Three sovereign states form Malaysia — Penguang
MIRI: Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA 63) and the InterGovernmental Committee ( IGC) report documents set up the terms and conditions in which three sovereign states have agreed to form the Federation of Malaysia.
The three sovereign states have agreed to form the Federation of Malaysia with an understanding that there are guarantees in the Federal Constitution to protect their respective rights and privileges. Singapore, which also signed, later left the federation.
Assistant Minister of Local Government and Marudi assemblyman Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil said he had participated in the debate on MA 63 in the last DUN sitting and had the opportunity to examine some of the relevant documents including MA63 and the IGC report.
“These documents form the very foundation for the formation of our beloved nation, which we call today Malaysia and which is made up of the Sovereign States of the Federation of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
He joined his colleagues in expressing their disagreement and displeasure on the comments made by Dewan Rakyat Speaker and his offer to debate on MA 63 with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“I am equally amazed as such a comment comes from a Sabahan, where Sabah is a party to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 together with Sarawak and Federation of Malaya,” he said.
He pointed out some of the rights and privileges include Article 161 B which states that non- Sabahan and Sarawakian lawyers do not have the right to practise in Sabah and Sarawak courts; Article 161 (1) & (2) stipulates that Sabah and Sarawak still have the right to use English in the state legislative assembly and court proceedings.
Article 152, he added, is about reservation of quota in respect of services, permits, scholarships and others for natives of Sabah and Sarawak.
“Some of the rights and privileges have been slowly eroded over the years, either intentionally or otherwise, and one glaring example is the enactment of the Continental Shelf Act (CSA) 1966 and the Petroleum Development Act ( PDA) 1974,” he said.
The sea borders of Sarawak and Sabah were reduced from 19.3km to 4.8km, while the PDA 1974 had vested all exploration and exportations of petroleum, onshore and offshore, to Petronas, eventhough the rights to mining is under list Two of the ninth schedule. Penguang stressed that like any other international treaty, MA 63 cannot be amended or abrogated by any party unilaterally, and the signatories to this treaty were Federation of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and the United Kingdom.
“The offer by Pandikar Amin to debate on MA63 is not necessary at all as such debate will not benefit any party,” he said.
Penguang said that as a Sabahan, Pandikar should support the move by the Sarawak Chief Minister to restore these rights and privileges.
“Our Right Honourable Chief Minister is not demanding, nor trying to negotiate for anything more than those enshrined in MA 63, but merely asking that those eroded rights and privileges over the years to be given back to Sarawak and Sabah,” he said.