Posted on by Kit

Sabah on fire in Parliament (2)

The problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah today is even worse than more than a decade ago when the resolution of the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah was proclaimed as one of the pillars of Sabah Baru 13 years ago.

In the seventies, there were 100,000 to 200,000 illegal immigrants, which have mushroomed to some one million to 1.5 million at present, to the extent that there are Sabahans who warned that they have been outnumbered as to become strangers in their own country.

At the time when Umno leaders were promising a Sabah Baru to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in the state, they were actively involved in the racket known as Project I/C to legalise the status of illegal immigrants by issuing them false identity cards to become phantom voters determining the political destiny of Sabah.

The political turmoils in Sabah, which Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders have refused to acknowledge, must be admitted and corrected or they will undermine the international competitiveness both of Sabah and Malaysia.

What I speak represents the cries of the ordinary people of Sabah. Let it be fully heeded.

I said the above in Parliament last year during the debate on the 2007 Supplementary Estimates on 16th April 2007.

It was a voice in the wilderness and ignored by the Barisan Nasional Government.

More than a year later, as a direct result of the March 8 “political tsunami” in Peninsular Malaysia, it has become a full-throated demand in Parliament by Sabah Members of Parliament (DAP and Barisan Nasional) as part of the larger thrust to end the discrimination, marginalization and victimization of the people of Sabah from the mainstream of Malaysian national development.

The centrality of the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah in the overall demand for justice and fair play by the people of Sabah 45 years after formation of Malaysia could be captured by the following New Straits Times report of yesterday’s parliamentary debate:

2008/05/14

Sabah MPs demand action on illegals

THE issue of illegal immigrants from the Philippines continued to dominate House proceedings for the second day in a row.

Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan (BN-Keningau) said over the years, the House had heard and seen the problems brought by the immigrants first-hand.

“We’ve shown evidence of detrimental effects that the foreigners had on Sabah. And yet, no one took our claims and evidence seriously,” he said.

“We need to see a positive reaction from the government.

“Those involved in letting the immigrants slip into the country should be considered as committing treason.

“The illegal immigrants had false identity cards and were even listed on the electoral rolls.”

Rosnah Rashid Shirlin (BN-Papar) called for the closure of the Kinarut refugee centre, which she described as unhygenic.

On Monday, Datuk Wilfred Bumburing (BN-Tuaran) called on the government to deal with illegal immigrants from the Philippines or face having the state being overrun by them.

Datuk Eric Majimbun (BN-Sepanggar) said the government should show its will to solve the problem by setting up a special commission to address the problem.

“If the government could set up the Lingam Royal Commission, surely it could do the same for the immigrant problem,” he said.

But are the long-suppressed voices of the people of Sabah being heard by the corridors of power in the Federal capital?

The answer must be in the negative if we go by the reply of the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar when winding up the debate on his Ministry this evening,

This caused to me stand up to point out to Hamid just before he sat down at the end of his nearly two-hour long reply that the Home Minister had dealt with many issues raised by MPs in the seven-day policy debate by backbenchers – except one, the important issue which is the concern of all Sabah MPs and Sabahans, the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah

When Hamid mischievously suggested that I was trying to fan Sabahan unrest, I retorted that I supported the legitimate grievances of the people of Sabah on this issue. In fact, I first raised the menace of the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah three decades ago in the late 70s.

Unfortunately, there was not a single Sabah BN MP present in Parliament who stood up to express support for my outrage at Hamid’s total disregard of the subject of illegal immigrants in Sabah, including the Project Mahathir issue, post March 8 “political tsunami”.

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43 Replies to “Sabah on fire in Parliament (2)”

  4. Come next GE , bye bye , local S & S , we dont need your quorum.

    Lucky you people realised it and talk about it else , what the fxxk, well i dont know all this while nobody said it in the papers,
    it is true any way, the papers no talk about it you know…only missing kid and robbing and snatch thieve here and there , occassionally smoky over the skyline, maybe some bastard doesn like to talk about it.
    Well this you got your spot now, what are you going to dooo.

    exchange for goodies, for short term or forever.

