57. Pre-Merdeka citizenship: Dr M's red herring

Pre-Merdeka citizenship: Dr M's red herring

http://www.negarakita.com/Post-660758-Pre_Merdeka+citizenship%3A+Dr+M%27s+red+herring

The Tunku Abdul Rahman administration declared an amnesty in 1965 for those who had obtained citizenship by falsely declaring that they had been in the country eight years or more.

Those who took up the offer had to surrender their citizenship papers, were fined RM300 each and granted permanent residence in lieu. On paper, they were not blacklisted from re-applying for citizenship when they qualified.

Nelson George D'Cruz, my maternal uncle, was among them. He was only granted citizenship recently in Putrajaya, a year before he passed away, along with 10 other Indians and 300 Indonesians.

Mahathir's proposed a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on pre-Merdeka citizenship, citing Tunku (right) in 1957, is a tit-for-tat move amidst his "red herring" admission in recent days that he gave out 200,000 citizenships to presumably foreigners and refugees, in Sabah during his premiership (1981-2003).

The RCI itself has heard testimony that 80,000 Filipino refugees have been given citizenship in Sabah and a further 36,000 applications from this group is being processed.

Any judicial review, if allowed by the court, would find that proper procedures - think the Sabah state government and constitution - were not followed in the case of the so-called refugees.

Putrajaya did not consider an amnesty - it could only be offered for permanent residence - as it would have been opposed by the people of Sabah.

Mahathir is obviously trying to deflect public attention from the illegal immigrants, among other phantoms, allegedly used in every election.

These are illegal immigrants who allegedly hold duplicate MyKads in the names of Malaysians registered as voters but who seldom turn up to vote.

‘Twice-born' phenomenon rampant

Other cloned MyKads may be held by illegal immigrants in the names of Malaysians who are eligible voters but didn't bother to register themselves with the Election Commission (EC).

Then there are those holding MyKads under the ‘twice-born' phenomenon i.e. those foreigners who make out statutory declarations that they were born in Sabah and make up, according to estimates, anything up to 30 percent of the voters in various seats.

The evidence is in the court cases of Indian restaurant keeper Majid Kani and Pakistani carpet dealer Salman Majid. These cases, which make up the tip of the proverbial iceberg, can be Googled.

Another reference point is the Likas election petition K11/99 of 1999 which exposed the existence of large numbers of foreigners on the electoral rolls and stripped Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) president Yong Teck Lee (left) of the state seat.

The EC, in a retaliatory move, rushed legislation through Parliament disallowing any challenge to the electoral rolls once gazetted. That itself is telling.

However, the Bar Council in a take on The Sun, thinks that the election results can be challenged if the outcome was affected by the presence of those who were not eligible or entitled to vote.

The grant of citizenship, in the wake of independence in 1957 in Malaya, cannot be equated with the illegal immigrant phenomenon in Sabah.

Constitution is the social contract

Independence, like revolutions and wars are extraordinary events, which give rise to new nations and result in the need for a written constitution, a social contract between the state and the people.

Malaya's constitution also accommodated the need for citizenships for those in the peninsula at the stroke of midnight on Aug 31, 1957. This was the second accommodation after 1948.

The full story is in the declassified documents available at the British Archives Library in Kew Gardens, England.

Copies of these documents are in the hands of Hindraf Makkal Sakthi which submitted them as part of its class action suit in London. Similar copies are in the hands of Sabah and Sarawak activists linked to the UK-based Human Rights Foundation of Malaysia.

Suffice it to say that Mahathir's (right) take on the grant of citizenships in Malaya is not true at all.

Besides, as the son of immigrants he has no locus standi to make comments, racist or otherwise, on the Chinese being granted citizenship in Malaya.

Being Malay of Indian-origin doesn't quite equate as being Nusantara Malay.

It's a misconception that the story of citizenship in Malaya is solely a non-Malay one.

Indeed, Professor William Roff writes in his ‘Origin of Malay Nationalism' that 85 percent of the Malay-speaking population in the peninsula in the late 1800s - Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, Indian Muslims etc - was composed of either immigrants or the descendants of immigrants.

