THERE ARE PARTS OF MY OWN COUNTRY I MAY NOT BE FREE TO ENTER BECAUSE SOMEBODY THINKS SO

Umar Mukhtar

The average Malaysian has more likelihood of being allowed into the neighbouring countries of Singapore and Thailand than a state in their own country like Sarawak. It’s kind of weird but that’s the legacy of the agreement to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. There are other significant points of agreement but those you rarely hear of except when highlighted by the Sarawak and Sabah opposition.

The intent for enabling the less developed Borneo states to have the extra immigration powers to regulate the free entry of peninsular Malaysians was purportedly to avoid excessive exploitation of their natural resources, cornering of the local economy and job market, etc., by the more advanced peninsular Malaysians at the expense of the locals.

It made sense at that time considering the unbridled greed exhibited by some that even in the peninsular you have to have protection for the indigenous population in the form of land reservations and the like. But that was in the early 60s. Presently, the reverse is almost true. Sarawak and Sarawak capitalists are all over the peninsular’s housing development markets arising from overflowing and easy money made from the corrupt timber industry there.

Apart from natural resources investment which is slow, there’s nothing much to invest in the less populous states. So they come here. There’s no restriction for them to come here. After all, we are one country. Even the labour market in Johore, for example, is full of Sarawakians. Better them than having foreigners. That immigration rule is now superfluous and open to abuse.

More often than not the laws regarding immigration to Sarawak and Sabah are abused to enable the ruling state governments to stop people they don’t like from interacting with the locals. So opposition politicians are stopped from entering especially during election time. It is as if that would really help the ruling parties. It is more annoying and irritating than anything else. It’s like using a cannon to stop advancing ants. No confidence in oneself!

Nobody knows if it is cost-effective, but it’s a good opportunity to show who’s got the bigger dicks. It’s not really true that only opposition politicians are banned. Ruling party politicians too have been banned. Like UMNO’s Jamal Ikan Bakar recently. But it is still self-serving, Jamal’s ban was to stop Barisan Nasional from losing votes when he opens his mouth. The problem is there’s no terms of reference and no current list to look up and check.

Seriously, there are other terms of the agreement that need to be highlighted. As I understood it in 1963, Sabah and Sarawak were merging with the Federation of Malaya. Now it seems like Sabah and Sarawak joined the eleven states of the peninsular to be another two states. The difference is fine but appreciable. They do have special rights but the ones most significant are not spoken of. If I am from Sabah or Sarawak, no way I am keeping quiet.

For one, the Orang Asli of the peninsular is a tiny minority that is treated with lots of overbearing patronage. The Dayaks of Sarawak, on the other hand, is the largest grouping in Sarawak. Don’t try to treat them like the Orang Asli which the Federal government is used to. And while Islam struts with the majority here, in Sabah and Sarawak it’s a minority religion. The last time I was in Sarawak I had to travel miles just find halal food. We are different.

But we are also Malaysians. So our aspirations need to be the same. How are we going to achieve that when freedom of domestic travel is restricted by the whims and fancies of just one group? One thing for sure though, being Malaysian has its premium. Ask the kidnappers of southern Philippines!