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.

Kiram’s people talk ‘disengagement’

MANILA: More than a week after violence broke out in Sabah between followers of the Sulu sultanate and Malaysian security forces, a brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III today met with Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to discuss “disengagement”.

Roxas and Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, Jamalul III’s younger brother, met for almost two hours behind closed doors in Camp Crame.

Explain Authority & Implications of Establishing Special Security Area and What Rules

While we appreciate the need for the Special Security Area (SSA) from Kudat to Tawau in view of the Sulu Invasion, the PM should also clearly explainand define the terms of reference of the SSA so that the citizens can understand how it works and how it affects their everyday lives” said Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief.

“Does the PM have the authority to declare Kudat to Tawau as a “Special Security Area”?  If so, under what authority?”

800,000 Filipinos may be sent home

Those who became Malaysian citizens under
Project IC will be the most affected.

MANILA: The majority, if not all, of the 800,000 Filipinos based in Sabah may be sent back to the Philippines on the premise that they had acquired their Malaysian citizenship illegally over the past 20 years under a controversial systematic granting of citizenship to foreigners dubbed Project IC (identity cards).

Project IC, which is blamed on former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad, was said to be among the factors that led followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to “invade” Sabah in February. Most of the Filipinos who benefited from the project in the past are Tausugs from the nearby islands of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.