On paper at least, keeping the federal constitution in mind, the Malay-speaking communities are supposed to take out citizenships as well unless they could prove that they were citizens by operation of law i.e. the issue of citizens by operation of law - third and subsequent generations - or citizens by registration. Unlike citizens by naturalisation (first generation) and registration (second generation), citizens by operation of law hold no citizenship papers.

It's not known to what extent the Malay-speaking communities in Malaya, like the non-Malays, determined their citizenship status in the days following 1957.

The federal constitution merely gave a political definition of Malay in defining the term. It does not provide for the Malay-speaking communities - a nation in Malaysia without territory - to claim Orang Asal (original people) status in Peninsular Malaysia. Only the Orang Asli qualifies.

Those eligible for Malaysian citizenship can be born overseas but their births must be registered at the nearest Malaysian embassy or high commission within three months.

Where there is no Malaysian diplomatic mission, such births can be registered at the nearest British or other Commonwealth mission.

The citizenship issue can only be handled according to the federal constitution, and the Sabah and Sarawak constitutions, and thereby becomes a non-issue and cannot be disputed by the people.

If Mahathir is right, why is he being so defensive on the issue? Are we under the rule of law or the rule of men?

---

JOE FERNANDEZ is a freelance journalist, among others, who shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, and northern Sarawak.

56. Let RCI On Illegal Immigrants Does Its Work - Shafie Apdal

January 26, 2013 19:17 PM

Let RCI On Illegal Immigrants Does Its Work - Shafie Apdal

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsgeneral.php?id=924358

TAWAU, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- All quarters, including the opposition should welcome the setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah, said Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said the government had taken a bold step to set up the RCI following hue and cry over problems related to citizenship and immigrants in Sabah raised by many quarters, including the opposition.

"After RCI was formed, opposition parties are against it, instead of welcoming it. Certainly, RCI can have positive and negative impacts. In the course of investigations, definitely we have pros and cons.

"But the most important thing is the firmness and courage displayed by our leaders, particularly Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in setting up RCI.

"Even though we know this is an election season and that RCI might be turned into an issue. But we are after solution so that there will be no more confusion and manipulation by unscrupulous people," he told reporters after opening the Tun Mustapha Mara Junior Science Colleges here Saturday.

Shafie, who is also rural and regional development minister, said the RCI would submit its findings to the authorities before they would be tabled in Parliament to resolve the quagmire.
-- BERNAMA

