Sultanate of Sulu: Pawn or legacy?

Malaysia has responded with troops and fighter jets to an ancient and deadly claim to a remote corner of Borneo. It marked a dramatic conclusion to a bizarre three-week siege that appeared to catch the governments of the Philippines and Malaysia off guard. "Part of the reason [for the lack of information] is that they [the Filipinos] do not want any information to leak out. As you know the Filipinos are relaying reports of what is happening on the ground to television stations in Manila, so I think they are trying to keep a tactical advantage by keeping quiet." - James Chinn, Monash University A group of Filipino rebels pitched up in a seaside village on the island of Borneo, and asserted their ancestral ownership rights to the territory. The self-proclaimed Royal Army of Sulu are from the remote Philippine island province of Sulu. They made the short journey by boat to Borneo Island in February, landing in Lahad Datu in Sabah state.

UN Needed for Complete Solution to Sabah's Problems

KOTA KINABALU: Now that the situation in Sabah has attracted the attention of the United Nations (UN) whose Secretary-General has urged the Malaysian government to find an amicable solution, the Government should take the opportunity to invite the UN to facilitate a total and complete solution of the Sabah issue,” said Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

The STAR Sabah Chief said the internal security problems and international issues facing Sabah including the claim on Sabah by the Philippines or Sulu which had culminated into the Lahad Datu bloodbath require a long-term diplomatic and political solution, not a military one.
 

Waking up from slumber in Sabah, Sarawak

By Joe Fernandez

In the Bible, Matthew 13:10-17, it's stated that Jesus said: “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

In 1963, Malaya had a lot. Yet, more was given to them when Sabah and Sarawak were taken away from the people, the Orang Asal in particular.

Even the little that the people of Sabah and Sarawak had was taken away from them, “because while seeing they do not see and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”Matthew 13:10-17

Sabah – jinxed for all time?

The invasion is yet another unwelcome incident pointing
to the federal government's myopic view and disregard
of Sabah’s original ethnic fabric.

By Luke Rintod of FMT

PENAMPANG: There is a troubling question foremost in the minds of Sabahans these days – did it have to be this way?

Many believe that all the unpleasant things happening to Sabah would not have happened if the state had been allowed to remain a sovereign state within the Federation of Malaysia.

Veteran political activist, Fredoline Edwin Lojingki, 72, said the latest in a long line of unwelcome incidents – the intrusion of armed Sulu extremists in Lahad Datu – pointed to the federal government’s myopic view and disregard of the original ethnic fabric in Sabah.

They’re terrorists, not intruders, says Musa

Sabah’s Musa Aman upped the ante when he
barred the use of the term 'Sulu Sultan' in all
media and securities forces references.

KOTA KINABALU: The brief notice to all parties concerned read: “Use the term ‘terrorist’ instead of ‘intruder’; Don’t use the term ‘sultan’ as if we recognise the fact.”

The notice from Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s office clearly announced that terrorism had reared its ugly head in Sabah.

In a bid to thoroughly discredit the armed group of Filipinos who daringly took over a small, remote village in Lahad Datu on the east coast of the state and are still fighting Malaysian security forces, Sabah Barisan Nasional government yesterday formally declared the attack as an act of terrorism.