Lo said said Malaysia was formed following the merger of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak on Sept 16, 1963.
KUCHING (June 16): Batu Kitang assemblyman Datuk Lo Khere Chiang expressed disappointment with Pasir Gudang MP Hasaan Abdul Karim, who claimed that Sarawak is challenging the federal government.
“We are not. I support my Sarawakian colleagues, Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali and Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman, who have clearly explained that we are not challenging the federal government; rather we are kindly asking that the federal government recognise, respect and give us back what has been denied to us all these years,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Lo recalled that Pakatan Harapan leaders, during the Sarawak state election in 2016, stated clearly before the election that the existence of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) must be respected and recognised.
“It has only been nine years since and Hassan from the Peninsular, like his counterparts from the federal government has failed to recognise all these which are stated under MA63. He has also conveniently forgotten to mention that MA63, as an international treaty signed at the United Nations, cannot be erased nor amended,” he said.
Lo reminded Malaysians in the Peninsular that “Sarawak has the oldest legislature in Malaysia and it was established in 1867 headed by Rajah Charles Brooke.”
According to him, the first oil well discovered in Sarawak was already producing 83 barrels of oil a day in 1910.
He said Dubai, one of the richest oil producing countries in the world, only discovered and started producing oil in 1966.
He said Malaysia was formed following the merger of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak on Sept 16, 1963.
“The Sarawak Land Code has its beginnings as far back as 1841. This law came into force in 1958 and is recognised in the federal constitution as pointed out by our law minister Sharifah Hasidah in a press statement a few days ago.
“Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia said the reason why Sarawak should form Malaysia with Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and the federated states of Malaya was because everything that we can see in West Malaysia, Sarawak will have as well but it was not to be 60 years down the road,” he said.
Lo pointed out that over the last 60 years, the revenue plundered from Sarawak had been used to develop Peninsular Malaysia, thus leaving the two Borneo states far behind in terms of development although together, Sabah and Sarawak contribute 60 per cent of the country’s oil and gas.
He stressed both states had pumped billions of ringgit over the past 63 years into the country’s coffers but today a long drawn out feasibility study is still ongoing when Sarawak asked the federal government to consider building the one and only railway line as an affordable means of public transportation in the state.
Peninsular Malaysians have been enjoying railway lines running up and down their coasts for decades with more being built every year, he said.
“An agreement signed by all parties at the United Nations is meant to be kept and the population in Sarawak is now far from naive. Our younger generations are beginning to ask why we can’t have this or that as stated in MA63.
“This is to their credit because it shows they are reading, thinking, asking good questions and are aware of what is happening around them. We owe it to our youngsters to present facts and the undiluted truth about PDA74 (Petroleum Development Act 1974) and TSA2012 (Territorial Sea Act 2012) and the important role MA63 plays in the history of our country and of Sarawak,” he added.
Lo said if a self-professed teacher in Peninsular Malaysia could spread falsehoods that the Chief Minister at the time, Tunku Abdul Rahman Yakub, was the chief proposer of giving the federal government 95 per cent of the state’s oil revenues, it was high time that all of Malaysia learn the truth about how the PDA came about.
He added: “All Anak Sarawak should also be told the truth about the Territorial Sea Act 2012 and how Sarawak’s rights have been violated by constitutional amendments without our say in it. If our youngsters today are not educated about all these, who will continue our fight for Sarawak’s rights long after we are gone?”
