Sabahan Indigenes Could Have Become Slaves Too

As Malaya celebrates its 52nd anniversary of independence, the North Borneo Herald would like to mention an unsung hero of modern Malaya (or Peninsular Malaysia as it is popularly known today).

The person was none other than James Wheeler Woodford Birch, better known as J.W.W Birch. He was the first British Resident of the state of Perak, appointed on the 4th of November 1874. Many of those whose only acquaintance with Malaysian history are from school textbooks might wonder how could Birch be considered a hero!

After all, Malaysian textbooks teaches us that Birch was a representative of the British colonialists, and that he did not respect local customs. So, he was killed. That's what the school books teaches us.

But many are unaware that Birch was against slavery. During that period, the Malays of Perak were practising slavery. The Orang Asli (indigenes of Malaya) would be captured and sold as slaves. The pretty ones would end up as harem for the rich and powerful.

Birch was strongly against this. Please bear in mind that Britain had enacted the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833.

Birch was against the slave trade that was rife in Perak. He stopped it. Datuk Maharaja Lela, a powerful local who was involved in the slave trade was very unhappy and killed Birch. The Datuk claimed that Birch was killed because the latter did not respect local customs! What a way to get people to respect local customs!

Birch should be hailed as a hero who ended slavery in Malaya. If it was not for him, we would never know when slavery would have ended in Malaya. As for the indigenous peoples of Sabah, don't forget that if it were not for the British North Borneo Chartered Company coming to Sabah, they too could have endured what the Orang Asli endured in Perak before Birch came!

Kalabakan MP's Revelation Shocking!

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Kalabakan Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh said he has received complaints that illegal immigrants are being issued Identification Cards (IC) in his constituency.

It is saddening that despite being firmly entrenched in power in the state, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) still needs illegal immigrants to help it stay in power. Please bear in mind that UMNO is in charge of both the federal and state governments. Therefore the National Registration Department's (NRD) alleged issuance of citizenship cards to illegals must have something to do with UMNO. This is if the complaints received by the Kalabakan MP is true.

As the North Borneo Herald had said earlier, the NRD needs a total overhaul. And perhaps it is time that the Home Ministry which is in charge of the NRD be helmed by a non-UMNO MP. And the NRD too should have a non-Muslim Sabahan or Sarawakian as director. Only this can satisfy Malaysians that the NRD is being transparent. Or else NRD would be just viewed as a tool for UMNO to increase its votes illegally.

Some Basic Sabahan History

It is rather unfortunate that many youths today do not know the true history of Malaysia's independence. In school they are taught that Malaysia won independence on August 31st 1957. And the North Borneo Herald has spoken to some Sabahan history teachers and find that their knowledge on the history of Sabah and Malaysia are quite shallow too.

The North Borneo Herald therefore would like to share some basic knowledge on Sabah's history to those who wish to expand their knowledge:

Original name: State of North Borneo (founded in 1881)

9th July 1963: Name changed to Sabah

31st August 1963: Sabah becomes independent

16th September 1963: Sabah together with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore merge to form a new country called the Federation of Malaysia

Kudat: Capital of Sabah 1881-1883

Sandakan: Capital of Sabah 1883-1946

The Twenty Points: Conditions set out by Sabah for the formation of Malaysia (available on Wikipedia)

Malaysia Agreement 1963: The document that became the basis for the formation of Malaysia (available from the Government Printing Office in Jalan Tuaran, KK)

30th September 1968: The name of Sabah's capital Jesselton changed to Kota Kinabalu

Henri Boniface Hermann: Man who composed Sabah state anthem

Datuk Donald Stephens: The first Chief Minister of Sabah

Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun: The first Yang Di-Pertua Negara of Sabah (not yang dipertua negeri)

1967: Sabah held its first state elections

The North Borneo Armed Constabulary: The name of the Sabah State Police before Malaysia was formed

North Borneo Herald: First newspaper in Sabah since 1883

North Borneo News: Newspaper under the British government 1946-1949

Sabah Times: The first newspaper published by a local Donald Stephens in 1949

Flags of Sabah 1881-present: (see below)

Flag of North Borneo 1881-1946




Flag of Sabah 1963-1976


Flag of Sabah 1976-1988


Flag of Sabah 1988-present

Indian National's Claim Prove NRD's Project

The protest of an Indian national against his arrest has proven that the National Registration Department has been involved in the illegal issuance of ICs (citizenship cards) to foreigners.

The Daily Express (26th August 2009) had reported that Mohamed Kani Majid, 43 an Indian national was arrested for being an illegal immigrant. Majid however protested, saying his arrest was illegal as he was issued an IC by the NRD along with about 100 Indians and Pakistanis in 1994. He claimed the project under which he and other South Asians obtained ICs was called IC Projek Pedalaman (Interior IC Project).

