Don't erase Malaysia Agreement, Putrajaya reminded

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia, the federal government has been reminded not to erase the fact that Sabah and Sarawak are not mere states in the federation but equal partners.

This is clearly laid out in the 20-point Agreement with Sabah and the 18-point Agreement with Sarawak when they, with Malaya, formed the federation on Sept 16, 1963, PKR's sole MP in Sabah Darell Leiking said today.

However, Leiking pointed out, the concept of equal partnership today is absent in history books and has been left to decay.

"This apparent attempt by the Umno/BN government to erase this
historical fact has caused great loss to Sabah and Sarawak, which in turn have made them feel bitter and being cheated.

"The majority of Sabahans and Sarawakians now feel they are being treated as second class citizens in Malaysia," Leiking said in a statement.

The Penampang MP added that the bitterness was aggravated by the fact that the Borneo states remained poor, even though they were among those that contributed the most to the federal coffers.

"The fact remains that many ordinary Sabahans and Sarawakians, irrespective of their political leanings, want the reinstatement of this special position within its original context..," he said.

Leiking urged the 56 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to go beyond party lines and restore the rightful position of the two states as equal partners of the federation.

‘Great disservice to people of Malaysia'

This position was echoed by NGO Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia in a statement today, which said that Putrajaya has thus far done a poor job in respecting its contractual agreement on the formation of Malaysia.

Among the violations of Putrajaya the movement pointed out was the "Malayanisation" of the public service, where most of the top civil servants in the two states are from peninsular Malaysia.

This was in contravention of the Malaysia Agreement, in which the 'Borneo-isation' of the public service would have to be respected.

"This 50th year, we all need to admit that either by design or default, or by just pure ignorance of history, we have done a great disservice to the people of Malaysia, past and present alike.

"We need to pledge to start afresh to truly understand the fundamental basis on which Malaysia was formed, and move forward as envisaged in the spirit of brotherhood and the love of freedom," Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia said.