Mt Kinabalu guides honoured on Singapore National Day

Ricky Masirin, Valerian Joannes get posthumous Commendation medals for “devotion to duty” during Sabah quake; four other Malaysians recognised as well.

SINGAPORE: Mountain guides Ricky Masirin and Valerian Joannes who died trying to bring to safety several Singapore primary schoolchildren from the earthquake-stricken Mt Kinabalu in June were honoured by the Singapore government yesterday.

The two guides were posthumously awarded Commendation Medals during Singapore’s National Day Awards for their efforts in trying to guide Tanjong Katong Primary School pupils to safety.

The citation for the guides read: “(for their) Devotion to duty and exemplary conduct during the Sabah earthquake,” The Straits Times and Asia News Network reported.

Muhammad Danish Amran, another Sabah guide who brought several pupils down the mountain to safety, was also honoured together with Malaysian Mountain Torq trainers Hajiris Sulomin, Hilary Hendry Augustinus and James Maikol.

The Malaysians were among 16 others who were honoured.

Among the Singaporeans given the medal were Tanjong Katong School teachers Mohamed Faizal, Joshua Tan, Nur Uzaimah Fadzali, Lee Hui Jun, Carolyn De Souza and Roushan Amir Hussain.

Faizal, who teaches English and physical education, said modestly: “We weren’t doing anything extra. We were doing what is required of us as teachers, which is taking care of the kids under our charge.”

Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/08/10/mt-kinabalu-guides-honoured-on-singapore-national-day/

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Sapp to educate Gen-Y on Sabah’s true history

Putrajaya should start counting the Federation with Sabah and Sarawak from 1963 and not from 1957 or from 1948.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) wants to educate the Gen-Y in particular that Sabah was once a country on its own before 16 Sept 1963 when it came together in a Federation with Sarawak, Singapore and the peninsula. “Brunei stayed out at the 11th hour,” noted Sapp Vice- Youth Chief Yong Yit Yoong.

“Now, Sabah like Sarawak is a nation within the Federation. Full Autonomy is our Constitutional right. The Federal Government has also reneged on the Borneonisation of the civil service.”

He was explaining the purpose of the Black Sunday 2.0 Gathering on Sunday along Gaya Street, the venue of the packed weekly Sunday Market, in Kota Kinabalu, during which the participants held blank papers. “Friends in the police warned us that we can’t speak up on certain things. So, that’s why we held black papers in protest against such restrictions.”

“We have the right to speak up on Sabah rights. If we don’t have the right to speak up, even in the social media, the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Commission should close down.”

The Sabah Independence Day celebrations on August 31 to be held in Kundasang this year by the party, added Yong, would stress that independence began in 1963 and not 1957. “In the case of Sarawak, independence came on 22 July 1963 and they observed the anniversary last month for the second time since 1963.”

“The Federal Government should start counting the Federation with Sabah and Sarawak as beginning from 1963 and not from 1957, the Independence Day for the peninsula, or even from 1948 when the Federation of Malaya Agreement was signed in London.”

The history of the Federation in 1963, charged Yong, was being ignored or down-played by the Federal Government as evident in school text books. “We cannot forget out history. We need to educate the Gen-Y so that they will know their true history, not the one put out by Putrajaya.”

Yong, delving into the history since 1963, lamented that the status of Sabah and Sarawak had diminished since Singapore’s departure in 1965 from being equal partners of Malaya incorporating Singapore, to the 12th and 13th states in the Federation. “There has been very little public education on Sabah and Sarawak’s real status in the Federation.”

Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/08/10/sapp-to-educate-gen-y-on-sabahs-true-history/

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Jeffrey: S’pore abandoned Sabah and Sarawak

The two Borneo nations need to wake up from their trance-like state induced by Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN).

KOTA KINABALU: Bingkor assemblyman and longtime rights activist Jeffrey Kitingan has mixed feelings on the 50th Anniversary of Singapore ending its merger with Malaya and exiting the Federation with the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. “When I asked the late Lee Kuan Yew once what his greatest regret was in relation to Sabah and Sarawak, he hung his head, and tears rolled down his face. He was so choked with emotion and regret that he could not speak.”