  5. hai. salam to you yb
    i just working in sabah for the past 6 months -tawau hospital
    i spare u the trouble that we face regarding illegal immigrants here but let just say its REALLY BAD. i dont feel like anything being done at all, if any that is..

  6. Come on Sabah Sarawak MPs, this is the time. YB Joseph Kitingan, remember how you (your PBS government) was toppled? You know damn well that the illegals did you in with a lot of “steel” money. You Sabahans and Sarawakians, are you satisfied with what is dished out to you by the UMNO backed Federal government? Please think and do the right thing.

  7. Only the people of sabah can help themselves.They voted for B.N and now they have to live with their decision.As long as they continue to put their fate in the hands of B.N their country and resources like timber and oil will be raped by the UMNOPUTRAS.If they dont wake up soon they will one day find there is nothing left for them.Why cant they see what B.N has done to their country? We in peninsular Malaysia have already seen the wisdom of dumping B.N. When is Sabahans going to do that before its too late.?

  9. also, many may not realise that there are also so many illegals staying in kongsi , factories , hostel in Peninsular Malaysia. all u need is money and voila , visa or kosong … Malaysia Boleh !

  10. I heard this “wind” or so called “rumors” of Project I / C from a Sabahan & Sarawakian colleaques of mine few years back. Didn’t give thought at that moment.

    Now, this rumor seems to be true. In fact, it is.

    Now, one thing I can sum up is:

    The Rakyat don’t usually lie when they have grievances, but the “Gomen” will usually lie when the Rakyat have grievances!!!

    The next time when a fellow Citizen tell me something, I will take it seriously and check for myself!!!

  11. A NEW GOVERNMENT IS WHAT MALAYSIA NEED RIGHT NOW!

    IN TIMES OF CHAOS THE WORLD OVER, NATURAL CALAMITIES, GLOBAL WARMING, RISING PRICES, CHANGE IS WHAT WE NEED AND FAST….

    OR ELSE THERE WILL BE NOTHING LEFT TO SAVE AND SALVAGE….50 YEARS IS ENOUGH FOR BN/UMNO TO DO WHAT THEY PROMISED COUPLED WITH SUCH GOOD OBEDIENT CITIZENS LIKE MALAYSIANS, NOW THAT IT’S PROVEN THEY ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO CARRY OUT THEIR DUTIES…IT IS GRACEFUL THAT THEY PASS THE BATON TO SOMEONE ELSE AND GIVE BACK SOMETHING TO THE CITIZENS OF MALAYSIA!

    FREE MALAYSIA!

  12. That is the whole point. The immigrant has been deliberately placed there, and many are from the muslim islands of the Philipines.

    And you’re asking them to tackle the problems. But they were the ones who place the immigrants there in the first place.

    So how to tackle? They can’t. They’ll only take you round and round except tackling the issue.

  13. Wasn’t Projek I/C “Satu lagi Projek Kerajaan BN”? And BN is ruling Sabah? So why are the Sabahans complaining when they were condoning all the mischief all the time?

    Who at the top was responsible?

  14. Here in east Malaysia we have thousands of estate workers who are born in MALAYSIA yet they don,t have I.C,s.When they apply it take years to get one , But i am surprise that INDON,s can get one quite easy…

  15. hey sheriff singh,

    you sound like a detective :) hahaha…keep it up man!

    I am sure all Malaysians have a better judgment of the country’s situation and the works of BN!

    FREE MALAYSIA!

  16. I quote what Pairin has said (quoted from NST article above):

    “Those involved in letting the immigrants slip into the country should be considered as committing treason. ”

    It’s too late for Pairin to say these things now. Don’t forget that Pairin and his PBS has been the Sabah state govt since the 80’s. He as the Sabah Chief Minister should have stopped the illegal immigrants by then.

    Don’t tell me that his state govt is so naive as to don’t know those illegal immigrants were given Malaysian citizenship, and enlisted in the electoral rolls. He should stop them by then.