This is the third time the illegal issuance of ICs to foreigners have been admitted by the foreigners themselves. The first one was by Salman Majid, a Pakistani who had his dubious citizenship revoked after a business deal gone wrong with a local. The second was when two Filipinos in 2008 asked Sabahans to forget and forgive while flashing their illegally obtained ICs on the front page of the Daily Express. Majid's case is the third!

It is also a wonder that Majid obtained his IC through an interior IC project, when there are many indigenous folks from the interior who have yet to get their ICs.

The government better revoke the citizenship of all these dubious citizens. Or else more embarassing revelations will come to light. The NRD too needs a total overhaul.

Fatwa Has No Legal Bearing On Non-Muslims

Some non-Muslim groups in Sabah are concerned that the Sabah Islamic Religious Council (MUIS) has issued fatwas* which affect them. There is one fatwa which say that words like "Allah", "Nabi" and "Bait Allah" cannot be used by Christians. Then there is another fatwa which says that non-Muslims cannot put up statues in public places.

However what the concerned non-Muslim groups forgot was that a fatwa is only applicable to Muslims. Therefore the fatwa has no legal bearing on non-Muslims. Non-Muslims can continue using the word Allah as they please or build statues of their deities in public places. After all, freedom of religion is one of the most important conditions that facilitated the formation of Malaysia.

*religious edict

Banning Beer Sale?

An interesting development took place in the West Malaysian state of Selangor, where the state executive councillor (EXCO) Dato'Dr.Hassan Ali called for the resignation of another state EXCO, Ronnie Liu, as the latter had allegedly interfered in a raid on a 24-hour convenience store selling beer. It seemed that a local council had confiscated the beers and Ronnie had ordered them to return it to the store.

Dr.Hassan is calling for the ban on selling alcohol in Muslim majority areas. The North Borneo Herald agrees and disagrees with him. First, we agree that alcohol should not be sold to Muslims, and secondly we disagree with the term "Muslim-majority areas".

Though according to Islam it is an offence for Muslims to consume alcohol, the practise of drinking seems to be common among Muslims. This blog does not know the extent of beer-drinking among Muslims in West Malaysia, but there are Muslims drinking beer in Sabah.

Shopowners who sell beer should refrain from selling beer to Muslims. However in Sabah, it is sometimes difficult to tell a Muslim from a non-Muslim. With the ever increasing number of Sabahans, Sarawakians, Filipinos and Indonesians working and studying in West Malaysia, one wonders if retailers there can tell the difference between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The best way would be to label the section where beer is kept as a Non-Halal Section as is the practice in some hypermarkets. Secondly, the cashier should ask the customer if he or she is a Muslim or non-Muslim when the person is purchasing beer. When the cashier is unsure, he or she can request for identification, since Muslims would have the word "Islam" printed on their MyKads.

This is much better than banning the sale of alcohol in so-called "Muslim-majority areas". Let's say if a convenience store in Muslim-majority Putatan does not sell beer. A Muslim could easily drive to Christian-majority Penampang and buy beer, which is just ten minutes away! Similarly if shops in Papar town do not sell beer, Muslims can take an eight minute drive to Christian-majority Limbahau and buy beer. And the same with Muslim-majority Membakut and Christian-majority Ulu Membakut, or Kudat and Matunggong, or Kota Belud-town and
Narinang! The list goes on and on.

And the if ever there is to be a ban, Muslims should also not be allowed to buy yeast, tajau (jars used to make rice wine) or any other materials which might be used to make alcoholic drinks*.

However when one sees the majority alcohol-consuming Muslim youths drinking cheap liquor, would it not be better for them to drink beer, which has less alcohol percentage and more expensive? The conclusion, is just refuse selling beer to Muslim patrons.

*the North Borneo Herald is concerned with the increasing consumption of home-made alcoholic brew ever since beer prices were increased by former premier Datuk Seri Abdullah A.Badawi

Religion is Free in Sabah

Recently our Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn was quoted as saying that it is against the Federal Constitution to propagate non-Islamic religions to those professing the religion of Islam. He was referring to the case of 9 students at Putra University of Malaysia in Serdang, Selangor who were arrested for allegedly propagating Christianity to Muslim students (15th July 2009). In the end, it turned out that there was a misunderstanding and the nine were released.

Going back to what Hishamuddin had said, let us go back to Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution. It says that state governments may enact laws to prevent the propagation of religions other than Islam to Muslims. Therefore it is only against the law when a state has such a law enacted. However some states have yet to enact such a law. Since Hishamuddin is a Federal minister, he should know that the Federal Territory itself has never enacted such a law.

However Article 11(4) cannot be applied in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Therefore the governments of Sabah and Sarawak cannot enact a law to prevent the propagation of religions other than Islam to Muslims. This is because it is clearly stated in the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 that Article 11(4) cannot be applied in the two states.

Hence, non-Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak are free to propagate their religions to Muslims. But, out of respect for Muslim sensitivities, there has never been attempts by non-Muslim religious organizations to spread their religions to Muslims or Muslim communities.