“Sabahans and Sarawakians need to wake up from their trance-like state induced by Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) and their links with the peninsula where the Federal Government has refused to comply with the Malaysia Agreement 1963.”

While extending greetings on the Golden Anniversary joy for Singapore, he can’t at the same time resist pointing out that the city state abandoned Sabah and Sarawak which facilitated its merger with Malaya through their Federation with the peninsula and the island. “Otherwise, multiracial Malaya refused to have Chinese-majority Singapore merge with it.”

“What might be the status of Sabah and Sarawak today had the two Borneo nations left the Federation in 1965 at the same time as Singapore?” asked Jeffrey on the road not taken. “Just as Lee Kuan Yew fought hard to persuade Sabah and Sarawak leaders to agree to Federation in 1963, Singapore should have fought equally hard for the two Borneo nations to leave the Federation at the same time as it left.”

Moving forward, said Jeffrey, it was clear that Sabah and Sarawak could no longer rely on Umno and Malaya and pointed out that Singapore’s success illustrated Malaysia’s failure. “If Singapore can do it, and Brunei can do well on its own by keeping out of the Federation at the 11th hour, Sabah and Sarawak can also do well if they stand on their own two feet.”

“The Singapore economy in GDP terms is larger than that of Malaysia, the currency almost RM3 to S$1, and it has the world’s third highest per capita income. All these were achieved in a tiny land area, without water or natural resources and without Umno and BN.”

The only thing going for Singapore was its strategic location, human resources, and its commitment to the brightest and best leading the way for all, added Jeffrey. “Sarawak today is better off than Sabah because it has no Umno.”

Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/08/10/jeffrey-spore-abandoned-sabah-and-sarawak/

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Black Sunday 2.0

KOTA KINABALU, 10 Ogos 2015: Satu program aman yang bertemakan Black Sunday 2.0 telah dilakukan oleh Pemuda SAPP bagi tujuan kesedaran awal tentang Hari Kemerdekaan Sabah di Gaya Street pada hari Ahad.

Program ini memfokuskan kepada penyebaran kebenaran sejarah yang selama ini tidak diketahui oleh orang ramai khususnya bangsa Sabah.

Dengan berbekalkan bendera lama kerajaan Sabah yang dikibarkan pada tahun 1963 sehingga tahun 1982, poster yang berlakarkan gambar wajah Ketua Menteri Sabah yang Pertama, Tun Fuad Stephens dan Yang Di-Pertua Negara Sabah, Tun Mustapha telah digunakan untuk tujuan program kesedaran ini.

Menurut En.Dexter Chin yang merupakan setiausaha Penganjur Exco Pemuda SAPP, beliau mengatakan bahawa adalah sangat penting bagi orang ramai untuk memperingati sejarah bahawa Sabah adalah berstatus negara pada 31 Ogos 1963 sebelum membentuk Persekutuan Malaysia pada 16 September 1963.

Pembentukkan Persekutuan Malaysia adalah berdasarkan kepada konsep Rakan Kongsi Empat Negara yang terdiri daripada Negara Sabah (dahulu dikenali sebagai North Borneo), Negara Sarawak, Negara Singapura dan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Malaya). Namun, pada 9 Ogos 1965, Singapura telah keluar daripada Persekutuan dan meninggalkan dua negara Borneo ini bersendirian dengan Malaya. Lantas itu, konsep Persekutuan telah diubah dengan penurunan status Sabah sebagai sebuah negara dan rakan kongsi telah diturunkan oleh Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia pada 27 Ogos 1976.

Beliau mengulas dengan lebih lanjut lagi dengan menambahkan bahawa apapun yang telah terjadi, Sabah dan Sarawak masih mempunyai kuasa autonomi dalam mengendalikan hal-ehwal kerajaan tempatan. Semuanya in telah termaktub didalam Perjanjian Malaysia dan ia mesti dihormati oleh kerajaan persekutuan. Autonomi penuh perlu diberikan kepada Sabah agar kelancaran didalam pentadbiran dapat dicapai bagi kepentingan kerajaan tempatan dan rakyat Sabah.