    Also, for the unfair delineation of the state constituencies (gerry-mandering), where muslim bumiputra majority seats were created till more than the non-muslim bumiputra majority & chinese majority seats combined, his PBS-controlled state legislative assembly should have rejected it outright at that time.

    What for crying for unfairness and treason at this moment, Mr Pairin?

    It’s is you Mr Pairin who is the traitor for your own Sabah state and your Kadazan-Dusun people.

    Shame on you – the Paramount Leader of Kadazan-Dusun.

  17. I TOTALLY AGREED WITH WHAT…. “Mr Smith Says:

    Yesterday at 22: 25.49
    There only ONE way to put things right. Let Pakatan Rakyat form the Federal Government. This is the panacea for all the ailments in the country.

    WE ARE SO FED-UP & PISSED-OFF WITH THESE PRESENT RULING COALATION!!! THINGS ARE GETTING FROM BAD TO WORSE!!!

    IS TIME TO LET NEW GOVERNMENT (PAKATAN RAKYAT) RULES!!!

  18. This is the greatest betrayal of the ordinary people from all level of leadership – past and present.

    Decades of too much pride, arrogance, ignorance and greed with no/little leadership of responsibility, accountability and transparency.

  19. Why complaints?aren’t they the BN like Pairin are invoved in this “project’.They had turn this project i/c into a monster .These BN MPs in Sabah are making tons of money,why should they bother? Traitors is the best word to describe the Sabah MPs.

  20. At the time when Umno leaders were promising a Sabah Baru to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants in the state, they were actively involved in the racket known as Project I/C to legalise the status of illegal immigrants by issuing them false identity cards to become phantom voters determining the political destiny of Sabah.

    why don’t UMNO leaders introduced the Project I/C to Kelantan as well?
    they might win the kubu kuat PAS..

  21. Wow!! Malaysia Boleh!!Sabah lagi boleh!!
    For those East Malaysian who has yet to obtain citizenship,quickly grap this opportunity..

    The land of Dog ( Shape like a dog’s head ) is a haven for the illegal Indon and Philippine who wish to settle down and citizenship are easily provided.Corruption must be rampant…I presumed????

    Pairin is no different from LimKengYaik…boths are sore losers.Telling coffeeshop stories when you are become a useless and try to grap world attention.

    Pairin.step downlah..and give way to Anwar.
    He can and will turn Sabah a metropolitan state from hereon..
    Pairin can goyang kaki and continue telling stories….

    Watch out! There is another state where you can obtained easy citizenship,Selangor.
    There are thousands if not millions Indon immigrants already has Permanent Resident status.

    You can find many of javanese immigrants along the coastal area.
    Who knows what happen next??
    Because Selangor is under PK government,The BN can start issuing PR behind their back…..

  22. Dear All,

    Many of us have now awaken to the fact that we were brainwashed and hoodwinked over the years by the mass media who are or may be controlled by certain political bigwigs. To the extent that the comments from Minister Syed Hamid were in fact nothing but continuous manifestation of these brainwashing actions. The government is now facing a very daunting task handling politicians from Sabah today following their position of strength. We can continue to see the Sabahan politicians to be more vocal and incessant in demanding the wrongs to be corrected by the Federal government.

    We must also not downplay the concerns of these illegal immigrants being recruited and absorbed into our security forces in view of their possession of MyCard. It is a shame for the government if the claim of these illegal immigrants being granted citizenship is indeed true as there are thousands of Red IC holders who were born in Malaysia have yet to be accorded this right after so many years of waiting.

  24. It is an open secret that Indonesians, Thais, Phillipino etc etc were given Citizenships easily as 123 as long as they were “qualified”. The qualification is that they must be MUSLIM and SKIN COLOUR must be more or less the same as the local SUPREME RACE race!!!
    I personally withnessed one Indonesian labourer being given a red IC in the NRD branch and told softly by the official that there wont be any problem that he will get a blue IC in around 2 years time!!! I knew a Singaporean friend who married a Malaysian Chinese girl and setup a factory in Malaysia for 10 years, but he failed to get a PR (Red IC) after numerous applications!!! at the end, he was so fed up with Malaysia Govn. that he went back to Singapore with his family!!! just imagine how much taxes and other benefits that Malaysia has lost as a result of him going back to S’pore!!! Why we may ask and the answer is very very clear, basically he is not MUSLIM and not belonging to the same SUPREME RACE!!!

