The Tunku Abdul Rahman administration declared an amnesty in 1965 for those who had obtained citizenship by falsely declaring that they had been in the country eight years or more.
Those who took up the offer had to surrender their citizenship papers, were fined RM300 each and granted permanent residence in lieu. On paper, they were not blacklisted from re-applying for citizenship when they qualified.
Nelson George D'Cruz, my maternal uncle, was among them. He was only granted citizenship recently in Putrajaya, a year before he passed away, along with 10 other Indians and 300 Indonesians.
Those who took up the offer had to surrender their citizenship papers, were fined RM300 each and granted permanent residence in lieu. On paper, they were not blacklisted from re-applying for citizenship when they qualified.
Nelson George D'Cruz, my maternal uncle, was among them. He was only granted citizenship recently in Putrajaya, a year before he passed away, along with 10 other Indians and 300 Indonesians.
Mahathir's proposed a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on pre-Merdeka citizenship, citing Tunku (right) in 1957, is a tit-for-tat move amidst his "red herring" admission in recent days that he gave out 200,000 citizenships to presumably foreigners and refugees, in Sabah during his premiership (1981-2003).The RCI itself has heard testimony that 80,000 Filipino refugees have been given citizenship in Sabah and a further 36,000 applications from this group is being processed.
Any judicial review, if allowed by the court, would find that proper procedures - think the Sabah state government and constitution - were not followed in the case of the so-called refugees.
Putrajaya did not consider an amnesty - it could only be offered for permanent residence - as it would have been opposed by the people of Sabah.
Mahathir is obviously trying to deflect public attention from the illegal immigrants, among other phantoms, allegedly used in every election.
These are illegal immigrants who allegedly hold duplicate MyKads in the names of Malaysians registered as voters but who seldom turn up to vote.
‘Twice-born' phenomenon rampant
Other cloned MyKads may be held by illegal immigrants in the names of Malaysians who are eligible voters but didn't bother to register themselves with the Election Commission (EC).
Then there are those holding MyKads under the ‘twice-born' phenomenon i.e. those foreigners who make out statutory declarations that they were born in Sabah and make up, according to estimates, anything up to 30 percent of the voters in various seats.
The evidence is in the court cases of Indian restaurant keeper Majid Kani and Pakistani carpet dealer Salman Majid. These cases, which make up the tip of the proverbial iceberg, can be Googled.
Another reference point is the Likas election petition K11/99 of 1999 which exposed the existence of large numbers of foreigners on the electoral rolls and stripped Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) president Yong Teck Lee (left) of the state seat.
The EC, in a retaliatory move, rushed legislation through Parliament disallowing any challenge to the electoral rolls once gazetted. That itself is telling.
However, the Bar Council in a take on The Sun, thinks that the election results can be challenged if the outcome was affected by the presence of those who were not eligible or entitled to vote.
The grant of citizenship, in the wake of independence in 1957 in Malaya, cannot be equated with the illegal immigrant phenomenon in Sabah.
Constitution is the social contract
Independence, like revolutions and wars are extraordinary events, which give rise to new nations and result in the need for a written constitution, a social contract between the state and the people.
Malaya's constitution also accommodated the need for citizenships for those in the peninsula at the stroke of midnight on Aug 31, 1957. This was the second accommodation after 1948.
The full story is in the declassified documents available at the British Archives Library in Kew Gardens, England.
Copies of these documents are in the hands of Hindraf Makkal Sakthi which submitted them as part of its class action suit in London. Similar copies are in the hands of Sabah and Sarawak activists linked to the UK-based Human Rights Foundation of Malaysia.
Suffice it to say that Mahathir's (right) take on the grant of citizenships in Malaya is not true at all.
Besides, as the son of immigrants he has no locus standi to make comments, racist or otherwise, on the Chinese being granted citizenship in Malaya.
Being Malay of Indian-origin doesn't quite equate as being Nusantara Malay.
It's a misconception that the story of citizenship in Malaya is solely a non-Malay one.
Indeed, Professor William Roff writes in his ‘Origin of Malay Nationalism' that 85 percent of the Malay-speaking population in the peninsula in the late 1800s - Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, Indian Muslims etc - was composed of either immigrants or the descendants of immigrants.
