It's like harbouring foreigners without documents: Majimbun

KOTA KINABALU (Feb 13, 2009): Sepanggar MP Datuk Eric Majimbun said the Education Minister's openly expressed intention to change a long-existing country policy to enable students whose citizenship status in their temporary identification document is stated as "undetermined", to be accepted into Form One in the State, can be considered as harbouring "foreigners without document", as such status is equivalent to being illegal immigrants or stateless.

He said Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein is also trying to further complicate the mother-of-all problems in the State, the unresolved illegal immigrant issue and falsification of Malaysian identification documents by foreigners, if he truly does so.

"It was very shocking to have a Federal Minister flying all the way to Sabah an then making such a statement…we do not know what his real intention is, but whatever it is he is actually not helping but further completing the mother-of all problems in Sabah," he said.

Towards this end Majimbun said it is very disappointing, upsetting and regrettable that a senior Federal Cabinet member like Hishamuddin seems to be still unaware of what is truly happening and the great problem still faced by Malaysians in the State.

"This thing that Hishamuddin was referring to involves people without Malaysian citizenship status and most, if not all of them, are foreigners…it also seems like Hishamuddin is trying to open the floodgates for more illegal immigrants to come to Sabah in pursuit of such an "offer" made by a Federal Minister," he said.

Majimbun, who is also Deputy President of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) said Hishamuddin is also proving right the claims by many quarters that Malaysians in Sabah are second-class citizens because, while many genuine Malaysian students in rural areas are still very far left behind others in the peninsula in terms of proper education facility, now "he (Hishamuddin) openly declare wanting to assist these undetermined-status in Sabah."

The genuine Malaysian schoolchildren are supposed to enjoy the utmost priority from Hishamuddin, he said, claiming there are already many illegal immigrants who obtained their Malaysian identification documents dubiously already enjoying public education facilities in this country.

Majimbun also hoped that Hishamuddin will not raise such things for his own political gain particularly with the Umno election just round the corner.