But since the Malaysia Agreement has expressly stated that Article 11(4) does not apply to Sabah and Sarawak, Muslims in these two states should be given the free choice to leave Islam if they want to. This should not be made an issue.

Conversions from Islam to Christianity and Christianity to Islam are common in Sabah. Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman himself had said on numerous occassions that Sabahans enjoy the spirit of "live and let live".

Therefore attempts by certain NGOs to have Article 11(4) applied to Sabah are uncalled for. Similarly, the practice of the National Registration Department (NRD) in making life difficult for those converting from Islam to other faiths is a mockery of the Malaysia Agreement of 1963.

To all Sabahans, please know your rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement! The Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995 which makes converting out of Islam an offence can be challenged in court by citing the Malaysia Agreement.

No Point in Having Religion On MyKad

The recent case of an art director in Peninsular Malaysia shows that the National Registration Act's rule to have religion on the MyKad (national registration card) is of no use. In the case of the late Mohan Singh, whose body is still kept at a hospital mortuary pending the outcome of a court decision to see whether he would be buried as a Muslim or cremated as a Sikh.

The Islamic religious authorities claim that he had converted to Islam before he died and had therefore to be buried as a Muslim. His family on the other hand claims that he was a practising Sikh all his life. If the Islamic religious authorities get their way, the estate that Mohan left behind would not go to his family, but would be claimed by the Islamic authorities.

What is peculiar about the case is that on Mohan's MyKad, the word "Islam" is absent. "Islam" is printed on the MyKads of all Malaysian Muslims. The NRD database also shows his religion as being Sikhism. Now, if the MyKad shows that he is not a Muslim, why is there a necessity to claim that he is?

This shows that there is something clearly wrong with the National Registration Act and the National Registration Department.

Perhaps, it is time to have a law that would allow dead people to be given a funeral according to the rites of the religion of their immediate family members. Or perhaps, when applying for a MyKad, Malaysians should fill a form to say how they wish to be buried if they die.

Whatever it is, one thing for sure is that NRD is really confusing us. On one hand, if a person is a non-Muslim but has the word "Islam" wrongly printed on his MyKad, he cannot change it and has to go through the lengthy process of dealing with religious authorities.

On the other hand, if a person is a non-Muslim and has his religion correctly recorded as such, it can still be questioned!

Traitors to Sabah!

Lahad Datu, Saturday(4th April)- Twelve people were held for burning the Sabah state flag. Their leader claims to be the Sultan of Sulu. There was riot police in town until the afternoon, stationed in front of the Standard Chartered Bank. The road from the roundabout near the Magistrate's Court right up to the bank was sealed off. And motorists who wanted to enter town had to use the coastal freeway or through Pancuran, which was in terrible shape and looked like a waterfall due to the heavy rain.

What is surprising (or unsuprising) is that these flag-burners all had Malaysian citizenship cards (MyKad). Once again we see that the National Registration Department (NRD) had erred in giving citizenship to these foreigners. As long as these foreigners are allowed to keep their MyKads issued during the Mahathir-regime, our state would be in danger. Let us all call on the present government to revoke all citizenships issued to Filipino and Indonesian illegals between the 1970s-1999!

Those Born to Native Mothers are Natives

There seems to be a policy in the National Registration Department (NRD) to register children who are half natives as non-natives. For example if the father is a Chinese, Indian or Filipino and the mother is Kadazandusun, the child would be recorded as being a Chinese, Indian or Filipino.

This is despite the fact that the Chinese, Indian or Filipino father might have embraced the language and culture of their wives and their children live in a native environment.

Would the NRD record children born to Malay mothers and Chinese fathers as Chinese? Or the children born to Malay mothers and Indian fathers as Indians? If no, then this is clearly double standards on the NRD's part.

The NRD's practise is contrary to Article 161 (6) (b) of the Federal Constitution which defines the Natives as :

"in relation to Sabah, a person who is a citizen, is the child or grandchild of a person of a race indigenous to Sabah, and was born (whether on or after Malaysia Day or not) either in Sabah or to a father domiciled in Sabah at the time of the birth."

This clearly shows that children who are born to Kadazandusun or Murut mothers but have Chinese, Indian or Filipino fathers are natives of Sabah. But by registering the race of these children as Chinese, Filipinos or Indians, they are automatically rendered non-natives.

This is a growing epidemic in Sabah and many Sabahans of Sino-Kadazan, Sino-Murut, Filipino-Kadazan, Filipino-Murut, Indo-Kadazan and Indo-Murut race cannot inherit Native Title (NT) lands that belong or belonged to their mothers.

Is the NRD treating these people this way because they are not Muslims? The time has come for someone to take this issue to court and challenge the NRD as doing something illegal. Illegal because it clearly violates the Federal Constitution!

What is even more disheartening is that these children cannot enjoy the perks meant for natives while those who are clearly non-natives can, even to the extent of getting scholarships to study in universities because they are Muslims.