  28. While the non-Malays and non-Muslims are fretting over the extent and rate at which all these immigrants of the same Muslim faith and the same skin colour can easily obtain IC’s and even citizenship, what do Malaysian-born Malays think about it?

    It will take not only the people of Sabah and Sarawak to wake up and realise they must put a stop to this. It also takes the combined will and voice in unison from the Malays in Peninsula Malaysia as well to stop this. And Malays can only do this if they acknowledge and accept deep in their hearts that THEY MUST JUNK UMNO, NOW!

    Because of what UMNO have done, they are now facing intense competition from these Muslim, therefore ‘Malay’, foreigners. Just look around and we can see the massive numbers of places and businesses where Malays have been displaced by ‘Malays.’

    That is what KETUANAN MELAYU has created! The non-Malays in this country, born of this country, have far less to worry about because by 2050, the invasion and displacment will have been completed to allow all Malays the political might to change the constitution at will. At an estmated mere 20% of the population, the non-Malays will simply be shouted down by 80% of the population.

    So, this fight is really a fight that our East Malaysian brethren and our Peninsula Malay brethern have to fight.

    Thankfully, we have DSAI, a Malay, who is pushing for KETUANAN RAKYAT, not ketuanan Melayu. By definition therefore, ‘rakyat’ means the citizens of Malaysia, and not a supremicist race, that will determine the policies of this nation for the good of all Malaysians and not foreigners who slip into the country or who are imported into the country to do the bidding of BN and UMNO.

  30. Illegals of Sabah
    There is a certain irony that I cannot understand. UMNO representatives make noise but they are placed there by the illegals. Think about it.

    The illegals cannot get IC without recommendations of the politicians, no way. There are estimated 2 millions illegals against 1 million citizens. Is this the problem of today? Don’t Musa Aman knew about this? Don’t you think Pairin is aware?

    The issue surfaces because UMNO MPs do not get what they want. That is the reality. Don’t forget these are the same MPs that hopped around before.
    Of course the local citizens suffer. Come on lah, KK is not like KL and to see street urchins running here and there is unnerving. They are children of non-citizens. Their parents are the source of many crimes in the state. And if such scenes are welcomed, it is a lie.

    But while citizens see the racial mess in KK, don’t the politicians see them too? Many of these issues have nothing to do with KL, much as I don’t like KL administration. The MPs themselves have something to gain from illegals.

    As Mr Smith mentioned above, to clean this, only PR administration is the last hope.

  31. When I first visited KK during the early 70’s, I was surprised when my friend just park his car without locking it. When I ask him he told me that it is safe as nobody will steal from the car. Nowadays, everyone locks their cars and if they can afford they will have shattered proof windows in their car. When they join Malaysia the population was around 500 thousands and Sarawak was about 700 thousands. Now Sarawak has around 1.7 million and Sabah more than 3 million and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how Sabah’s population exploded. Sabah would need a PR government to rectify this problem as BN have been unwilling to do so for the past 40 plus years.

  32. Leaving unsaid the obvious, the illegal migrants in Sabah requires a tremendous will power and resources to get it somewhat within control, again. The fuel that feed it MUST be correctly understood if an effective handle is sought. I doubt PR [ DAP,PAS,PKR] has a ready solution, and nothing less than a fully principled approach would do Malaysia the real solution for what it has – a mushrooming illegal migrant growth akin to a Force 3 thyphoon. And there should be an evacuation plan should the ‘thypoon’ reach Force 5.

