The rally is over – what now?

Do you know anything more of the history of September 16 and of ‘Malaysia’?

COMMENT

By Fazar Datuk Arif

52 years after our forefathers in Sabah and Sarawak took part in the formation of Malaysia and a day after the rally held on Malaysia Day, I find myself questioning what if anything, Malaysia Day means to me? I find myself wondering how we got here and if I am proud of where we are now.

My paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather were pure Chinese – I’m very proud to say. My dad’s mother was a “Lee,” my mama’s was a “Thien.” My father and mother were half Dusuns, who spoke fluent Dusun and Murut and converted to Islam in the 40s and 50s.

I have a question for the Red Shirts who started off wanting to spill the blood of the Chinese. Do you realise you wanted to “spill” part of me!! Islam did not change my parents’ genes or blood. They are not Malays. We are not Malays. So where does that leave people like us?

So now that you have gathered and rallied in red shirts how much more do you know of the history behind the 16th of September? Do you know who made the ‘Malaysia’ you were supposed to be celebrating yesterday? How dare they?! How dare you!!

It is obvious now, more than ever that whatever it was that led the state leaders in the early 60s to hand Sabah to the Federation of Malaya under the pretext of equal rights as Malaysia, was carried out in much haste. Even the “famous” 20 points agreement is now irrelevant since many current state leaders, have themselves chosen to ignore it. Perhaps they have taken the lead from leaders in the 70s and 80s who handed over those “rights” to the federal government.

Indeed the “contract” has become one-sided with the federal government now having the advantage. Most of what was agreed upon by our forefathers then, have now become non-binding and non-existing e.g. Education; Official language; Freedom of religion; Immigration; Tariffs and Finance.

The leaders in the Federation of Malaya, one can only assume, had their own agendas. The leaders representing us the Borneo States, unfortunately fell into the trap set by the more “sophisticated” British leaders as well as those from Malaya who used the findings of the “Cobbold Commission” to their advantage.

Since then there has been a steady deterioration of integrity among Sabah’s politicians and an over eagerness to sell the pride and the honour of Sabahans as a whole, to the Malaysian federal government. This has been a huge disappointment on many fronts.

For example, we in Sabah have been “blind” to racial and religious polarisation and bigotry. We have all been proud Sabahans first until the intrusion of a certain political party disturbing this “family.”

Both the state leaders (from the past to the current ones) and the federal government are responsible for what is happening to Sabah and to Malaysia today. To you I say:

Stop insulting the people’s intelligence by accusing us of being under the influence of opposition parties.

Stop planting seeds of hate. No group of people, apart from those who imagine it, are against any race or religion.

Stop twisting things around so that you come across as victims of the opposition’s politics just because you, are scared of losing your grip on all the privileges you have been enjoying.

To the leaders of the current ruling party I say:

Grow up!! Recognize that this country really belongs to all those whose forefathers were born here; to those who were born here – who genuinely love this country and want it to progress and develop for future generations. This country does not belong to one race, one party.

All that we, the people, are asking and longing for is a clean government and good leaders who do not insult and patronise their own people! That is not an affront to anyone’s dignity? In fact it is critical to our dignity as a law abiding nation.

In conclusion, there is something terribly wrong when the leaders from the ruling party “celebrated” at a signing ceremony on Malaysia Day, 52 years after the fact, while at the same time, the majority of the citizenry, were and still are reduced to sighing and crying for the Malaysia of today.

Fazar Datuk Ariff is an FMT reader.