As the eastern tip of Sabah reels from this morning's military assault, residents of the state have started an online petition to say that they want to “remain Malaysians”.

The petition , started yesterday by a group who only want to be identified as Concerned Citizens of Sabah, said that while the state has a “shared history” with its neighbours, “the people of Sabah are not politically beholden to these historical ties”.

“ NONE The peace-loving people of Sabah unanimously agree that whatever the result of any injunction or fact-finding mission, we wish to remain Malaysians,” it reads.

“We appeal to the international community to acknowledge the people of Sabah’s right to self-determination; to endorse the state’s constitutional sovereignty of the Malaysian government as valid and the desire of Sabahans to permanently reject the Sultanate of Sulu’s claim on our home.”

The petition, which also rejects any claim on the state by the Philippines, is addressed to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Philippines president Benigno S Aquino III.

It had already attracted more than 2,000 signatures as at 4.30pm today.

'Why pay rent to sultan?'

It also pressures the Malaysian and Sabah governments to convene an emergency sitting of Parliament and the state assembly to declare the state’s sovereignty and to allow the Malaysian armed forces to defend it.

NONE The federal and state governments are also called to “explain why we are still paying cession money to the Sultanate of Sulu and to clear all doubts that this payment is rent”.

“Even if the Sulu successfully colonise Sabah, we will never obey them. Sabah belongs to us. We will never bow or be loyal to them. Our allegiance is to our country,” Razlene Roslan of Lahad Datu said as a reason for signing the petition.

Others refer to the Sulu claim as as “barbaric” and “hallucinations of a presumably senile old man”.

For BJ of Kota Kinabalu, no documents can support foreign claim on the Malaysian state.

“The Sulu sultanate is obsolete; Sabah is a living and breathing land with its own history and people (who) deserve the right to choose who governs them,” he said.

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