KUCHING: Equal partnership is merely an illusion, said Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) legal advisor Voon Lee Shan.
He said this in response to the Federal government’s decision to transfer the headquarters of the Registry of the High Court of Sarawak and Sabah to Kota Kinabalu which went viral on Whatsapp last Saturday.
Voon stated that during the formation of Malaysia, the federation of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak sat on one table with each having their own ‘plate of food’.
“Sabah and Sarawak’s plates were taken by Malaya for more than 60 years.
“Now Malaya says to Sabah and Sarawak: Since you are crying, I give back to you your plate which I took from you.
“Is this equal partnership when only the plate is returned to you but without the food in it?” he told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
In the same vein, Voon further said Malaya could very well give back Sabah and Sarawak their status as countries but not returning the territorial waters oil and gas.
He demanded the Federation of Malaya to return the “food” which was also taken instead of just the “plate”.
He also questioned Democratic Action Party (DAP)’s existence which goes about restoring the status of Sabah and Sarawak without the whole rights being returned.
Apart from that, Voon voiced out that the move to transfer the Registry of the High Court is a way of imperialism by the Federation of Malaya.
“It shows that the Federal Constitution is taken only as guidelines and not law by Putrajaya because they can do things by passing the Federal Constitution,” he said.
He also explained that even if the state government goes to the court, it will only sour the relationship between the federal government and the state government.
“When the federal government is not happy, they will pull the handbrake.
“Instead of giving more development funds, Sarawak may not get what Sarawak wants,” he added.
He continued, “It was perhaps we needed funds in the past that caused our state government to lose many of our rights. This could be how we lost our oil and gas to Malaya.
“Such (was the situation) that when Petroleum Development Act 1974 was passed, our oil and gas rights were taken away. Until now our state government could not take our oil and gas back.”