55. Who is the Mahathir in treaon?

By Harris Ibrahim. Dear Mahathir, Malaysian Insider reports that you had "defended the social contract, the so-called unwritten agreement between the Malays and the non-Malays during independence, by affirming that without the agreement, Malaysia would not have been formed". They quoted you : "If there was no social contract, the terms and conditions of allowing citizenship to non-Malays would have not taken place.One million outsiders were given citizenships at the time." Now,  this quote from you got me curious. Let me tell you why. I conferred with my aunt, who confirmed that my maternal great grandfather, Eliathamby, of whom I've written previously  in a posting entitled "The land that my forefathers helped build", would have left Ceylon and arrived in what is now West Malaysia, around 1870. He died well before the conclusion of that social contract that you spoke of, so my great grandfather would not have come within those 'one million outsiders' who acquired citizenship at the time of independence in 1957. My maternal grandfather, Vellupillay T. Williams, never lived to see the formation of Malaya so he, too, did not make up the'one million outsiders'. Enough of my family tree. Let's look at yours. I got this from a blog, Malaysiana:  Perhaps, the most famous Malayalee to land in George Town was Iskandar Kutty, a merchant who married a Johor-Riau wife Siti Hawa Iskandar. They became the proud parents of Alor Star's top public school Sultan Abdul Hamid College 's founder-principal and Kedah's royal educator Datuk Mohamad Iskandar. Mohamad was the school teacher of Tunku Abdul Rahman. He and his wife Datin Wan Tempawan Wan Hanafi from the Kedah Bendahara's (Prime Minister's) clan, were the proud parents of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's Father of Modernisation and fourth Prime Minister. And this from Malaysia Today: Born in December 20, 1925, Dr Mahathir hailed from the state of Kedah, at the capital of Alor Star, whose father was a school teacher. His father was Indian who migrated from Kerala, who married a malay lady and sold banana fritters during the second world war. His early education was through vernacular school and at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College in the city. My question, then, Doc, firstly is whether your father was amongst the'one million outsiders'? And when did you become 'Malay', Doc? When did you move from being a son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala to a Malay? Not that I care, but when? Speaking of Malay, do you remember your "Malay Dilemma", Doc? Do you remember what you said about the problem of inbreeding amongst the Malay community, and that whole business of genes? Back then, who had heard of this thing called DNA? Who had ever imagined that science would one day make it possible for all of us to trace our genealogy? Guess what, Doc? It seems, based on all this new DNA scientific knowledge, that there's no such thing as a Malay race. It would seem that you've gone from being a son of anIndian who migrated from Keralato a 'does not exist'. Just like that! My cyber buddy, Michael Chick, has written extensively on this matter, in a three-parter in Malaysiakini. HERE,HERE, and HERE. See what Michael writes in his final part : "The people Malaysians call 'Malay', are actually only a tiny sub-component of the much larger Austronesian group. And all Austronesians are the end-product of extensive inter-breeding between the Taiwanese and Dravidic Indians. All this has finally been irrefutably proven by independent DNA testings from world-class faculties". I've never been very good at all these sciences, Doc, but if you're any better, and you think Michael's cocked-up big time in his conclusions, why don't you take him on? Damn, I digress. So when and how did you become Malay? Because of the definition of 'Malay' in the Federal Constitution, Doc? Article 160 (2)? That right? So, right up until the last moments before Tunku's declaration of independence, you were the son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala, and moments later you were magically transformed into a Malay? And is not the definition of Malay in Article 160(2) stated to be for the limited purpose where the word 'Malay' appears in the Constitution? But really, Doc, I don't give a toss whether you hold yourself out as Malay or the son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala.Whatever turns you on. What pisses me off is this Bumi-non Bumi crap. November 19th, last year, The Star reported on Najib's balik kampung to Makassar in   South Sulawesi . You can read the report HERE. Courtesy of The Star, Najib is reported to have said : "I feel like I am returning to my roots," and, when asked to comment on the possibility that some people might view the fact that he had roots here in a negative light, Najib said: "I am not apologetic about it. This is my family history and I am proud of it." According to the report, Najib said he was the direct descendant of Bugis royalty who migrated to Pahang in the 18th century. Well, at least this Malaysian is not ashamed of his roots! Now, you know that aunt I mentioned earlier? You know her. Aunty Rasammah. I googled her name yesterday and this is what is written of her in Wikipedia. "Rasammah Bhupalan, also known as Rasammah Naomi Navarednamor Mrs F.R. Bhupalan is a renowned Malaysian freedom fighter and social activist Born in 1927, she has championed causes such as the anti-drug abuse movement, women's rights, education and social justice causes. Rasammah was one of the earliest women involved in the fight for Malaysian (then Malaya ) independence. She joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, the women's wing of the Indian National Army, to fight the British. She served in Burma during World War II. As founder president of the Women Teacher's Union , she fought for equal pay for women teachers and tried to bring disparate teachers' unions under an umbrella. The former school principal was the first Asian representative of the World Confederation of Organisations of the Teaching Profess ion for two successive terms. She was also very active in the National Council of Women's Organisation (NCWO) and Pemadam. She was a teacher in the Methodist Boys' School, Kuala Lumpur from 1959 to 1964 and was the principal of the Methodist Girls School , Kuala Lumpur for 13 years from 1970 until she retired in 1982. On 11th November 2007, Mrs.Bhupalan was one of the few veteran teachers who were invited to attend MBSSKL's 110th Anniversary Celebration Dinner. The dinner was specially organized to honour all the former and current teachers of the school". Quite frankly, I think the write-up in Wikipedia does little justice to all that Aunty Rasammah has done for this country. But that is another matter. More importantly, Doc, why are you, the son of an Indian who migrated from Kerala, and Najib, the descendant of Bugis who migrated from Sulawesi ,are bumiputra, whilst Aunty Rasammah is not?