    Firstly, the common denominator with almost all of these migrants is the religion they profess – Muslim. Reports have it that some Christians economic migrants from southern Philippine have used religion, saying they are Muslims, to ease their passage for project IC or the IMM 13. [And I thought project IC was just a call name until I heard for myself an NRD lady staff directing an applicant to see a senior officer as she suspected the applicant was using a project ic to apply for the bunga raya ic at the Dang Bandang Kota Kinabalu some years ago.] In the spirit of brotherhood, a majority Muslim country like Malaysia has to be seen as caring.

    Of greater immensity is the fact these migrants have already evolved into mobile communities all over Sabah, even to those secondary jungles and undeveloped hinterlands. This second factor requires an accurate census.

    Less obvious is the fact Sabah being the poorest state in Malaysia is attracting these illegal. Apart from the oil palm plantations common to both Kalimantan and Sarawak, there barely is work in Sabah for her locals much less for these illegal. So why do they come to Sabah, and not to Sarawak or Kalimantan?

    And again, there is widely known claims Southern Philippines has for Sabah. In addition, during Pairin times, the security committee for Sabah was in the hands of the Federal department; i.e. Pairin had no say at all on the illegal migrant daily boat loads.

    Get ourselves sober. PR has no ready real solutions for Sabah.

    The solution lies with a principled Malaysian. It must start with Sabah.

    Pairin is one of the appropriate persons to describe the problems associated with these migrants. In describing accurately, one hopes to describe the actual problems. Until then, the fuel that feed such problems cannot be fully understood. And until then, there might not be any evacuation plans, just as Myanmar took the Nagris full frontal

  33. Sad, real sad, one day local original Sabahan will be grossly outnumbered by “New Naturalized” Sabahan.
    & if ppl dont wake up, this trend can continue & spread to whole Msia !
    By then, local “supreme race” may be displaced by the “new naturalized” “supreme race” who are more hard working, ruthless, fiercer, generally lowly educated.
    See, by then how they can give privileges to say, 85% or more of population?

  35. The Project “M” is in-fact happening, which caused the defeat of PBS government at that time. We had seen open testimony by those involved few years back. It is also an open secret that many high government officers involved. I am against to the methods used but at the same time we should see how to improve and take control on these matters.

    The questions now are what can be done to remedy the situation? Can we just take back the IC given? Can we just deny the rights of those whom already settled here and gave birth, born here? Or do we want to send them back to Philippines or Indonesia? What about their spouse if they already married to locals? Shall we deport them as well? Those already mixed with locals?

    Well if we do that we are being biased since our fore fathers also came to Malaysia for prosper, better future and opportunity. They maybe few generations late but when they accept the IC given, their fate already sealed knowing that Malaysia is their new home.

    In this case :
    1. NGOs body can play apart in getting those identified, malaysianized them, train them, install the patriotism etc if necessary. Get accurate statistic on these identified new Malaysian.
    2. Prosecute those involved without any favor. No reason can be justify giving freely our nationality identity.
    3. Sabahan also need to accept that these are the mistakes of the BN gomen, and accept them gradually. A common solution need to be discussed between Sabahan representatives and PR so that the locals will not been taken a ride.
    4. Tighten the borders shall be one the step taken, there are still influx of foreigners in Sabah and Sarawak

    At the end of the day, as the waiting government in line, PR must show that we are helpful and open our arms to them. Although they get the IC illegal, neverthenless they already accepted the notion that they ahve selected Malaysia as their new home. They are the product of a grave sin of the BN gomen but when PR in power, we must start a new, welcome them with open arms and respect them as citizens of Malaysia. We shall learn the mistake and shall never let these happened again..

    These gave credence in showing that PR are the government for the rakyat (no matter how they came to be one or how recently)

    p/s : On a lighter notes, they are indeed beautiful people (Malaysian’s Philippines), and I have the luxury of having good friends with them. And I can say they are patriotic and already Malaysianized. Suprisingly they are christians.

  36. “But are the long-suppressed voices of the people of Sabah being heard by the corridors of power in the Federal capital?

    The answer must be in the negative if we go by the reply of the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar when winding up the debate on his Ministry this evening” Sdr Kit

    Oh, the Home Affairs Minister heard you fine. It is just that it is expedient for him to act the other way. He also said he wants to review the policy on foreign labour when he was first appointed Home Affairs Minister recently. We shall see whether anything is going to happen.

