SAPP: Say No to Creative History

SIPITANG: Leaders of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) celebrated the state level Hari Raya open house this year in Sipitang today (Sunday) held at Sabah Forest Industries-SFI Motel attended by about thousand people.

Tuan Haji Amdee Sidik the Chairman organizing committee who is also the State Southern Zone Chairman and the Deputy President of SAPP highlighted that there should be no compromise where history of the nation and specifically the history of Sabah is concerned.

History of Sabah especially in the formation of Malaysia has captured the headlines in recent weeks.

Tuan Haji Amdee is of the opinion historical records in our archives are the best source of understanding our past better.

"The director of the state - Datuk Tiga Belas archive is the appropriate authority to determine history without embellishing it. Creative history is often used to serve a greater purpose such as forging unity amongst the people of one nation.

"However, over-stretching creative history may deny others of their place in history and took their sensitivities for granted.

"This may lead discrimination and disenfranchisement of the identity, tradition, and culture and undermine the system of values in the segments of societies. As the result, instead of forging unity, it creates cleavages amongst the people.

Understanding history is never a futile exercise or a waste of time, according to Tuan Haji Amdee.

"Those who deny their history, deny their future and who are we to deny our children from their own future", he asked.

Tuan Haji Amdee is of the opinion that the decision to make 1957 as the starting point of Malaysia anniversary was never agreed upon by our past leaders.

"If such a decision was made, then the people of Sabah must be duly informed and such decision should be made a public record," he said.

"The controversy over the Malaysia anniversary reflects the cause of divergence between the Borneo states and Malaya. Is Malaysia 48 years old or 54 years old?" he questioned.

"Malaysia did not exist in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya achieved its independence from the British yet this year we are celebrating Malaysia's 54th birthday. The government-controlled mass media blatantly claim that Malaysia is 54 years old but to the people from the Borneo states believe that Malaysia is only 48 years old. It shows Malaya is insensitive towards the feelings of the people in the Borneo states. The problem becomes serious when such questions appear in school examinations. As the result, the people in Borneo are forcefully made to acknowledge the anniversary for the Federation of Malaya instead of Malaysia.

The written history of Malaysia has come under intense public scrutiny in recent weeks. People in Malaysia are accepting the fact that there are many distortions and discrepancies in our national history. Some feel it is time our national history need extensive review or perhaps rewritten.

Realizing these, SAPP as a responsible political party from Sabah feels that history must never be compromised and must acknowledge the struggle and sacrifices made by our own local heroes.

"As recent as during the Japanese occupation, we seldom hear references to our local heroes. The fallen heroes of Petagas, led by Albert Kwok, Mohammed Yassin from Sipitang, Corporal Koram from Keningau, Datu Mustapha and many more are not even mentioned in our history books" he says.

"These are our legacies which must be protected and preserved. One particular legacy, which deserves our special attention, is our very own State Anthem - "Sabah Tanah Airku". Many State Anthems have been changed and amended. The Sabah Tanah Airku however remain untouched an uncorrupted" says Tuan Haji Amdee.

"It is important for the people in Sabah to reflect on the lyrics of the State Anthem and understand the message it bears. Tuan Haji Amdee stressed, "It is about what it means to be a Sabahan - it is therefore critical that SAPP made the Sabah Tanah Airku as part of its struggle for the people in Sabah".

"To reflect today's scenario surely we have lost the real sense of Merdeka even to hire a small place like this we in fact struggled to get approval, initially denied to a hire a Hall because we opposition party members - and thanks to SFI Motel we found this.

"In Sipitang we're not allowed to hang our banners by the authority at the round about just after the bridge to Sipitang Town, but any one notices many UMNO's banners are hanging there. And only yesterday our party organizer who went to RELA office inquiring if we can hire RELA workers for this function only to be asked to write to Kuala Lumpur for approval, isn't this no ridiculous?