KUCHING: The Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) was like a dark cloud over Sarawak and Sabah’s aspirations.
Senate president Tan Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the ISA played a significant role in Sarawak and Sabah’s fight for their Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) rights.
He said that people who spoke out or asked for their rights might end up in Kamunting, known for detaining political prisoners.
Prominent individuals like James Wong and Wan Yusuf were put there. Why they were put there was often kept secret, according to Wan Junaidi.
“The ISA made us worried about asking for our MA63 rights. It made us scared to speak,” he said.
He added that even after the Second Emergency in the peninsula was over before the 1980s, the strict rules from it stayed until 2009.
“It was only in 2011, during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s time, that these rules were stopped,” he said in the Keluar Sekejap podcast hosted by former federal minister Khairy Jamaluddin and former UMNO youth chief Shahril Hamdan today (Sept 16).
Wan Junaidi also said that while other parts of the country received a lot of investment and big projects, Sarawak and Sabah were often overlooked.
He said that the absence of essential infrastructure like bridges and big government projects made people in Sarawak and Sabah feel left out and upset.
“The ISA doesn’t scare us anymore. We can now talk about it without fear,” he added.
