YOURSAY 'Why is Mahathir not supporting the real citizens of the country born and living in this country - the estate Indians?'

Mahathir justifies Sabah population boom

Joe Fernandez: Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statements are a distortion of the truth. Anyone can become a citizen of Malaysia provided they meet the requirements in the federal constitution.

Living for a long time in Sabah and being able to speak Malay however will not make one eligible for citizenship if one entered the state without valid travel papers. An entry permit is a must to stay in the country legally, and one must secure work permits and eventually temporary residence, permanent residence and citizenship.

The issue in Sabah is illegal immigrants getting local birth certificates stating that they were born in the state. By this device, they are allowed to secure MyKads meant for citizens by operation of law.

The rise in the population in Sabah is politically motivated as evident from a glance at the electoral rolls. It's difficult to see how the RCI (royal commission of inquiry) will deal with the truth.

If Pakatan Rakyat takes over Putrajaya with the help of local parties in Sabah, Mahathir will be counting the bars in his old age.

Mushiro: Is this Mahathir's admission to his Project IC? Genuine people were not given citizenship even after years of waiting. Many highly qualified spouses of Malaysians were also not given citizenship.

Yet just in Sabah there was a very high and sudden increase in citizenship given mainly to Indonesians and Filipinos just before an election.

It is not true that they can speak fluent Bahasa Malaysia, as if Mahathir really interviewed them. The reason is for Umno to win the elections there. And whoever masterminded this is the highest traitor to the country.

Starr: In the context of the Malaysia Agreement, immigration into Sabah comes under the purview of the state government. Any granting of citizenship to illegal immigrants residing in Sabah must be done in concurrence with the state government. If not, it has clearly infringed and violated state rights under the agreement.

Besides, why such a heavy concentration (of legalising illegals) in Sabah alone and not in other states? Clearly, there are hidden agenda. Further, did the federal government take into account of the serious impact of this policy on the state's social, economic and political landscapes?

Given the size and number of illegal immigrants being granted citizenship in Sabah alone, Mahathir's defence cannot be justified, not to the extent of the quadruple increases in population of Sabah.

Yesterday was Singapore's national day and it was a timely reminder for all 'genuine' Sabahans whether Sabah should have opted and parted along with Singapore in 1965.

Forty-seven years on, Sabahans should and ought to realise now what a rotten deal it was to participate in the federation. By a stroke of Mahathir's pen, the Borneo state of Sabah has changed beyond recognition for good.

Why do the KDM (Kadazan Dusun Murut) leaders still find it expedient to remain in Umno-BN while their leaders like Mahathir clearly have acted against the state's interest?

Let's forget about the RCI - that wouldn't do the trick. Only political change would bring Sabah back to its former days.

ONG: "If we don't want our politics to be race-based, then we must forget our racial origins, speak the national language as our mother tongue and swear allegiance only to this country," Mahathir said.

Our Baba-Nyonya community used to follow what Mahathir suggests and more. In fact, many of them could not even speak Chinese, the language of their ancestors. Still, they were considered as 'pendatangs'.

Now it is difficult to find the new generation Baba-Nyonya who speaks only Malay and does not speak Chinese. Mahathir should have included 'masuk Islam' as one more condition for national integration.

Calvert Yap: I know a Chinese friend who has been living illegally in Malaysia for eight years and he speaks better Malay than I do now. Is it a ‘go' for me to bring him in to get his IC?

Ferdtan: Why is Mahathir not supporting the real citizens of the country born and living in this country - the estate Indians?

There are many thousands of these stateless due to the ignorance of their parents for not registering them on birth. Some even do not have even red IC (identity card) and afraid to walk around as they were afraid to be detained like common illegal immigrants.

We hope that when Pakatan comes to power, the first thing to do is to alleviate the hardship and pain of our stateless, mostly Indians, citizens is to quickly process all their applications.

So we call upon all Malaysians who want justice for all to vote out BN. This is our only chance.

Proarte: Indonesian illegal immigrants in Sabah speak Malay so they automatically qualify for MyKads, according to Mahathir.

So what about the 300,000 Indians who speak Malay and who were born in Malaysia and who are stateless, why haven't they been issued with MyKads?

Tholu: Mahathir, you are aware that the RCI is going to instantly train its cannon at you as the protagonist and mastermind for the influx of foreigners into Sabah.

Realising this, you issue a statement in an attempt to pre-empt their focus of investigations. Do some soul searching, Tun.

Indians who were born here to parents of Malaysian origin are denied citizenship but foreigners who illegally migrated here are so easily and without much questioning given citizenship.

These Indians speak good Malay (with some already being in national secondary schools); eat nasi lemak with sambal made with belacan, savour satay and ketupat and spice up their meals with cincalok and budu.

They have not assimilated into the Malay culture? How cruel can you be when you yourself being a second-generation Indian heartlessly denied Indians their rightful citizenship?

Malaysian Citizen: At last, Mahathir has no choice, he admits to his role in masterminding this blatant IC scandal.

StevenForMalaysia: You are big liar, Mahathir. How do you explain mass naturalisation to outnumber the Kadazan-Dusun who was the major race in Sabah? Will you naturalise non-Malays in Peninsular Malaysia to outnumber the Malays?

How beautiful the original aim to allow different races to live in harmony until the intoxication of the Malays by the Umnoputras since 1969.

Bumiborn: It's an insult to suddenly find your Indonesian maid became a bumiputera and is now enjoying all the benefits as first-class citizen while you remained a marginalised second-class Malaysian.

Moontime: Look, we don't question the rights for migrants to be naturalised if they have the right credentials. What we want to know is how come the population boom only happened in Sabah? And in such large numbers to boot.

This old man claimed he didn't know about Project IC - again he is showing selective amnesia. I hope that he will still be around when the truth is exposed and the real culprits identified.

Sabahans' fear of being inundated by immigrants

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