Giving Sabah claimants the wrong signal: SAPP

Kota Kinabalu 24 April, 2009: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) wants the Federal Government to take action against anti-Malaysia elements, especially foreign citizens who caused disturbance in the country.

Its President, Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee said such elements that could germinate into a future threat to the nation's security should never be underestimated.

Referring to the Sabah flag burning by a group of people led by a Suluk who claimed to be a descendant of the so-called Sultan of Sulu on April 4, he said it is the duty of the State and Federal governments to safeguard the sovereignty and peaceful progress of the country.

In this respect, he said the recent release without charge of a group of people who burned the Sabah flag in two places in Lahad Datu sends a very dangerous message to the people, especially in the East Coast, that such treasonable actions are tolerated.

He said it is perplexing that "The New Sulu Times" that propagated anti-Malaysia propaganda was merely banned while "Malaysia Today" and other anti-BN websites have been shut down by the authorities.

Other websites claiming that Sabah is under the "illegal occupation of Malaysia", however, are still active, he said.

"In other states, people have been charged for insulting the Sultan and for protesting against toll hikes.

"Journalists and bloggers have been detained under the Internal Security Act. But in Sabah, people who committed treason by staking a claim on Sabah on behalf of a foreign power and burned State flags walk free," he told a press conference.

He said that by claiming Sabah as belonging to another country, these people have ridiculed the King, Sabah Head of State, the Parliament, State Legislative Assembly and the State and Federal constitutions.

What these people did, he said, has caused much public anxiety.

In fact, he said the burning of six Sabah flags in Lahad Datu on April 4, is a manifestation of the potential for trouble at a future date.

"Although the police found that the flag burning was the work of a tiny group, the authorities cannot be sure if the incident has the tacit support of a wider section of the community, both local and foreign," he said.

Regarding Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman winding up speech at the State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, he said the "Sabah Claim" issue has now surfaced in Sabah by way of the flag burning.

Musa had said that the Sabah claim is an internal matter of the Philippines and that the case has never been formally claimed in bilateral (Malaysia-Philippines) forum.

Musa also said that the Lahad Datu flag-burning incident was an ordinary crime and that Malaysia has never entertained this "non-issue".

Yong, on the other hand, said Musa failed to mention "birth certificates" being issued by a foreign authority for children born in Sabah, printed publications and websites openly claiming that Sabah is not part of Malaysia and the emerging Sabah claim.

He said the Sabah claim mindset among Filipinos is a psychological impediment to the long-term solution to the illegal immigrants issue.

"It is already an open policy of the Philippines to refuse deportees from Sabah," he said.

He said the Sabah claim was also raised during the Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan case before the International Court of Justice in 2001.

The Philippines, he said, asserted, although unsuccessfully that "Éits claim of sovereignty over North Borneo might be affected by the Court's reasoning or interpretation of treaties in issue between Indonesia and Malaysia (ICJ, Oct 23, 2001)".

But while the Philippines revival of the Sabah claim does not change the international law that Malaysia has sovereignty over Sabah and that the UN recognises Sabah, "the real issue here is security".

Yong said there exist a potential for conflict in the future caused partly by false hopes among some people in the Philippines and some illegal immigrants in Sabah that they, and not Malaysia, are the rightful heirs of Sabah.

He said the Philippines is the only neighbouring country that does not have a consulate in Sabah compared to Brunei, Indonesia and Japan.

"Even France, Denmark, Slovakia, Britain, Finland, Switzerland, Panama, Bangladesh and Australia have honorary consuls in Sabah," he said.

As a comparison, he said the Philippines has consulates in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Surabaya in Indonesia apart from the embassy in Jakarta.

He said it is an open secret that the Philippines has refused to set up a consulate in Sabah because they deem it (consulate) would be fatal in their claim for Sabah.

The logic being that they (Philippines) cannot set up a consulate in their "own country", he said. It is for this reason, he said, why the Philippines Embassy in Kuala Lumpur choose to provide consular services to their citizens be sending officials to Sabah occasionally even though this long distance arrangement is causing hardship to their citizens here.

Yong said it is reasonable to suspect that the Philippines are continuously preparing the Filipino psyche for a more effective claim on Sabah at a future date.

For instance, he said Sabah appears in the Philippines national maps' to reinforce in their people's mindset that Sabah is part of Filipino territory. (Daily Express )