By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 9: Sarawak and Sabah are clear on the distinction between autonomy and independence, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) supreme council member Wejok Tomik.
The real confusion, he added, comes from outsiders.
“When a veteran politician claims Sarawak and Sabah are confused, it says more about Putrajaya’s outdated mindset than about Borneo.
“After 60 years, the people of Sabah and Sarawak are not confused. They are frustrated by delayed and diluted rights, repeatedly explained back to them as if they don’t understand Malaysia’s history,” he said in a statement today.
He was responding to Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, or Ku Li, who recently suggested that Sarawak and Sabah are confusing autonomy with independence, arguing that the 1963 federal constitution already provides autonomy.
“That view is ironic. If everything were truly settled, why must fundamental rights still be requested, negotiated, or begged for six decades later?,” he questioned.
A lawyer by profession, Wejok said whenever Sarawak and Sabah assert their rights, someone from Peninsular Malaysia inevitably appears to ‘educate’ them about the Constitution.
“If the Federation had honoured the spirit of Malaysia’s formation, why is Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) still an ‘ongoing process’ with no meaningful end?”
“Why are matters that should have been settled in principle long ago still trapped in technical committees, endless meetings, and bureaucratic postponement?.” he further asked.
To Wejok, the answer is simple, even if it may be uncomfortable: The problem is not that Sabah and Sarawak do not understand. The problem is that some have grown far too comfortable with Sarawak and Sabah continue to wait.
He stressed that Sabah and Sarawak are not asking for special privileges, but they are demanding that historical agreements be honoured, not reinterpreted according to present-day political convenience.
“This is not radical. This is not confusion. This is simply asking for a historical covenant to be respected,” he said.
Wejok criticised the frequent portrayal of assertive voices from Borneo as excessive or emotional.
“It is easier to accuse others of being ‘confused’ than to admit the Federation has not honoured the spirit of 1963. When Sarawak and Sabah speak, the centre becomes uneasy.
“It is easier to lecture others about loyalty to Malaysia than to answer why the founding partners of Malaysia still have to fight for basic matters within the very house they helped build,” he said.
He added that both the Borneo states were central to Malaysia’s formation and that issues of rights, autonomy, parliamentary representation, natural resources, and constitutional position should be core federal questions, not peripheral complaints.
“Empty rhetoric no longer pacifies Sarawak and Sabah. Too many promises have been politicised; too many rights delayed; too many issues left to fester. The people want outcomes, not meetings or statements,” he said.
While acknowledging the Madani government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has shown political willingness, Wejok stressed that recognition of effort cannot replace delivery.
“The true measure is results. When outcomes remain vague, slow, or half-complete, the people are entitled to draw their own conclusions,” he said.
He pointed out that the problem is Putrajaya’s habit of treating Sabah and Sarawak as peripheral.
“Sarawak and Sabah do not need lectures. They need what was promised, not eventually, selectively, or cosmetically. After six decades, this is a matter of federal honour, historical trust, and mutual respect. Sabah and Sarawak are not asking for too much, they are simply asking that the agreements be delivered,” he concluded. — DayakDaily
