Malaysia, for mutual benefits.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 49 years, Sabah has contributed a great deal to Malaysia’s growth. Last year, the state’s tourism sector generated almost RM5 billion for the country’s economy, with the arrival of more than 2.8 million visitors, up 13.6 percent from 2010.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, Malaysia depends on Sabah’s contribution very much and therefore, the government places importance on the state’s welfare through the Government’s Transformation programme.
ReplyDeleteHe said the government was working towards improving Sabah’s electricity supply and develop MASwings from a community service airline to a regional service covering Sabah and Sarawak.
ReplyDeleteDue to the government’s continued efforts through the Rural Infrastructure, National Key Results Area (NKRA), the roads in East Malaysia formed 54 percent of the nations road network.
ReplyDeleteThe rural poor have also received thousands of new or repaired houses, all equipped with basic facilities to enhance their quality of life.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, the Rural Infrastructure NKRA has benefited Sabah with an expenditure of RM3 billion.
ReplyDeleteNajib, who is scheduled for a one-day visit to Sabah Saturday said he was reminded of his visit to Balai Wayoh in Bingkor, Sabah recently, which was also visited by his late father in 1963.
ReplyDeleteHe said Bingkor was the venue for the important treaty between Tun Abdul Razak and Dusun leader OKK Sedomon, which welcomed North Borneo into Malaysia as Sabah.
ReplyDeleteThe Prime Minister's late father had great respect for OKK Sedomon, so much so that he referred to him as ‘Bapak’ (father).
ReplyDeleteIt is certain that the treaty played a pertinent role in making Malaysia the second largest economic power in Asean.
ReplyDeleteNajib said the merging of North Borneo with the Federation of Malaysia was not sealed without prior deliberation because to begin with, the Cobbold Commission was set up to gauge the people’s agreeability on the merger.
ReplyDeleteA 20-point agreement was also formulated by North Borneo to present their conditions for the merger, among them issues such as the official religion, official language and immigration affairs, he said.
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