KUCHING, June 9: State Reform Party (Star) president Lina Soo scoffs at Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak’s intention to lobby for Malaysia Day to be celebrated in Sarawak this year as she opines there is nothing to celebrate.
Soo said that Malaysia Day marks the day Sarawak threw off the yoke of British colonialism on Sept 16, 1963, only to be dominated and reshackled by Malaya’s exploitation of Sarawak’s territorial boundaries and natural resources, in the name of federalism during which Malaya changed its name to Malaysia.
In a statement today, she alleged that because of Malaysia Day, Sarawak is still like a colony with a new imperialist master, and is defined in the United Nations’ Non-Self-Governing Territories list as “change in status” only, with no independent status.
“In effect, it was merely a transfer of colonial headquarters from London to Kuala Lumpur where fair skinned imperialists were replaced by a federal government nearer home 1,500 miles away,” added Soo.
She told PH Sarawak if the reason the Malaysia Day celebration should be in Sarawak this year is just because it was held in Sabah last year, Sarawakians have no wish to follow in the footsteps of Sabah which has given up Labuan, lost its immigration autonomy powers, lost its lands to foreign companies, had its population re-constructed vis-a-vis Project IC, and federalised departments such as for electricity.
Soo implored PH Sarawak not to lead Sarawak down Sabah’s seemingly path of destruction.
“Sarawak PH should be lobbying for infrastructure funding and economic development, to get federal funds to repair our schools in rural areas, build more roads and bridges, and tackle bread and butter issues where the cost of living is getting more and more unbearable for ordinary folks,” opined Soo
“With the validity of Malaysia Agreement 1963 in grave doubt where Sarawak as a British colony had no capacity to enter into a multilateral international agreement, with multiple breaches and abandoned by Singapore, Malaysia Day will continue to remain a ‘Black Day’ for mourning.”
She invited PH Sarawak to instead join Sarawakians in celebrating 722 on July 22 (Sarawak Independence Day) at Padang Central with a pledge of allegiance to Sarawak, and without spending one sen of taxpayers’ money.
The gesture will be multiple times more meaningful for Sarawak, she said. — DayakDaily
