Yong: MyKad taking away Sabahans' identity

By Queville To - Free Malaysia Today,

KINARUT: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) plans to issue Sabah Identity Cards to all Sabahans, should it come into power in the next election, in a move to stop the erosion of Sabahans' unique identity.
Party president, Yong Teck Lee, said this is crucial because many Sabahans are fast losing their identity and ties to the state.
He cited cases of children whose parents are Sabahans but who are born in other states and thus would no longer have the all-important “12” (code for Sabah) on their MyKads.
“For example, the MyKads of children born in Kuala Lumpur would have the number '01' to signify they are non-Sabahans.
“This would pose problems at the immigration counter for these people as they are not considered Sabahans according to their MyKads and thus have no right to reside in Sabah.
"This raises the question of whether they will have to use passports to enter Sabah in future, even if both the parents are Kadazans," said Yong.
He said SAPP, if it takes over the reins of power, wants to issue Sabah ICs, given that thousands of Sabahans are venturing out of the state to work.
Yong was speaking at the Tadau Kaamatan (harvest festival) celebration in Kampung Labak here over the weekend.
Past glory
Meanwhile, SAPP also wants the status of the Sabah Native Court to be returned to its past glory.
Yong concurred with Sepanggar MP Eric Majimbun who, during his speech at the same function, regretted that the status and power of the Native Court had eroded and was no longer respected.
“In the past, OKK (Orang Kaya Kaya, the title of a native chief) was even more highly regarded than a YB (elected representative), but now they are facing challenges due to the lack of resources and the existence of the Civil Court and Syariah Court,” said Majimbun, who is also SAPP deputy president.
Yong said the state government should raise the profile of the Native Court instead of letting this once important institution slowly vanish.
“The cultural values of the KDMs (Kadazan, Dusuns and Muruts) and other Sabah natives are being jeopardised,” he warned.
Yong said the government should encourage the publication of more books documenting these values and give due recognition to the authors promoting the tradition and culture of Sabah natives.
He added that works like those by former civil servant Amde Sidek documenting his Kedayan culture had gone unnoticed by the government.
The work of authors like Roziah Uji Rozalie (Dusun Riddles of Sabah), Dr Danny Wong and GC Wooley (Murut Timugon of Sabah), Irenena Obon (Sama Horsemen) and others should be given due recognition and support.
“For SAPP, the efforts of these writers must be recognised to encourage them to write more and complete the documentation of our culture... if not, we will lose our sense of identity as Sabahans and sense of belonging to Sabah,” he said.
Yong added that the on-going Kaamatan celebration in Sabah was similar to the other major festivals like Deepavali, Chinese New Year and Hari Raya.
All these festivals, he said, shared a common theme: overcoming hardship through sacrifice and the triumph of good over evil.