The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.
— Aristotle, Greek philosopher
At long last! Sarawak, Sabah and Malaya are equally partners in the Malaysian federation.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have thought I would get to witness this historical occasion in my lifetime. Quite a few of my friends — and loved ones, including my dad — who had longed to witness this momentous occasion are now gone. But I know they are celebrating from above.
There are three people we should thank from the bottom of our heart for making it possible. First, we all have Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to thank for pursuing the issue relentlessly. Sarawak’s sixth chief minister did not let us down; he kept his promise to his people to get Putrajaya to recognise us.
Then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar worked tirelessly — at times working into the wee hours of the morning — to make sure nothing is left to chance when it came to preparing for the documents to be presented in Parliament.
Wan J, whom I would affectionately address him, was a source of inspiration to his fellow parliamentarians from Sarawak. He was a walking encyclopaedia as far as constitutional law and
legislations involving the Commonwealth are concerned.
Many a times, I would run to him, sometimes even past midnight when I wanted some explanations on matters related to Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) — and he’s one politician who would reply to your call even when he’s in a Cabinet meeting. “Rajah, I’ll talk to you later. I’m in a meeting, WhatsApp me.”
His fellow colleagues had high regards for him. Wan J knows his job well and he has very few peers.
Little wonder that he and Abang Johari, with the support of the other state leaders, managed to get the amendments to four articles of the Federal Constitution relating to the rights of Sabah and Sarawak unanimously passed by Parliament on Dec 14 last year.
And the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2022 [Act A1642] officially come into force on Feb 11 after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong gave his consent, officially recognising Sarawak and our neighbour Sabah as equal partners with Malaya, and making it as clear as crystal the positions of the two Borneo states in accordance with MA63.
Of course, we shouldn’t forget the efforts of our fifth chief minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem — who set the ball rolling so to speak — when he initiated the push for greater autonomy.
Unfortunately, poor Adenan didn’t get to see his efforts materialise.
Sarawakians, especially have a cause for celebration. After being short changed for almost 60 years, now Malayans cannot say our demands are not in line with the Malaysian Constitution.
If you have been following the MA63 closely, you would have realised several items that were promised in the agreement were not included in the Federal Constitution, rendering the MA63 almost null and void!
Wan J said the Borneo states had succeeded in placing the MA63 in the Federal Constitution to become the “real Malaysia” in the context of three agreements, namely the Federal Agreement 1948, Federal Agreement 1957 and MA63.
With immediate effect, the native status of people in Sarawak — and Sabah of course — will no longer be decided by Putrajaya. Instead, we will decide their status through our own constitution.
Sarawak can also now claim certain rights listed under the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report 1962.
And what will be our status? Region, territory or still as a state? Sarawakians will have to wait a little longer to know that as the State Legislative Assembly will have to debate on it. Hopefully, it can be settled in this current sitting, or in the next two sittings. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long.
Said Wan J: “I leave it to the state to differentiate the status of Sarawak and other states in Peninsular Malaysia.”
Anyway, I hope the amendments to the Federal Constitution are not merely cosmetics to “please” Sarawakians and Sabahans.
I am looking forward to the day when we can determine a fairer distribution of parliamentary constituencies between Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
Initially, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore accounted for 35 per cent of the MPs in Parliament. But after Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia in 1965 and through political manoeuvring in the 1970s and 1980s, Malaya increased its parliamentary seats.
Unfortunately for Sabah and Sarawak, their seats barely increased to the point where the previously 65:35 ratio had now become 75:25.
What this means is that Malaya could pass any law with a two-thirds majority, even if we opposed.
Let’s hope our MPs will continue to negotiate for more seats in Parliament to reflect the size of our state.
So far, Sarawak under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has managed to restore the state’s rights, including introducing state sales tax (SST) and regained control of oil mining and exploration.
All these were done in the last five years by the GPS government under Abang Johari.
This is proof of the GPS government’s commitment in defending the rights of Sarawak.
Meanwhile, let’s give our full and undivided support to Abang Johari & Co to develop the state for the benefit of all.
