YOURSAY 'Don't divert attention of the public by dragging in the Tunku and amend the history of Malaya's road to independence.'

Mahathir moots RCI on pre-Merdeka citizenship

TehTarik: Mahathir should realise that if the non-Malays were not given citizenship in return for independence, there would have been a very different Malaya.

Malacca and Penang would have remained independent states like Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak would either have remained independent states like Brunei, or Sabah would have been absorbed into the Philippines and Sarawak into Indonesia.

There would not have been any Petronas money (derived mainly from East Malaysia) for Mahathir to indulge in to build his 'white elephants' like the Petronas Twin Towers. He would also have been the PM of a country less than half the size of today's Malaysia.

Swipenter: Before independence, all those living in Malaya - be they Malays, Chinese, Indians and others - were not citizens of Malaysia. They were either British subjects or subjects of their respective sultanates.

There was no country called Malaysia. Malaysia came into being with the agreement and consent of the Malays, Chinese, Indians and others (those in Sabah and Sarawak) when the British granted independence to us.

Go ahead and do a RCI on pre-independent Malaya. The documents such as the Reid Commission and all other relevant colonial documents must now be declassified and be publicly available from the British archives on discussions and agreement reached between the British and Malayans leading to the formation of Malaysia and granting of our independence.

I bet you don't find the Umno-manufactured social contract there, or was it ever mentioned in any of the documents. We must call his bluff.

Ah Boss: My father was brought here by the British and was on British payroll. The British were the rulers of Malaya. It was then called British Malaya.

My father carried a British passport. He agreed to stay on when the British left because he expected equal rights. We didn't beg for citizenship. It was given to us by the British. There were in power. So what is Mahathir's problem?

Munisamy Sinniah: Mahathir must be ignorant of pre-independence political scenario or he is not happy seeing independent Malaya then, and later Malaysia.

Pre-independence immigrants were granted citizenship with the blessings of the sultans and with consensus of the three political parties which were spearheading the independence movement.

Furthermore, the granting of citizenship was one of the conditions set by the British for a free Malaya.

If such consensus was not reached, the British were prepared to butcher Malaya into Independent Federated Malay States, Independent Unfederated Malay states and Independent Straits Settlements.

Geronimo: If our beloved Tunku Abdul Rahman is still alive today, his heart will bleed endlessly with pain to hear such words uttered by this ‘traitor'.

The stark fact is that the illegal immigrants in Sabah were given citizenship not because they could speak Malay, have been staying in the country for 20 years or they were Muslims. They were given citizenship to shore up the Malay Muslim votes so that they could boot Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) out from power.

Mahathir has that audacity to twist his treacherous deeds into something righteous and of all the things, blemishing the good name of ‘Bapa Malaysia' (Father of Malaysia).

When the Vietnamese boat people appeared off the shores in the east coast of Malaysia in the 80s, he told the navy to ‘shoot' them (he claimed he said ‘shoo' them away when the issue became a controversy).

Why didn't he say the same thing about these illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia? Indeed, his heart is as black as charcoal.

Quigonbond: I find the remarks "Malays are generous" appalling. What about all citizens Malay, Chinese and Indians being collectively responsible for Merdeka? Has that gone into the dustbin of national historical archives?

Bernard Phillips: On the other hand, it really may not be a bad idea to have this RCI on pre-Merdeka immigrants to clear the matter up and confirm that the Tunku was acting within the law and with the full approval of the rulers.

I am also certain that the investigations would also be able to trace the roots and ethnicity of many of our Umno leaders, including this man who became a constitutional Malay only after 1957.

It was said that the young Mahathir s/o (son of) Mohamad was listed as an Indian in his primary school records, which mysteriously disappeared.

And let me say it, I have nothing against Indian Muslims. They have after all contributed to this rich cultural mix we have in this great country of ours.

I'm only against those who deny their heritage, while people in the rest of the world are clamouring to regain and reclaim theirs.

Enough Is Enough: Dr M, don't deny your evil intention of retaining your political grip on Sabah during your tenure as a PM with the objective of controlling the natural resources of the state.

And don't divert attention of the public by dragging in the Tunku and amend the history of Malaya's road to independence.

Dr M throws a red herring in Sabah RCI debate

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