On paper at least, keeping the federal constitution in mind, the Malay-speaking communities are supposed to take out citizenships as well unless they could prove that they were citizens by operation of law i.e. the issue of citizens by operation of law - third and subsequent generations - or citizens by registration. Unlike citizens by naturalisation (first generation) and registration (second generation), citizens by operation of law hold no citizenship papers.
It's not known to what extent the Malay-speaking communities in Malaya, like the non-Malays, determined their citizenship status in the days following 1957.
The federal constitution merely gave a political definition of Malay in defining the term. It does not provide for the Malay-speaking communities - a nation in Malaysia without territory - to claim Orang Asal (original people) status in Peninsular Malaysia. Only the Orang Asli qualifies.
Those eligible for Malaysian citizenship can be born overseas but their births must be registered at the nearest Malaysian embassy or high commission within three months.
Another reference point is the Likas election petition K11/99 of 1999 which exposed the existence of large numbers of foreigners on the electoral rolls and stripped Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) president Yong Teck Lee (left) of the state seat.The EC, in a retaliatory move, rushed legislation through Parliament disallowing any challenge to the electoral rolls once gazetted. That itself is telling.
However, the Bar Council in a take on The Sun, thinks that the election results can be challenged if the outcome was affected by the presence of those who were not eligible or entitled to vote.
The grant of citizenship, in the wake of independence in 1957 in Malaya, cannot be equated with the illegal immigrant phenomenon in Sabah.
Constitution is the social contract
Independence, like revolutions and wars are extraordinary events, which give rise to new nations and result in the need for a written constitution, a social contract between the state and the people.
Malaya's constitution also accommodated the need for citizenships for those in the peninsula at the stroke of midnight on Aug 31, 1957. This was the second accommodation after 1948.
The full story is in the declassified documents available at the British Archives Library in Kew Gardens, England.
Copies of these documents are in the hands of Hindraf Makkal Sakthi which submitted them as part of its class action suit in London. Similar copies are in the hands of Sabah and Sarawak activists linked to the UK-based Human Rights Foundation of Malaysia.
Suffice it to say that Mahathir's (right) take on the grant of citizenships in Malaya is not true at all.Besides, as the son of immigrants he has no locus standi to make comments, racist or otherwise, on the Chinese being granted citizenship in Malaya.
Being Malay of Indian-origin doesn't quite equate as being Nusantara Malay.
It's a misconception that the story of citizenship in Malaya is solely a non-Malay one.
Indeed, Professor William Roff writes in his ‘Origin of Malay Nationalism' that 85 percent of the Malay-speaking population in the peninsula in the late 1800s - Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, Indian Muslims etc - was composed of either immigrants or the descendants of immigrants.
On paper at least, keeping the federal constitution in mind, the Malay-speaking communities are supposed to take out citizenships as well unless they could prove that they were citizens by operation of law i.e. the issue of citizens by operation of law - third and subsequent generations - or citizens by registration. Unlike citizens by naturalisation (first generation) and registration (second generation), citizens by operation of law hold no citizenship papers.
It's not known to what extent the Malay-speaking communities in Malaya, like the non-Malays, determined their citizenship status in the days following 1957.
The federal constitution merely gave a political definition of Malay in defining the term. It does not provide for the Malay-speaking communities - a nation in Malaysia without territory - to claim Orang Asal (original people) status in Peninsular Malaysia. Only the Orang Asli qualifies.Those eligible for Malaysian citizenship can be born overseas but their births must be registered at the nearest Malaysian embassy or high commission within three months.
Where there is no Malaysian diplomatic mission, such births can be registered at the nearest British or other Commonwealth mission.
The citizenship issue can only be handled according to the federal constitution, and the Sabah and Sarawak constitutions, and thereby becomes a non-issue and cannot be disputed by the people.
The citizenship issue can only be handled according to the federal constitution, and the Sabah and Sarawak constitutions, and thereby becomes a non-issue and cannot be disputed by the people.
If Mahathir is right, why is he being so defensive on the issue? Are we under the rule of law or the rule of men?
JOE FERNANDEZ is a freelance journalist, among others, who shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, and northern Sarawak.
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