Letter to editor
THE Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand (SSRANZ) and Republic of Sabah North Borneo (RSNB) NGOs are strongly refuting allegations of sedition with regard to the viralled Sabah and Sarawak flag-raising event in Melbourne, Australia on the eve of Malaysia Day (Sept 15).
We strongly condemn the politicisation of the event by UMNO and PKR for spreading politically motivated misinformation and manipulating the police to suppress freedom of expression and legitimate grievances.
In particular, the Malayan (Peninsular Malaysia)-controlled Sabah UMNO Party and Sabah PKR members had orchestrated baseless accusations against the event such as “inciting and destabilising” the country while discrediting calls for self-determination and rights restoration for Sabah and Sarawak.
Contrary to the portrayal of the rally by Sabah UMNO media and the police, the event was a peaceful expression of dissatisfaction with Malaysia’s on-going failure to honour its international law obligations under MA63 (Malaysian Agreement 1963).
Satu video tular di media sosial berhubung sekumpulan individu bertindak menurunkan bendera Malaysia dan menaikkan bendera negeri Sabah dan Sarawak pada paras separuh tiang di hadapan bangunan Parlimen Victoria di Melbourne, Australia. pic.twitter.com/SxL4dRFt4F
— #UpdateInfo🇲🇾🌍 (@update11111) September 23, 2024
Editor’s Note: On Sept 23, the police have commenced probe into a viral video of the Malaysian flag being taken down and replaced with the flags of Sabah and Sarawak.
The eight-minute-long video shows the group lowering the Jalur Gemilang to raise the state flags of Sabah and Sarawak in front of the Victoria Parliament building in Melbourne, Australia.
The incident is being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948 and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 after 34 reports were lodged in Sabah and one in Kuala Lumpur, according to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
The flag-raising was not an incitement to violence or sedition but symbolised the continued marginalisation of Sabah and Sarawak.
It was a call for the people of both Bornean states to remember the loss of their sovereignty and to raise awareness of their situation to the world. The response of Malayan Sabah political parties only exposed their colonial mindset and subservience to Malaya.
The peaceful rally held in a country that protects free speech was not a call for violence but a statement against the systemic marginalisation of Sabah and Sarawak. Attempts to criminalise this protest are part of on-going efforts to suppress legitimate grievances.
The real source of instability in Sabah and Sarawak stems from decades of Federal misrule, corruption, exploitation and demographic manipulation, including UMNO’s political engineering by granting citizenship to illegal immigrants to secure Federal control over Sabah. This has created widespread and deep dissatisfaction against the Federal government.
SSRANZ and RSNB view that Malaysia was unlawfully set up in a manner inconsistent with the rights of Bornean folks to self-determination, hence a breach of international law.
The event symbolically commemorated the 1963 so-called British decolonisation of North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak which occurred through the unlawful transfer of their sovereignty to Malaya.
This transfer – carried out without a proper referendum – relied on the flawed findings of the 1962 Cobbold Commission and the 1963 United Nation (UN) Mission which led to the forced inclusion of these regions into the Federation of Malaysia.
It was for this reason that Indonesian and Philippines Governments opposed Malaysia on the ground that the process of Malaysia formation did not have legal basis. – Oct 3, 2024
Robert Pei
President
Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand
Mosses Anap
President
Republic of Sabah North Borneo
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
