Mufti’s statement on ‘Malaynization’ regrettable – Leiking

“And as a Kadazan myself, I sympathize with him for his lack of historical knowledge about the major ethnics in Sabah,” Leiking said in a statement emailed to the Borneo Insider.

The Member of Parliament for Penampang, Darell Leiking, had today express his regret over the ‘Malaynize’ (to make Malay) programme proposal mooted by the Mufti of Sabah, Ustaz Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar.

Leiking also said the mufti also erred in his statement that the Kadazan race is an “invented” ethnic made of non-Muslim Kadazan-Dusun people who are mostly Catholics as it is a fact that the Kadazans had existed long in Sabah long before the independence.

“And as a Kadazan myself, I sympathize with him for his lack of historical knowledge about the major ethnics in Sabah,” Leiking said in a statement emailed to the Borneo Insider.

Bungsu stirred up controversy when he told a symposium discussing the “Malay Leadership Crisis” that many of the indigenous Muslims in the north Borneo state still refused to call themselves Malay, unlike ethnic groups like the Javanese and Bugis in Peninsular Malaysia who today identify themselves as belonging to one Malay race.

Unhappy with Sabah’s Bumiputera Muslims for identifying themselves according to their tribal roots, the state’s mufti proposed a programme to convert them into Malays.

Said Leiking: “My stand is very clear on this matter.

“Sabah agreed to form Malaysia together with Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Sarawak for security, economic prosperity, development, better education/healthcare and not in any way to become another Malay-majority state in the federation”.

Notwithstanding the issue is only related to the Muslim bumiputera in Sabah, Leiking also took a swipe at the Mufti for being narrow minded.

Ustaz Bungsu, the mufti

“Let’s take an ethnic A that has an equal ratio of Muslims and non-Muslims as an example.

“Would it make sense if a programme to Malaynize the Muslims within ethnic A take place considering that their language and hereditary customs are totally different with the Malays in Peninsular Malaysia?

“It is understandable for the Mufti to say that the Javanese and Bugis in the Peninsular now refer themselves as Malays since these 3 ethnics share the same language and hereditary customs but I don’t think the Dusun and Murut ethnics in Sabah do,” Leiking argued.

The suggestion by the mufti clearly shows his lack of understanding and is a total mockery to the spirit of Malaysia Agreement espoused by the founding fathers of Malaysia, he added.