54. Sabahans become foreigners in own land, says Kit Siang

Sabahans become foreigners in own land, says Kit Siang

by Sandra Sokial. Posted on January 25, 2013, Friday

KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans have become foreigners in their own land for the mistakes of the past leaders, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) Supremo Lim Kit Siang.
Kit Siang highlighted that Sabah has a long history of dealing with the issue relating to illegal immigrants, stressing that it had gone on since the 1970s.
“In Sabah, one of every two persons is an illegal immigrant. Last October, when I came to Sabah, I was shocked to see the illegal immigrant issue has gotten out of control.
“The number of illegal immigrants (in Sabah) rose after Parti Bersatu Sabah (then opposition) came into power after toppling the Berjaya government in the 1985 state election … all because the former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed, wanted to take revenge against (PBS president) Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan,” he told the crowd of over 300 people, who attended the DAP’s dialogue on the Royal Commission of Inquiry, entitled ‘What is RCI and its Implications to Sabah’, held here yesterday.
Their tactic was a success when PBS lost to Barisan Nasional in the 1994 election following the defections of several leaders.
Kit Siang said that during the Berjaya time, he was accused of exaggerating facts when he said that there were some 140,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah.
“During (Tan Sri) Harris Salleh’s time, he said I was exaggerating the figures, and now after 35 years, Sabah leaders such as Tan Sri Bernard Dompok had said that in the 1980s, the number of illegal immigrants in Sabah was 700,000 while Tan Sri Joseph Kurup once said that the illegal immigrants would make up 70 per cent of the whole state population by 2008. Kurup is very accurate and today, Sabahans have become foreigners in their own land, the Land Below the Wind … and that is a tragedy,” said Lim.
Touching on the setting up of the RCI, Kit Siang, who was among the first to table a motion for its establishment in the 1970s, believed it was still not too late to reveal the truth.
“I did not secure enough votes to set up the RCI three decades ago. I had my reservations on the RCI then, but at least now, something is being done to address the issue.
In a recent survey done here, about 87 per cent of the people support the establishment of the RCI, but only 54 per cent are confident that it can solve the existing problem relating to illegal immigrants.
“Project M is part of Project IC (identity card) because Project IC goes back to the 1970s. I realised that when I came back to Sabah in 1978 after I was thrown out of the state in 1969, this was already an emerging problem in the Sabah, including corruption and security.
“On March 15, 1990, the Sabah State Assembly unanimously passed the resolution calling for the establishment of the RCI to look into the massive clean up of the illegal immigrants who were issued with fake blue Malaysian identity cards. That was the second disappointment when it was not passed, showing that the federal government had no intention to view the matter seriously.
“It was an open secret that there was a syndicate involved in issuing Malaysian documents to the illegal immigrants. We do not know how many voters are rested in the electoral roll, and how many illegal immigrants are given the rights of Malaysian citizens to cast their votes,” he said.
He therefore called on Sabahans to work closely together and fight for change before it is too late.
“The people of Sabah should take action to find remedies to cure the larger disease that Malaysia is suffering. There should be solidarity and unity amongst the Sabahans and the people of Malaysia to bring change to the state and nation.
“Today, BN is worried. The window for (Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is getting smaller, and as much as they try to convince the people that they are coming back with a big win in the coming election, taking back all the opposition states, we know that they are not confident. They are just pretending.
“The magic of the campaign can do wonders and if we turn the table, I believe Pakatan Rakyat will win,” he said

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/01/25/sabahans-become-foreigners-in-own-land-says-kit-siang/#ixzz2IyTQYA5R

