What had Dato Sri Fadillah Yusuf done so far concerning the implementation of the terms and conditions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963(MA63) despite the fact the orders had been given by the honourable prime minster Dato Sri Anwar Ibrahim to him in this task? The prime minister had given him one month to fulfill all terms and conditions therein but things had not been moving well to the expectation of the people. Sabahan and Sarawakians have a right to demand a report from him of actions taken by him.

The first thing Dato Sri Fadillah Yusuf needs to do is to determine the validity and properity or otherwise the MA63. This is not difficult to do because the Sarawak government had sometime ago sent a team of legal experts to London to look into this matter. If not valid or Malaysia was improperly formed, then take the courage to tell the honourable prime minister so and that Malaysia has to be dissolved. If MA63 was validly made by the parties and Malaysia was properly formed, then, just implement it.

I hope Dato Sri Fadillah Yusuf will respond to this call.

From what I gathered, one of the areas that Sarawakians are looking forward is to see government officers from Malaya who are in Sarawak be sent back to Malaya and be replaced by Sarawakians. Sarawakians who currently are serving in Malaya and in Sabah needs to be called back to serve Sarawak. This will give opportunities to Sarawakians to take all top posts in the civil service in Sarawak. We believe we have many brilliant Sarawakians who can take top posts in civil service in Sarawak and there is no need for “import” from Malaya. They should be called back so that they could be near to their families. Further, being locals they know the local conditions and customs better than officers from Malaya and this will make locals more comfortable when dealing with them on official matters.

The call for Borneonisation of the Sarawak civil service is not a new issue and it had been raised countless times for many years. It is also not difficult to implement as this could be done with a stroke of a pen only. According to the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili a Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Special Council had been established and the proposal on the implementation of Borneonisation had been tabled in its working committee, namely the Socio-Economic Committee (JKSE) on Feb 18, 2022 – please see Borneo Post Online MARCH 24, 2022, THURSDAY AT 3:23 PM.

What more to wait and to discuss?

Be it known, it was the intention of our leaders before the formation of Malaysia that the civil service be filled by Sarawakians, not by expatriates or Malayans. Many Malayans who are serving in Sarawak are also eager to go back to Malaya. May Dato Sri Fadillah Yusuf look into this because many Sarawakians who are in Malaya are eager to come back to Sarawak.

VOON LEE SHAN
President, Parti Bumi Kenyalang