Native certs suspension has gone on too long, says association

KOTA KINABALU: An association representing Sabahans of mixed Chinese and KDM descent has offered to help the state work out a risk-free system of issuing native certificates that would enable the lifting of a 35-year suspension.

Jerry Goh.

Sabah Sino Kadazan Dusun Murut Association information chief Jerry Goh told FMT he was distressed by Deputy Chief Minister Madius Tangau’s call for the maintenance of the freeze in a statement he made last Thursday.

Tangau, who is Upko president, was responding to an announcement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong that the freeze would be reviewed. He said he was opposed to any move to lift the freeze until “foolproof system and procedures” were in place so that abuses would not happen.

Goh said his association was willing to help Tangau if he was indeed serious about finding “that elusive foolproof system”.

He said members of the Sino-KDM community, who number about a quarter of a million, understood the problem “better than anybody else” because they have suffered much since the Berjaya government stopped issuing the certificate in 1982.

“The problem is very easy to solve, and yet the state government claims it is afraid of abuse, forgetting that Sabah has laws,” he added.

Under a special provision approved by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman when he was prime minister, a person identifying with the Sino-KDN community can claim native status if he is the offspring of one native parent and lives as a member of the community.

The native certificates allow their holders to enjoy the rights of a Sabah Bumiputera. The Berjaya government stopped issuing them after it found that non-indigenous persons were fraudulently obtaining them to acquire native land and other Bumiputera benefits.

“When the issuance of native certificates was suspended,” Goh said, “many thought it was only temporary. But more than 35 years later, the state government still uses the same excuse for refusing to lift the suspension, namely corruption or misuse of the certificates.

“At first, we agreed because we understood the reason behind the suspension. But how can the government be so inefficient that it cannot find an effective solution to the problem?”

He said the freeze had brought nothing but misery to his community as many were denied the right to inherit lands, attend higher institutes of learning or secure government jobs because of their Chinese surnames.

There have been several cases of non-natives found in possession of the precious documents, sometimes forged.

Three years ago, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) seized 2,000 hectares of native land in the east coast of Sabah bought by non-natives using falsified native certificates. It also froze Amanah Saham Bumiputera accounts worth RM10 million.

In 2016, outgoing Sabah MACC director Hishammuddin Hashim proposed that all native certificates be recalled and new ones with better security features reissued. The relevant authorities did not respond. - FMT