53. PBS questions Anwar’s silence on RCI’s evidence

PBS questions Anwar’s silence on RCI’s evidence

Posted on January 24, 2013, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice president Datuk Herbert T Lagadan has also questioned opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s silence over the evidence presented to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah.
“Why has Anwar been silent on the illegal immigrants issue and the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s proceedings so far? Is there anything he is afraid of?” Herbert asked.
The Kadamaian assemblyman also said that he supported Sabah Umno deputy liaison chief Datuk Seri Salleh Said’s call to get Anwar to testify in the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry hearing.
“Being the Deputy PM and chief director of election operation in Sabah in 1994, he (Anwar) may have given instructions relating to phantom voters. To be fair to the real and true people of Sabah, both Anwar and former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir should be called to testify,” he opined.
All Sabahans should thank Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry, he said, adding: “Now we can see the ray of hope that there will be a solution on the problem that has plagued us for more than four decades.
“I, for one, am looking forward to the day when the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah is fully solved,” Herbert said.
Two days ago, Salleh challenged opposition leader Anwar to tell the truth about the illegal immigrants to the RCI tasked with looking into the long-standing problem in the state.
He asserted that Anwar was duty-bound to do so as he was Deputy Prime Minister at that particular period, adding that “he was a powerful man and knew what was going on in Sabah”.
“Don’t be a hypocrite, perhaps with the inside knowledge, Anwar can help shed some light … so tell the truth to the RCI. He must not play politics. At least (Datuk Seri) Najib (Tun Razak), our Prime Minister is prepared to seek the truth and approved the formation of RCI to identify the roots of the problem.
“We should not come to a conclusion and blame certain parties just because of statements by few ex-ISA (Internal Security Act) detainees. We should let RCI complete its works … What we want is a permanent solution,” he said after attending a meet-the-people session at SK Sembirai near here on Tuesday.
In this respect, Salleh, who is also State Legislative Assembly Speaker, said the people should praise and support Najib for his bold move to form the RCI.
“Once RCI completes its task then the government will study and act on it accordingly to resolve the matter once and for all.
“Those who were qualified and obtained their citizenship through proper procedure should not be punished and those who obtained it through illegal or dubious means must have their citizenship revoked. That should be the way,” he said.
Expressing confidence that the illegal immigrants’ problem would be resolved by the government under Najib, Salleh said genuine Sabahans must be patient to wait for a permanent solution.
The setting up of the RCI and appointment of its chairman and members was announced by the Prime Minister on August 11 last year to solve the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
The commission was headed by former Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong. The panelists were Universiti Malaysia Sabah ex-vice chancellor Professor Datuk Seri Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, Kuala Lumpur ex-police chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah state secretary Datuk Kee Mustafa and ex-deputy Chief Minister and former state attorney-general Tan Sri Herman J. Luping.
Subsequent proceedings would be held on Jan 28 till Feb 1 and from Feb 22 till Feb 27.
Meanwhile, Malaysiakini reported yesterday that (Dato’ Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim) is ready to testify before the RCI if summoned.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/01/24/pbs-questions-anwars-silence-on-rcis-evidence/#ixzz2ItS6kuVa

52. Sabah RCI: What next? — Kim Quek

Sabah RCI: What next? — Kim Quek

January 24, 2013

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/sabah-rci-what-next-kim-quek

JAN 24 — Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad finally admitted — in the face of overwhelming evidence — that he granted citizenship to the illegal immigrants who have flooded Sabah, but quickly added that the citizenship was granted legally.

He said: “Many of them in Sabah were not there for a day or two, but 20 or 30 years and can speak Malay. They have the right to be citizens”.

Is that all there is to the infamous “Project M” (M stands for Mahathir) that has brought untold miseries to Sabahans: the mere granting of citizenship to qualified immigrants in the normal legal way?

To get to the truth, let us hear some top officials of the Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) who gave evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry looking into the population explosion of Sabah.

Incontrovertible evidence

Sabah NRD assistant registrar Kee Dzulkifly Kee Abd Jalil said the special unit he was working in, illegally issued some 100,000 blue identity cards (IC) to the immigrants (blue cards are meant for citizens only), in addition to issuing 200,000 letters of approval for birth certificate for the children of immigrants. With these approval letters, they would get their birth certificates from the hospitals or district offices.  These immigrants, who are all Muslims, are mainly from southern Philippines and Indonesia.

Kee Dzulkifly, together with some of his fellow officers who also gave evidence collaborating Kee Dzulkifly’s evidence, was subsequently detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for two years from 1995 to 1997, for engaging in these illegal activities.