Kenyataan Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi yang merupakan Menteri Kementerian Dalam Negeri (kini Timbalan Perdana Menteri) tentang larangannya kepada rakyat Sabah untuk tidak mempersoalkan isu pendatang asing merupakan satu penghinaan kepada rakyat Sabah. Ini kerana kuasa imigresen sebenarnya merupakan kuasa kerajaan Sabah dan ia telah termaktub didalam 20 Perkara. Selain Imigresen, kuasa mengurus Pendidikan dan Ekonomi Sabah juga adalah antara kuasa yang dimiliki oleh Kerajaan Sabah. Namun, kesemua ini tidak dihormati oleh kerajaan persekutuan, tegas En.Dexter Chin.

Justeru, adalah sangat penting untuk setiap rakyat Sabah untuk bersama-sama berjuang untuk menuntut hak Sabah seperti yang telah termaktub didalam Perjanjian Malaysia.

Sepanjang program dijalankan, terdapat sedikit kekecohan dan ketegangan yang telah berlaku. Pihak polis telah mengganggu program tersebut dan ingin merampas bendera Sabah yang dipegang oleh peserta program sehinggakan peserta program tersebut jatuh kerana ditolak oleh pihak polis dengan kasar.

Salah seorang peserta program telah membawa dan mengibarkan bendera Sarawak yang telah dikibarkan pada tahun 1963 sehingga tahun 1973.

Seramai 30 orang peserta telah menjayakan program aman dan dua NGO telah memberikan sokongan kepada program tersebut. NGO yang terlibat ialah Sabah Solidariti dan Sabah Sarawak Union - United Kingdom (SSU-UK).

Turut hadir bersama dalam program tersebut adalah Ketua Pemuda Exco SAPP Jamain Shamarudin, Naib Ketua Pemuda SAPP Stephan Gaimin, Naib Ketua Pemuda SAPP Yong Yit Yoong.

Source: Bobohizan Press

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The Proclamation of Singapore as Independence Country in 1965

The Proclamation of Singapore that announced Singapore's separation from Malaysia on 9 August 1965 was drafted by Mr E W Barker, then Minister for Law. He was also responsible for drafting two other related documents, namely: an Amendment relating to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia as an independent and sovereign state, and an Act to amend the Constitution of Malaysia and the Malaysia Act to give Singapore independence.

PM Lee Kuan Yew entrusted Mr E W Barker with the job of drafting the documents in mid-July 1965 after he received news that the Federal Cabinet had agreed with Tunku Abdul Rahman that Singapore should separate from Malaysia. After several rounds of negotiations between the Singapore government represented by Mr Lee and Dr Goh Keng Swee, Minister of Finance, and the Malaysian government represented by Tunku, Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Ismail bin Dato Abdul Rahman, Home Affairs Minister and Tun Tan Siew Sin, Finance Minister, the abovementioned documents were eventually finalised on 7 August.

"Every time I look at these Agreements, I'm happy, I have a sense of pride, having contributed to a major change - the separation of Singapore from Malaysia. I was able to draft these documents then in a short time because I had just left the Bar, in fact, nine months before that. I had been in practice for 14 years and had a lot of experience. Hence, I was able to do it." 

Extract of oral history interview with Mr E W Barker, 1982.

Information extracted from the oral history interview of Mr E W Barker, Accession No: 000193

Proclamation of Singapore that Mr E W Barker 

drafted was signed by Mr Lee on 9 August 1965. 

1. Lee Kuan Yew, The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore: Times Editions Pte Ltd and Singapore Press Holdings, 1998), pp. 631-632.
   
   
2. Leslie Fong, "The Week Before Separation", in Singapore 25 Years: A Straits Times Special, National Day, 9 Aug 1990, ed. Leslie Fong (Singapore: Straits Times Press, 1990), pp. 5-10 and Lee, The Singapore Story, pp. 628-647.

Source: http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/article/proclamation-of-singapore

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