NOT AFRAID OF ISLAM

Not afraid of Islam, just its self-appointed guardians - Malaysia Kini: http://m.malaysiakini.com/news/226950 Shared via Malaysia News for Android.

STAR Reform Party is Legal?

Pakatan Rakyat is urging Sabah State Reform Party (Star) to produce the black and white to clarify its status to the public. Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) Keningau Chairman, Paul Kadau said this was crucial considering the fact that many Sabahans have fallen under Sabah Star Chief, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan's influence.

"As we know this issue was highlighted by the local papers today and we are very concernd that the people of Sabah may end up further confused by Jeffrey, who is still struggling to prove the legitimacy of the party he is leading," he said.

According to Kadau, Jeffrey must come forward with a valid certificate from the Registrar Of Society (ROS) about Sabah Star's formation for the sake of the people of Sabah who have put their hopes and trust in him.

Kadau was speaking to reporters in a press conference held at the Keningau Pakatan Rakyat office, here, Saturday.

Meanwhile, the present situation between opposition parties, Pakatan Rakyat and Star Sabah should not be a reason for the KDM community to bicker among themselves.

Another APS leader here, Onggato Binandong, said supporters of Sabah Star should not be offended when PR lashed out against the leadership of Sabah Star on various issues, including the recent talk on the issue of politik cari makan.

Instead, he urged all Sabah Star supporters to switch their allegiance to PR, a more stable coalition, which stresses more on unity rather than discord within the KDM people here.

DAP Liawan spokesperson, Lawrence Y Mogidau also suggested that Jeffrey himself disband Sabah Star and return to PR to fight against Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno.

This is because, according to Pertubuhan Pakatan Perubahan Sabah (PPPS) Bingkor Chief, Julian Lian, Sabah Star's endeavour to fight against PR is only giving BN the advantage.

"It has been the game of BN to divide the people of Sabah by letting us fight among one another.

This situation is true even when we look at BN's KDM components today.

"Towards this end, we, the people of Sabah especially in the opposition should unite under one concentrated force to defeat BN and Umno," he said.

Also present at the press conference were Deputy Chairman of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Council of Elders, Robert Linggi, APS Bingkor Chief, Victor Leonardus, Liawan APS representative, Jason Johnny and others.

Star: Jeffrey 'cari makan' for people unlike Bumburing

Politicians "cari makan" (make a living) from politics, while, some for personal gains others, do the job for the people, said the State Reform Party (Sabah Star).

Deputy Chairman, Dr Nicholas Guntobon in response to Keningau Sabah Reform Movement (APS) Chairman, Paul Kadau, said while the party's chairman, Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, is "cari makan" for the people, the non-governmental organisation's leader, Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, is doing it for personal gain.

He claimed Bumburing had done so by colluding with Peninsular Malaysian leaders, as Jeffrey was promoting the State's rights and autonomy.

"Dr Jeffrey dared to stand for the interest of Sabahans and is independent of parties from outside Sabah. Jeffrey had done so using ideas that had never been introduced in local politics," Dr Guntobon said, on Thursday.

He said Dr Jeffrey's ideas are so revolutionary that the APS copied Star's "Ini Kalilah" slogan and initially used its powerpoint presentations, for which they said, " Ini Dr Jeffrey bilang" (this is what Dr Jeffrey has said).

"Does Bumburing believe in fighting for real Sabahans rights? If he does, how will he do it under Parti Keadilan, which stood by the Malayan Agenda of subtle colonialism?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Dr Guntobon also took exception with APS comments that Star has been attacking them, which he said was actually the other way around. He illustrated: " While APS was campaigning it faced problems penetrating a lot of areas because Star had already established itself in such places."

He revealed APS had to attack the party, thinking that Star was a rival it needs to eliminate before attacking the Barisan Nasional. "Eventually, Star responded. And now Bumburing has the temerity to tell Star to focus attacks on Barisan Nasional," he said. He deemed the move as pathetic, as APS had to resort to create nonsensical attacks against Jeffrey, for the sake of winning arguments.

He said Dr Jeffrey had been accused of indulging in "Aramaitii", something which Bumburing could identify with better, while ignoring Jeffrey's arguments. "They know Jeffrey had never disloyal to all the parties he had been in. Rather the leaders from the parties were afraid of Jeffrey's abilities, hence, betrayed him, until he had to leave the parties.This is clearly shown while he was in Keadilan," Dr Guntobon said.

Jeffrey claims Pairin is suffering from memory loss.

