Sabah Suluks ‘safe’ in KK

Suluks in the city and neighbouring areas seem aloof of the goings on in the east-coast of Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: While house-to-house searches in villages concentrated on the Suluk-speaking community continued in coastline settlements in the east coast amid reports that the locals could be shielding escaping Sulu brothers, on the run from Malaysian forces, the community here and in neighbouring districts went about with their daily routines.

Malaysian security forces searching for remnant intruders and alleged newcomers have been sweeping through villagers in Sandakan, Kudat, Pitas, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud, Tuaran and in nearby Sepanggar, Likas, Gaya Island, Lok Kawi as also pockets of settlements around Putatan and Lok Kawi.

They believe these intruders may be “mingling” with the locals or hiding among them. There are also reports of an exodus to Kota Kinabalu and other westcoast points.

Fearing across-the-board repercussions, local Suluk leaders had in recent days distanced themselves from “ties” with the intruders and had openly thrown their support behind the military action against the marauding Sulus in Lahad Datu, Semporna and Kunak areas in the east-coast of Sabah.

Meanwhile, a random check with the Suluk community here and in neighbouring areas indicated little change in their daily lives.

In Kota Belud, about 67km from here, a local Suluk carpenter who wanted to be known only as Hadji, 53, told FMT that many of his colleagues who did not have Malaysian documents had stayed back at their “kongsi” home and rarely ventured to the town as more policemen are on the round now.

“Some of them now refused to go to work for safety reasons. But for me I have no problem because I have my passport with me. My friends and I are still working on at a house,” he said.

A Suluk woman working here, Nadia Fasha, 25, also faced no problem moving around with her Philippine passport always with her. She said there are many Suluks and Badjaos working in various sectors in businesses in Kota Kinabalu and so far they feel as safe as everyone else.

“Tidak ada problem abang, kami kerja seperti biasa. Mungkin di Semporna ada susah sikit lah,” (There is no problem abang, we work as usual. Maybe there is problem if we are in Semporna) she said, smiling.

Asked what her opinion was on the 130 or so Sulu intruders from the southern Philippines who took over a village in Tanduo Lahad Datu, Nadia said they should not disturb people as this is Malaysia. She refused to comment more.

Yet another woman by the name of Fatima, 28, said she fully supported the action by Malaysia to eliminate the “penjenayah” by force. “They came to ‘kacau-kacau’ only, [whereas] we are working for a living.

“They were bad people, belonged to Muslim extremist groups that are also a menace back in Mindanao.

“They only caused hardship to our people in Semporna and Lahad Datu. We have families here to feed, please don’t disturb…” she said before being whisked by a friend.

Another Suluk known only by his first name Kadir, 39, when asked, said he does not condone what the Sulu men had done in Lahad Datu or Semporna, saying their struggle to claim Sabah is futile.

“I support their claim based on heritage and history, but Sabah is now an independent country in Malaysia, so we go on living peacefully with each other. Don’t create disturbance here…” said Kadir who also worked in the construction sector.

He, however, also said that the happenings in the east-coast had caused some anxiety in the Suluk and Badjaos community as they have been subjected to police searches including in their houses and, in some cases, they were asked to alight from buses at roadblocks.

It is estimated that at least 400,000 Filipinos in Sabah are reportedly undocumented. They were part of the exodus from Mindanao during the height of the Moro insurgency in the 1970s and now resettled mostly around towns where jobs are available or near the coastline where they traditionally live.