    This nation is addicted to foreign workers, we must face the fact. There is no political will to change it because the vested interest groups from the government to those in the private sector are simply too overwhelming for anything meaningful to emerge. If we average Malaysians can’t see our standard of living being gradually dragged down by the indiscriminate entry of foreign workers, we must gullible fools.

    Japan, Korea and even Singapore have become developed without massive influx of foreign unskilled and disease carrying workers. There is a simple observation that I want share: Society will slowly gravitate toward what the policy dictates. For example, if we allow indiscriminate entry of foreign unskilled workers, then our society will grow to depend on them. On the other hand, if we are stringent on foreign workers, the society will also evolve and gravitate toward lesser dependence on foreign workers – there will be more automation, mechanisation, working from home, flexi working hours, time off for mothers etc. Right now, as I can see, this country will continue to be inundated by foreign workers to the detriment of our social fabric and well being. The tragedy is those who lobby hard for foreign labour and those who approve the entry of foreign labour will eventually retire to the comfort of some foreign lands leaving the waste land for all of us who have no where else to go.

  37. It is time to control the unlimited entry of foreign workers. For goodness sake, just ignore what the business people say. They are just exploiting and profiteering out of the misery of foreign workers and ordinary Malaysians. Let our GDP grows by 3% instead of 6%. It is ok. New Zealand is a good development model for us to copy – grow slowly, control population growth, attract only quality investment, build on quality human capital, preserve the environment, and maintain clean and healthy living conditions. NO need to rush like mad dog, for what at the end?

  39. BN government start project I/C after fail to win back the state from PBS hand, as the duty of issuing I/C under the control the federal government, blue I/C is issued with local recommendation and a statutory declaration, if PR become the new government, I hope they will review all the I/C application and give those blue I/C which without local birth certificate red.

    BN government can still do the same if they want but I heard that a lot of these I/C holders went to West Malaysia and can understand why the crime rate are so high over there recently, all thanks to the blue I/C given to them.

    Limkamput is right about that, why chasing for high GDP, as long as the country can sustain other things will come along.

  41. I refer to nazryan’s comment – “NGOs body can play apart in getting those identified, malaysianized them, train them, install the patriotism etc if necessary. Get accurate statistic on these identified new Malaysian” and wish to give my views as follows:

    (1) If the estimated figure of Project I.C. of 500,000 – 700,000 is true, no NGO in Malaysia would have the fund and manpower to deal with these Project I.C. holders.
    (2) The full potential risk of these Project I.C. holders to Sabah’s security is now being mitigated by the Govt who screen out these people in the recruitment for military and police forces. However many of these people are now RELA members, that could be the reason why there have been so many cases of abuse of power in Sabah’s RELA. If we legalise these Project I.C., this is like opening the Pandora box!
    (3) A huge majority of these people are the Philipine’s Tausug and Bajau, who always claim that Sabah belongs to the Sultan of Sulu (which of course is not by virtue of the Madrid Protocol signed between the British & Spanish in 1885). Due to historical & cultural reasons, these people would prefer to form an alliance or pay their allegiance to the Mindanao’s administration (perhaps the Republic of Mindanao & Sulu), thus, separatist activities in the long run could not be ignored.
    Base on the above reasons and many more not said here, i hope we could view the problem of Project I.C. more seriously and with a long term view!

  42. One day, our beloved country will have a PM of an illegal immigrant (but I/C holder) origin. This prophesies is already in the making, just waiting for the right time to prevail. Many peninsula Malay have married to Sabahan “Malay” aka former illegal immigrant. So, what do we call their children? And these children will grow up as a backup MP for UMNO and hence qualified for the PM post.

  43. Sabah had been a milking cow for decades (Timers, Oil Palm & crude oil and petroleum ) ! IF there is a need for change it need to be now! What had the peninsula contribute to the semenajung, practically a little piece of biscut! Wake up & be strong, you guys can do it if united!

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