What sort of sap doesn’t know by now that picture-perfect beauty is all done with smoke and mirrors anyway? – Julie Burchill, British journalist
There was another round of hurrahs and a triumphant mood amongst some about regaining more rights for Sabah and Sarawak.
I am sure there was a lot of shaking of hands and backslapping as well for this latest achievement.
This achievement towards reclaiming more rights for Sabah and Sarawak was announced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.
This much applauded good news was the return of the administration of the Sipadan and Ligitan Islands to Sabah while Sarawak will have full control and management of its gas distribution again.
Ongkili stated that the decision was taken during a two-hour Special Council on Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) meeting on April 14, 2021.
As usual on the face of it, this is indeed another progressive move forward towards getting our rights back.
However, it does seem that the Malayans have put into place a long drawn out, arduous and laborious process for us to regain our rights.
Our leaders here seem to have to extract these rights back inch by inch and via several committees over the years.
Let take a few steps back and look at some of these committees.
In February 2018, during a visit to Sarawak, the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the federal government “has no reservations about returning to Sarawak any of the state’s rights that it may have taken inadvertently or otherwise”.
He went on to say that the federal government would set up a high-level committee to discuss the matter with the high-level committee that the Sarawak government had established to discuss Sarawak’s rights under MA63.
I suppose this was a ‘carrot’ for Sarawakians to continue supporting him during the then-upcoming 14th general election. However, on May 9 2018, he was swept away and the PH government took over.
The PH government before the elections had also promised much via their manifesto, “Buku Harapan”.
Their Buku Harapan promised that the status of Sabah and Sarawak would be restored under MA63.
It also stated that Sabah and Sarawak will receive 20 percent oil royalty. They also promised that 50 percent of the revenue collected will be given to Sabah and Sarawak. In addition to this was the PH pledge to devolve powers of education and health as well.
After much nudging the PH government agreed to set up a Special Cabinet Committee on MA63.
Twenty-one issues were submitted to the committee to be studied and by July 2019 seven issues were agreed upon. For Sarawak, this included the power to oversee the distribution of gas and electricity.
From this, you can see that the recent announcement that Sarawak is to have full control and management of its gas distribution again was not exactly new.
I do also wonder what the term “full control and management” means. Does it also mean full ownership? Well, just asking.
Anyway, nothing significant happened about restoring rights under MA63, the 20 percent oil royalty, 50 percent of the revenue, and powers of education and health all because the Buku Haparan was not a ‘bible’.
Soon after in February 2020, the PH government collapsed without them ever filling their promises made in Buku Harapan.
Now with the new PN government, we have a new ‘body’ called the Special Council on MA63. It was under this council that the latest ‘rights’ were returned.
At this point, it must be noted that throughout these series of committee formations, our Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has always emphasised that it is necessary to look at the whole Federal Constitution and MA63, concerning Sarawak’s rights and its position in Malaysia.
This is indeed a very important stipulation. This is because from my limited perspective the so-called rights returned to Sarawak have been via administrative tools. They were returned with a stroke of the pen and they can be taken away with the stroke of a pen too.
That is why the insistence by our chief minister that the Federal Constitution needs to be amended with the words Malaysia Agreement 1963 inserted into it is very critical.
The embedding of the term MA63 into the constitution would secure our rights and place us on a firm footing of equal status to Malaya. We need iron-clad constitutional changes that would lock in our rights.
By the way, the phrase smoke and mirrors means misleading information serving to obscure the truth of a situation. It also refers to the tools magicians use in elaborate stage illusions to deceive the audience.
To date, I fear all the committees and councils have been ‘smoke and mirrors’ creating an illusion that the Malayans want to help us.
However, this does that detract from the efforts and the achievements that have already been made to regain the rights already secured.
To ensure continuity towards the ultimate objective, we need to continue to support our Abang Johari’s efforts to secure the necessary amendments to the Federal Constitution for Sarawak’s real and lasting autonomy.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
