DAP launches three campaigns – Post-Malaysia Generation Movement, Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign and Mass Signature Campaign to demand immediate publication of Royal Commission of Inquiry Report on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah

DAP launched three campaigns in Keningau yesterday, viz:

*Batu Sumpah Awareness campaign;

*Mass Signature Campaign to demand immediate publication of Royal Commission of Inquiry Report on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah; and

*Post-Malaysia Generation Movement.

1. Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign

Czech writer Milan Kundera’s famous quote “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting” is good reason for the DAP launching the Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign.

Seven months before the 13th General Elections in May 2013, I spoke at length during my speech on the 2013 Budget in Parliament on October 4, 2012 on the Keningau Batu Sumpah and the three commitments of “Ugama Bebas Dalam Sabah”, “Tanah Tanah dalam Sabah di kuasai oleh Kerajaan Sabah” and “Adat Istiadat anak rayat Sabah dihormatkan dan dipelihara oleh Kerajaan” engraved on the Keningau Oath Stone.

I called on all Members of Parliament, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, whether in Sabah, Sarawak or Peninsular Malaysia, to support a Royal Commission of Inquiry to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades.

Although my call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry stemming from Batu Sumpah Keningau fell on deaf ears in October 2012, as there was no support or response from the Barisan Nasional MPs, whether Sabah, Sarawak or Peninsular Malaysia to examine whether the terms of the oath of loyalty of the Sabahans from the interior five decades ago in exchange for support for the formation of Malaysia, as solemnly carved in perpetuity in Batu Sumpah Keningau, had been honoured, this remains a live issue and with the passage of time, an ever more focussed aspiration of the people of Sabah.

This is the rationale for the launching of a Batu Sumpah Keningau Campaign to canvas for greater awareness of the rights and expectations of the people of Sabah when Malaysia was formed 51 years ago and for support for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans (and Sarawakians) in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades.

I have said Sabah students are ignorant of the three most historic events in Sabah in the past five decades as they are not in the school history books, viz:

1.20-Points and Batu Sumpah Keningau;

2.The ‘666’ tragedy of 1976 which changed the course of history, not only in Sabah but also in Malaysia; and

3.Million illegal immigrants who were unlawfully and unconstitutionally given citizenship/voter status through illegal scams like Project Mahathir, undermining Sabah and Malaysia.

The Batu Sumpah Keningau campaign will be to restore both history and memory to the people of Sabah.

Before the launching of the DAP Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign in Keningau yesterday, there was an earlier programme for the annual ritual ceremony for Batu Sampah scheduled in the Keningau District Office compound which housed the Batu Sumpah.

But the Keningau District Office compound gates were locked, preventing public access to the Batu Sumpah and therefore annual ritual ceremony for the Batu Sumpah from being performed.

This is most unusual as permission had earlier been granted for the annual ritual ceremony for Batu Sumpah to be performed, but this permission was withdrawn when the authorities learned that I would be present.

I am flattered by such attention but regret that I had caused the annual ritual ceremony for Batu Sumpah from being performed in its proper place.

However, there is more than a silver lining for every cloud, for the outrageous lock-up of Batu Sumpah in the Keningau District Office compound inspired a most creative and innovative response from the Orang Asal NGOs slated to organise the annual ritual ceremony.

As a result of discussion and consultation with Orang Asal NGOs and elders of the community, the very creative response to the lock-up of the Batu Sumpah in the Keningau District Office compound was to produce within 24 hours a replica of Batu Sumpah with the three inscriptions so that the ritual ceremony could be performed, just outside the Keningau District Office grounds.

This has given rise to another creative and innovative idea, especially for the Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign – to replicate Batu Sumpah Keningau in every kampung in Sabah, which will be quite a fantastic method to spread the Batu Campaign Awareness Campaign.

If the Batu Sumpah Keningau is replicated in every kampung in Sabah, a great “thank you” is owed to those responsible for the unfair and high-handed decision to lock up the Keningau District Office compound to prevent public access to the Batu Sumpah thinking this could sabotage the holding of the annual ritual ceremony for Batu Sumpah.

The Chairman of the DAP Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign is Peter Saili, a former political secretary who has retired from politics for more than ten years, and other officials are Vice Chairman, Nooritha Saul and Secretary, Marius Felix.

Two Keningau Declarations were also issued yesterday – one by by Orang Asal NGOs at the Batu Sumpah ritual ceremony and the other by the DAP Batu Sumpah Awareness Movement.

The Keningau Declaration of Orang Asal NGOs expands the three basic demands in Batu Sumpah to seven, viz: Kelestarian Alam Sekitar, Pemerintahan Yang Baik, Kemajuan Ekonomi and Integriti Pendidikan.

The DAP Keningau Declaration called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades.

DAP MPs/SAs will articulate and highlight the two Keningau Declarations – of the Orang Asal NGOs and the DAP Batu Sumpah Awareness Movement in the Sabah State Assembly and Parliament to canvass support from all MPs/SAs for justice for Sabah.

2. Mass Signature Campaign for immediate publication of Report of RCI on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah

The campaign for mass signatures for the immediate publication of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants in Sabah is headed by DAP Sabah State Secretary Dr. Edwin Bosi.

Is there any reason why the Report of the RCI cannot be made public before Malaysia Day on Sept. 16?

The Cobbold Commission on the formation of Malaysia took less than seven months in 1962 to publish its report from its first appointment in January 1962. Why is the RCI on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah taking more than two-and-a-half years from the Cabinet decision in Feb. 2012 for its establishment, and still unable to have the Report made public?

3. Movement of Post-Malaysia Generation to take over political leadership

The third campaign launched yesterday is the Post-Malaysia Generation Movement of DAP Sabah for the young generation of Sabahans born after September 16, 1963 to take over the political leadership.

The participation of the DAP candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election Dyana Sofya in the Keningau programme is symbolic of the new generation of young Malaysians who should be assuming leadership responsibilities in Sabah and Malaysia whether in politics or other spheres of activities.

According to Statistics Department, in 2014, out of a populationn of 3.54 million inn Sabah, 88% or 3.12 million were born after 1963.

This is therefore a great challenge and the chairman of the DAP Sabah Post-Malaysia Generation Movement is outstanding Sabah social activist for over a decade Adrian Lasimbang, who will lead the campaign.

(Media Conference Statement 2 in Kota Kinabalu on Monday, 1st September 2014 at 9.30 am)