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) President Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan is resorting to making up stories and mogunsamang (talking nonsense) to try to retain his support among voters in Keningau and Tambunan, according to his brother, Star Sabah Chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

In a statement, Saturday, Jeffrey said Pairin was also trying hard to curry more favour with his BN bosses.

He was responding to Pairin's accusation that "my own brother (Dr Jeffrey) took his friends from Yayasan Sabah with him and as a result we lost the Kadazandusun people there."

"I am shocked that my brother's memory is already failing him," said Jeffrey.

"He has already forgotten that I was dismissed from my post as Yayasan Sabah Director after the Umno/BN government wrested away power from PBS in 1994."

"And he should also know that I was about to sue the government for wrongful dismissal, but they decided to avert a trial and paid me an out-of-court settlement," he added.

"Under such circumstances, how was I to take away my friends, and where would I take them to?"

He also reminded Pairin that the reason there are no Kadazandusuns in senior positions in Yayasan Sabah today is because the State BN Government decided to radically reduce the number of employees in Yayasan Sabah in 2001 or 2002 by offering them VSS packages.

"And most of those affected were Kadazandusun officers," Jeffrey said, adding, "so how on earth did Pairin come up with the silly idea that I was the cause of them leaving Yayasan?"

Jeffrey also regretted that in a speech in Tambunan on Friday night, Pairin questioned why the people were supporting the opposition when the Government is busy giving away gifts to the people in the form of gravity water, balairaya and others.

"Is Pairin saying that after 49 years of independence, BN is only able to give gravity water and balairayas?" he asked.

"Why not give something more substantial like piped water, roads for the villages, and economic programmes to make them financially self-reliant?

"It is exactly because of this lethargy of the Government that is causing the people to look for change, and they see this opportunity in the opposition parties which have more innovative ideas."

He said what the government should be doing is kick-starting the economy of the people in the Interior and the State, instead of continuing to do the same things which have made the State the poorest in the country.

"Pairin is so proud of the formation of the RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiriy on Illegal Immigrants) and claims that PBS is still speaking up for the people's rights," he said.

"But Pairin is now spending most of his time praising the BN leadership and no longer speaking for the people.

"And the RCI is not even moving, and it is obvious it was announced to shut the people up about the urgency of solving the problem of illegal immigrants."

Malaysian Agreement

State Reform Party (Star), on Monday called on all Sabahans to commemorate the day of the signing of the Malaysian Agreement in London on July 9, forty nine years ago.

It also called on the Government, especially the Prime Minister, to honour the original contents of the deal and at the same time for Sabahans to realise the importance of the day, which involved Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore, Federation of Malaya and the British Government, agreeing to form Malaysia.

The people also need to know of the things that happened between the date of the signing until the announcement on Sept. 16, the party said.

"Commemoration of this day is line with the struggle of Star which is according to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement. We call upon the government to return our rights as stated in the 1963 agreement," said Star Deputy Chairman, Awg Ahmad Shah at the party's office in Kepayan.

He said the government needs to make sure that all the rights are given back to Sabah as a sovereign country, which together with Sarawak and Singapore formed Malaysia with the Federation of Malaya.

Awg Ahmad said it is not part of the spirit of the agreement that Sabah and Sarawak become states under the Federation.

The party also questioned whether Malaysia today is what was according to what was sealed in the Malaysian Agreement. Member Datuk James Ligunjang, meanwhile, said July 9 is a day Malaysia was born and its a day that should be celebrated nationwide.

"I think in Sabah and Sarawak we should take offence that the birth of Malaysia is Aug 31, 1957 É the national day now is celebrated on a national scale based on the same timeline.

"This is a deliberated distortion of national history.

We cannot allow this distortion and should be sincere towards the commission of this country," he said.

He said what Sabahans want is the rights of Sabahans honoured by all parties.

He also said all the distortions should be noted to keep the country in better perspective and for the next generation to understand.

"Any deliberate distortion of history will cause dissatisfaction and will not be very good for the future of the country," he said.

He said every Malaysian should have a fair share of their resources and to do business in their own country according to what was inked by the signatory.

He also stressed that the agreement should not be distorted but honored according to its original agreement.

Among those present at the commemoration was Deputy Chairman, Daniel John Jambun, Guandee Kohoi, Melanie Annol, Dr Anthony Tibok, Morris Miji, Datuk Patrick Sindu, Bernard Solibun, Roseline Dion, Juliana Siton and others.

Daily Express.