September 16 is Malaysia Day and now a National Holiday

The Prime Minister today announced that 16th of September will be a national holiday. In fact in Sabah and Sarawak, it had been a holiday for a long time.

This is a long-overdue recognition of Malaysia Day which is a commemoration of the birth of our beloved nation on the 16 September 1963. The decision by the Government goes a long way to putting right what I have always called a distortion of history.

The announcement is also a significant contribution to the Prime Minister’s passion for a 1 Malaysia where Malaysians from all walks of life, ethnic geographical origin, religious belief, etc can feel that they indeed have a place under the Malaysian sun.

It is time also to remember the founding fathers of this nation. Tun Fuad Stephens, the President of the then UPKO, announced the Declaration of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 in Jesselton as Kota Kinabalu was then known.

He had prior to this declaration, chaired the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) which had in its membership leaders from Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. The IGC was the forum for the discussion of the terms and conditions for the formation of the new nation to be named Malaysia.

UPKO today wishes to restate that its guiding philosophy is the pursuit of the aspirations upon which this nation was formed. The Malaysia Agreement of 1963 and the consequential Federal Constitution contain the wishes of the people of Sabah expressed through various fora including the Twenty Points.

Let us today also remember our founding fathers, to name but a few, Tun Fuad Stephens, Datu Mustapha, Temenggong Jugah, Stephen Kalong Ningkan, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak etc.

Malaysia Day

It has been a month after the 46th anniversary of our nation, Malaysia. But I think it is not too late yet to wish all Malaysians a Happy Malaysia Day. Afterall more and more of us now are greeting each other “Salam 1 Malaysia”.

The Momogun Society of Malaysia, an organisation set up by Sabahans in Kuala Lumpur will be having their Malaysia Day celebration this Saturday, October 17th. I would like to congratulate them for organising such a gathering to celebrate the birth of our nation. I am happy to see that Sabahans in Kuala Lumpur are playing their role in making Malaysia Day an event to be remembered and celebrated.

My stand on the issue of Malaysia Day is public knowledge. I have talked and made statements about it several times before, including last month when journalists asked me again.

It is historical fact that The Federation of Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 when the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah mutually agreed to become a new nation.

Malaysia, therefore, is only 46 years old. The 52 years of independence is only for the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu or better known today as Semenanjung.

Some have tried to equate our position to that of the United States of America. They argue that although other states like Hawaii joined much later, the country dates its formation as 4th July 1776. Ours is of course very different because before 1963 there was no Malaysia yet. There was only the Federation of Malaya and this federation together with Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah negotiated to set up a new country called Malaysia.

While we are happy to celebrate with Semenanjung their independence from colonial rule on 31st August 1963, I am sure all of you will agree that it is indeed right and proper that all Malaysians celebrate this year 46 years of nationhood.

We cannot distort history. Some national leaders seem to give the impression that Malaysia was born on August 31st, 1957. The level of awareness among Malaysians in Semenanjung on the formation of Malaysia is lower than those in Sabah and Sarawak, so much so they believe Malaya or Semenanjung is Malaysia.

History is fact. We are proud of our country. That is why we do not want history to be distorted. We want all young Malaysians to learn their history and be proud of it.

I am, and we in Upko are supportive of any move to declare 16th September as a national holiday. We have been proposing the idea to the Federal Government and we will continue pursuing for it.

Konvensyen Upko Peringkat Bahagian

Tabi pisompuruan kumaa toinsanan.

Upko, parti kita yang tercinta ini kini menjangkau usia penubuhan 15 tahun. Sepanjang tempoh ini, kita menjulang obor perjuangan rakyat ke tahap tertinggi. Usaha kita ini termasuklah menyuarakan isu-isu yang menjadi keprihatinan utama rakyat seperti peluang ekonomi, penyertaan dalam perkhidmatan awam, pendidikan, biasiswa, pembangunan tanah, kebebasan beragama, kemajuan pekebun kecil dan janaan pembangunan daripada sumber minyak negara.

Tahun ini juga menyaksikan perlantikan YAB Dato’ Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-enam. Beliau telah memperkenalkan falsafah kepimpinan, iaitu “Satu Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan” yang berasaskan kepada prinsip saling menghormati dan mempercayai sesama kaum. Falsafah ini juga mengiktiraf dan menghargai sumbangan setiap kaum di dalam proses pembangunan negara Bangsa Malaysia.

Sesungguhnya, perjuangan kita selama ini amat bertepatan dengan halatuju falsafah ini. Kita akan terus menjadi wadah perjuangan isu-isu rakyat, lebih-lebih kini kita mempunyai Bahagian di Perak, Selangor dan Johor serta menarik sokongan keahlian daripada pelbagai kaum di negara ini.

Kita komited kepada Barisan Nasional, naluri kita sangat jelas. Kita berkerja untuk Barisan Nasional walau dalam keadaan sukar sekalipun. Kita sanggup kalah dalam pilihanraya kerana mempertahankan sesuatu yang betul, tapi kita tidak akan menjadi boneka orang lain.

Justeru, saya menyeru kepada ahli-ahli parti untuk terus berjuang berasaskan kepada integriti dan niat yang betul. Saya percaya, kepimpinan berorientasikan prinsip ini akan terus menjana sokongan rakyat kepada Upko. Mari kita terus berjuang!

Selamat bersidang, kounsikou.