KUCHING, July 7: Sarawak Association for Peoples’ Aspirations (Sapa) president Dominique Ng said Sarawakians should not be afraid of talking about the freedom of the state.
He claimed it was only right for Sarawak to seek freedom because its rights have never been honoured ever since it became part of the Federation of Malaysia.
In fact, he said, even talking about Sarawak’s independence is actually legitimate because every nation has an intrinsic right to be free.
“As far as I’m concerned, the Federation of Malaysia doesn’t exist. So when did it became secession? We are not leaving Malaysia. The Federation of Malaysia itself does not exist. The only Federation of Malaysia that exists till now is the Federation of Malaya, and we (Sarawak) were somehow included into that federation. That is the fact, the law as it stands.
“Therefore to those who say talking about seceding from Malaysia is seditious or whatever all these kind of nonsense, they do not know what is the law and they do not know what is the current situation,” Ng told reporters this afternoon.
He was responding to a written reply by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Parliament on July 4, that action will only be taken under the Sedition Act against those who call for Sarawak’s secession from Malaysia if they jeopardised public order and security.
Dr Mahathir was replying to Democratic Action Party’s Lanang MP Alice Lau who asked what action the government could take against those who call for Sarawak’s secession and if such secession is allowed by the Federal Constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Ng said he had formed a team of 15 lawyers to look into this, finding facts and faults in the various agreements since 1963.
He said Sarawak had never really achieved its freedom as was supposedly granted to it, because its sovereignty was merely handed over by the British government to the Federation of Malaya.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s a change from one colonial master to another colonial master. Fifty years down the road we are treated no better. That’s why Sarawakians are so unhappy about this,” he said.
Ng continued: “We are not seceding from Malaysia because that presumes that the Federation of Malaysia is a legal entity when it is not. We merely were associated with the Federation of Malaya, and I think it’s about time that we stand up for ourselves and become free.
“Sarawak was never given its real freedom till now. So it’s not a question of secession as far as I’m concerned,” he iterated. — DayakDaily
