Sabah population leapt in 1991 – Professor – BorneoPost Online
http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/01/16/sabah-population-leapt-in-1991-professor/
Posted on January
16, 2013, Wednesday
KOTA KINABALU: A population census carried out in 1991 showed that Sabah’s
demography had changed drastically with a huge increase in its population, the
Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants were told.Professor Ranjit Singh, the second witness called to give evidence on Monday, said the census reported the population of Sabah to be 1.7 million and out of this total, 423,000 were non-citizens.
“The change in Sabah’s demography was not because of the natural increase in the indigenous local communities or the Chinese population. Who these non-citizens were was not disclosed in the census,” he said.
To the question by RCI commissioner Tan Sri Herman Luping if the 423,000 non-citizens are transient visitors, Ranjit replied no.
“To my mind, these are not transient people residing in Sabah but are those who do not have citizenship which is why they are categorised as non-citizens,” he explained.
Ranjit, who has written publications about Sabah, said that in the 15th and 16th century, there were only four main communities in this area namely the Dusun, Kadayan, Melayu Brunei and Bisaya.
Documentations revealed that the Bajaus supplied the ‘manpower’ like sailors and were also active in slave raiding to meet the labour requirement for the enterprises in the area, he said, adding that Tempasuk and Marudu were places where they would conduct annual raids.
In the 18th century, new settlements emerged in Tunku, Sandakan and Semporna, among other places in the east coast resulting in changes to the demography when they began settling permanently there.
“They intermarried with the Dusuns there and this resulted in another race, the Orang Sungai, which is a mixture of Suluk, Bajau and Dusun. Soon there were eight main communities here, namely, the Melayu Brunei, Bisaya, Dusun, Iranun, Bajau, Orang Sungai, Murut and Suluk,” he said.
In 1881, the British Chartered Company brought in Chinese labourers from China and Hong Kong, he added.
According to Ranjit, in the 1891 census, the population of the then North Borneo was 67,000 people comprising 34,000 Dusuns, 11,000 Bajaus, 3,005 Bruneis, 3,700 Suluks, 7,000 Chinese, 6,000 others while there were no figures for the Muruts and Orang Sungais.
In the 1970 census, Sabah’s population was 651,000 with 183,000 Dusuns, 30,000 Muruts, 77,000 Bajaus, 28,000 Melayu Brunei, 10,000 Suluks, 17,000 Orang Sungais, 87,000 others and 138,000 Chinese.
“Now, this demographic change was basically due to the large Chinese migration to this country,” he said.
Big jump in 1991 census
ReplyDeletePublished on: Tuesday, January 15, 2013
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=83965
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah's demography changed drastically in 1991 when the Population Census showed out of the 1.7 million people in Sabah, about 423,000 of them were non-citizens, a historian said.
"This is not because of a natural population increase but due to non-citizens. Who they were the census didn't mention," said Prof. Emeritus Dr Ranjit Singh a/l Darshan Singh.
Testifying before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah chaired by Tan Sri Steve Shim on the first day of the public hearing here, Monday, he said in the 1970 Sabah Census the population was 651,000 and there was no category for non-citizens.
In 1970, the Dusun community was the majority with 183,000, Murut (30,000), Bajau (77,000), Brunei (28,000), Tausug/Suluk (10,000), other indigenous group (87,000) and Chinese (138,000).
Ranjit did not believe the 423,000 non-citizens in the 1991 census were transient people as suggested by a RCI panel member, Tan Sri Herman Luping.
"With due respect to my understanding transient people are those coming in and out using boats and ships. As far as I am concerned when a government takes a census, it is the people who are residing at the place.
"I think they were residing in Sabah but without citizenship," said Ranjit who led the successful Malaysian litigation team for the Sipadan and Ligitan islands claim at The Hague in 2002.
continued from above -
ReplyDeleteBased on his book "The Making of Sabah" (1865-1991) third edition, which was later tendered as an exhibit, the first official census in Sabah was conducted in 1891.
It showed that the total population in Sabah at that time was 67,000 with the Dusun making the bulk of it with 34,000, Bajau (11,000), Brunei (3,000), Suluk (3,700), Murut (not available), Orang Sungai (unknown), other indigenous people (6,000) and Chinese (7,000).
Based on his extensive research during the course of the Sipadan and Ligitan Islands litigation case, he said the most dominant Sultanate in Borneo was the Brunei Sultanate, which in 1521 was already a large empire.
Brunei was so powerful that it had established "jajahan" (dependence) in Sarawak and Sabah where it controlled 23 rivers such as in Pandasan, Inanam, Menggatal, Api-Api, Kimanis, Benoni and Tuaran among others.
The Brunei came as traders and administrators establishing settlements in Tuaran and Papar.
"In my research the Dusun, Kadazan (a term used in 1920 in Papar for the more urban Dusun), Brunei Malay and Bisaya lived along the West Coast in the 16th century," he said.
But later on the Sulu Sultanate began to emerge as another centre of power in the region because it was dealing with European independent traders doubling as gun smugglers who wanted to get supply of products that could be found in Borneo in exchange for weapons.
So as Sulu became an important market, they needed manpower, hence they began to settle in Sandakan, Marudu, Tempasuk and Pandasan, he said, adding that the Sulu Sultanate capital is where present day Jolo is in the southern Philippines.
He said the Sulu people comprising the Tausugs, Bajaus and Irranuns came in the late 18th century, hence changing the demography of Sabah.
He stated that they began to intermarry with the locals such as in Paitan River where, he said, while Sabah people might not agree, historical evidence showed that the Orang Sungai were a mix of Sulu-Bajau-Dusun people.
By the late 18th century there were at least six communities in Sabah, he said.
On another note, he said the whole of Sabah was only joined together in 1902 after the arrival of the British North Borneo Chartered Company who came and took over the rivers.
In 1881, he said the first Governor, W Hood Treacher, started a scheme to bring in Chinese labour to plant padi in Inanam and this also changed the demography of Sabah.
Ranjit who had written four books and 50 articles said the history of Sabah showed there had been settlements going back to 30,000 years ago and that there was no proof to show that the people of Sabah originally came from South China or vice versa, as the Wave Theory had suggested.
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