Tamparuli NRD chief Yakup Damsah said that upon instruction from then Sabah NRD chief Abdul Rauf Sani, he and his colleagues were flown from Sabah to Kuala Lumpur, where they operated a clandestine operation in the house of Mahathir’s then political secretary Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin at Kampung Pandan to illegally issue blue ICs to immigrants. Yakup said the purpose of the operation was to boost Muslims voters and to ensure they vote for Umno in the Sabah state election. His group issued 40,000 blue ICs within a month. Yakup was subsequently detained under the ISA for his illegal act.

Sabah NRD chief Ramli Kamaruddin, who succeeded Abdul Rauf, said that two weeks before the 1994 Sabah state election, he met then deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub (then home minister was Mahathir) at Hyatt Hotel in Kota Kinabalu, where he was instructed to issue temporary IC receipts to immigrants. These receipts, in the names of voters who never voted, would enable the immigrants to vote on polling day, so as to ensure a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory. Also present at the hotel was Osu Sukam, who later became Sabah chief minister in 1999. Ramli Kamaruddin was also detained under ISA for two years from 1995.

Sabah NRD deputy director Mohd Nasir Sugip testified that the department carried out the clandestine “Ops Durian Burok” from 1992 to 1995 under instruction from the state Election Commission (EC) to provide unqualified immigrants with blue ICs so that they could vote in an election. With the new ICs issued in accordance with the details provided by the EC, these Filipino and Indonesian Muslims were then planted as voters in strategic constituencies (classified as ‘black’ or ‘grey’ for BN) across Sabah to help BN win in elections. At one time, Sabah EC director Wan Ahmad Wan Yusof handed over a list of 16,000 names and asked for these to be converted into ‘Bumiputra Islam” voters. Mohd Nasir was later detained under the ISA.

Blackout by mainstream media

All this evidence was presented to the Royal Commission on January 16, the third day of the hearings; whereas Mahathir claimed his innocence on the next day, January 17.

Does it not boggle the mind that in the face of such incontrovertible evidence of this massive illegal operation, Mahathir would still deny its existence?

What gave him the courage to do so, if not for the fact that the Royal

Commission’s proceedings have virtually been blacked out by the mainstream media, while his statement of defence would be given prominence?

Despite such connivance from the mainstream media and Mahathir’s brazen denials, there is no way that such staggering breach of law can be buried in this Internet age of ubiquitous information.

Equally impossible to deny is Mahathir’s link to these acts of treason.

The two key political leaders featured in the evidence — Aziz Shamsuddin and Megat Junid — were Mahathir’s closest confidantes, who were also well known for their roles as henchmen to execute some of his more unsavoury schemes.

At their level of political influence and status, these two henchmen would have neither the courage nor the reason to embark on such a bold venture of high treason that could easily have led their journey to the gallows, without the protection of the highest political leadership.

It is as clear as daylight that these two political minions were only carrying out the wishes of their political boss.

Mahathir irretrievably linked

Project M is unparalleled in modern history in that it is a clandestine operation that has succeeded in robbing the sovereign rights of a people by massive infusion of illegal immigrants and pervasive contamination of the electoral roll with illegal voters (known as the phantom voters).

The success of Project M has ensured Umno’s hegemony in Sabah for almost two decades. And the original Sabahans will continue to be subjected to such rule unless the illegal immigrants and phantom voters menace is resolved.

What is even more alarming is that the phantom voter cancer continues to grow right up to this day, not only in Sabah, but there is ample evidence that its malignancy has been spreading in Peninsula Malaysia, as exemplified by the thousands of dubious registered voters that surface continually, particularly in the state of Selangor.

The latest evidence was uncovered by a survey carried out by the Selangor government. In a house-to-house check on the half a million newly registered voters, 135,000 of them could not be traced, for which the EC has not given any valid answer.

In fact, our greatest problem is our EC, which has unabashedly acted as a political arm of Umno.

Take the case of the explosive expose’ uncovered by the Sabah RCI.  In any democracy, the election commission would have immediately swung into emergency action, and in conjunction with other agencies such as the NRD, police and attorney general’s chamber, would seek out the criminals and rectify the huge damage to restore integrity and public confidence to the electoral system. But not our EC. The latter has chosen not to react on the lame excuse that any comment would be ‘subjudice’ and any action would also be premature, as the RCI has not completed its findings.

Bonanza for opposition?

