A local daily, the New Sabah Times on April 22, 2004 reported that a one Suhebah binti Pahlawan owned a MyKad despite the fact that both her parents were foreigners. Pahlawan, her father came to Sabah illegally in 1979. He too, obtained a Malaysian identity card.

Dr Chong Eng Leong, a well-known local surgeon, politician and ex-senator wrote to another local daily, The Daily Express on Feb 27 alleging that hundreds of thousands of genuine Malaysian identity cards were in the hands of foreigners.

Between 1995 and 1999, 17 officials of the Sabah National Registration Department (NRD), including two former directors, had been arrested under the ISA, he claimed. He opined that most, if not all, of the genuine Malaysian identity cards (ICs) in the hands of foreigners were issued through falsified statutory declarations made before April 1987, or if after that, backdated to 1987.

He further alleged that about 70,000 such IC numbers were listed in the certified Sabah 1998 electoral rolls.

Federal leaders might have not read this as they are more concerned with federal matters rather than far-flung Sabah, 1,200km from Putrajaya.

Surely the NRD headquarters and the Home Ministry knows who are behind this racket as according to Chong, two state directors of the NRD had been arrested under the ISA. Certainly the investigators would have extracted information from these two.

Malaysians in general should be forewarned of the danger of the unscrupulous issuance of important identity documents to foreigners particularly in light of the Philippines' claim over Sabah .

It is highly probable that the Philippines is using this means to acquire Sabah rather than through force. Time is now the essence, Pak Lah, please wake up from your slumber before it is too late. For now, the Filipinos are acquiring Malaysian ICs through whatever means they can with the express intention of wresting Sabah from Malaysia.

There is a possibility that 50 percent of the Sabah population comprises of Philippine nationals who have already acquired Malaysian identity papers. In the near future, they could wrest control of the state government.

Once this happens, the Philippines move a petition in the UN for a referendum to ascertain the allegiance of the people of Sabah. The outcome is, of course, a forgone conclusion. They will chose the Philippine government. This is subtle but more effective than a war to take Sabah.

Perhaps the federal leaders may sympathise with these people because they are Muslims. But don't be fooled by this outward Islamic posturing by them. A number of them are actually Christians but when they entered Sabah, they declared that they were Muslims and proffered Muslim names.

I recall that in a published interview with one of the Sabahan captives of the Abu Sayyaf Gang, the victim said that one of his captors, whom he identified as one Galib Andang, actually owned a Malaysian identity card. How did an Abu Sayyaf gang member obtain a Malaysian IC in the first place?

Pak Lah, revoke the ICs issued to these people now, before the ownership of our beloved Sabah changes over to the Philippines.