The same deaf and dumb tactic has also been adopted by Prime Minister Najib Razak and the component parties of Barisan Nasional. EC and BN’s strategy seems to be: do nothing until the next election which will be held in probably two months’ time. (Parliament stands dissolved on April 28, and polling within 60 days thereafter.)

And opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat and civil society will have to decide whether to stage another mass rally, both to force some urgent and basic electoral reforms including cleansing of electoral roll, as well as to gain political capital by swinging the middle ground further towards them.

Whatever the decision on the mass rally, the opposition will certainly leave no stone unturned to publicise the moral and political bankruptcy of the incumbent political power in resorting to means most foul at perils of destroying our democracy so as to cling on to power.

Thus, the Sabah RCI is turning out to be a last minute gift to the opposition after all, whatever its findings.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

51. Musa involved in IC scam? SURE!!!!!

see also item 37 of this blog for MUSA Aman's guilty action...


 http://wikisabah.blogspot.com/2013/01/musa-involved-in-ic-scam.html

Musa involved in IC scam?

The disclosures in the current RCI hearing in Sabah may lead to more damaging testimonies implicating the state's top leadership.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is also the state’s Umno chief, could be in for some uncomfortable moments soon as those involved in handing out Malaysian documents to illegal immigrants in Sabah continue to expose the high and mighty.

So far, one ex-chief minister, Osu Sukam has been implicated by the testimony of a former director of Sabah’s National Registration Department (NRD) at the ongoing investigation by Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants problems in Sabah here.

Ramli Kamaruddin, in his testimony said Osu was present with then federal deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob at a hotel here in 1994 when he was given instruction “to issue NRD receipts using the name and identity card numbers of voters already in the electoral roll, with the sole purpose of allowing them to vote to help ensure that a state government endorsed by the federal government would win” in Sabah.

A former right-hand man of ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdul Aziz Shamsudin, was also mentioned at the RCI hearing which, going on current disclosures, promises to expose one of the biggest scandals in Malaysia’s history involving members of the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government.

Another former chief minister, Harris Salleh, who testified before the five-member RCI, tried to shield himself from the scandal by saying that it was the federal authorities that gave immigrants Malaysian documents like IC, and not him or even the state government he led.

He also denied any knowledge of a project to parcel out ICs in exchange for votes.

Musa was dragged into the scandal after his name was mentioned many times in books by blogger Mutalib M.D.

The blogger had implied Musa’s involvement in recruiting illegal immigrants in Sabah to become Umno operatives and also voters to defeat Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) state government in the 1994 election.

Mutalib, who did his own research and interviews with people directly involved in or in the know of the security scandal, has written prolifically on the hiring of Muslim illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia by Umno.

Musa’s involvement is based on his being the chairman of an alleged special task force set up by Sabah Umno to recruit immigrants. A former Umno member, Jabar Khan Napi, has also repeatedly named Musa in the scam.

Jabar Khan, known for his outspokenness, is to give his own testimony to the RCI soon and his could be explosive and could severely damage Musa’s standing among Sabahans especially his Kadazandusun allies within the state BN.

However, Jabar Khan’s name in the RCI witness investigation list is stated as “reserve witness”.

So far several former Sabah NRD officers, including one Yakup Damsah, have testified that he and other officers stayed at the residence of Abdul Aziz in Kg Pandan, Kuala Lumpur, where they ran an operation to issue blue identity cards to immigrants in Sabah.

Yakup, who was then Tamparuli NRD chief, told the RCI that he and the other NRD officers were flown from Sabah to Kuala Lumpur, and were tasked to sign the identity cards that were to be issued to the immigrants, which were then laminated at the NRD headquarters in Petaling Jaya and shipped to the Kota Kinabalu NRD for distribution.

He said prior to that they received instructions from then-Sabah NRD chief, Abdul Rauf Sani, about their special assignment to issue blue identity cards to immigrants.

Yakup, who was eventually detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), said his group signed a total of 40,000 blue identity cards within a month, based on the filled up application forms provided to them.

The RCI is chaired by former judge Steve Shim and is convening daily inquiry for the next few weeks at the old wing of the Kota Kinabalu High Court Building.

Calvin Kabaron