Sabah DAP Sri Tajung state assemblyperson Jimmy Wong will challenge a Wednesday ruling that he is not entitled to his Native Certificate (Sijil Anak Negeri or SAN). He intends to plead his case at the Native Court and the High Court which acts as the Appeal Court for the former.

Apparently, Wong's SAN is genuine but he's "not entitled to it". State Minister of Local Government and Housing Hajiji Noor informed the state assembly a day later that "Wong is not qualified to possess the certificate".

"The letter from the Local Government and Housing Ministry declaring my SAN null and void will not intimidate me," said Wong at a press conference yesterday. "The case has opened up a can of worms."

Wong considers the ruling as a Barisan Nasional (BN) government attempt to muzzle the opposition "by hook or crook".

There are many other cases (like his), Wong added, and hopes that these people will find peace of mind when the courts rule in his favour. These people have done no wrong and their conscience is clear, he added. "I can see how the state government will blackmail all these people to succumb to their whims and fancies."

Ring around the roses

Wong stressed that he had followed the proper procedures by presenting himself recently before the Kota Kinabalu District Chief, OKK William Mojimbun, at the Native Court in Sembulan to have his SAN verified.

Mojimbun responded that since his case was a "high profile" one, he would have to seek the advice of the Director of the Native Affairs Department in the matter.

In March, Wong was summoned to attend a hearing at the department. Subsequently, together with a letter dated April 14, the director of the Native Affairs Department Awang Shahrin Alimin returned Wong's SAN. Wong did not disclose if the letter stated anything else besides referring to the enclosure.

The response from Hajiji was immediate. He wants Wong to search his conscience and ask himself whether he was truly a native of Sabah. "Wong as a responsible elected representative ought to understand and co-operate on the matter," he said.

"It's not a question of whether his SAN is genuine or otherwise but whether he's entitled to it."

The state government, he stressed, would have to instruct the Native Court to revoke Wong's SAN.

He disclosed that the ruling on Wong's native certificate, taken through a specially set up committee to vet the document, has already been conveyed to the Native Court for its action.

Only the Native Court could declare whether a person was native or otherwise, pointed out Hajiji.

The state minister acknowledged, as indicated by Wong, that there were many cases like that of the latter. These cases, it has since been discovered, occurred before 1982 and would be resolved by the state government in phases.

"It is for this reason that the state government has decided to freeze the issuance of the native certificate," said Hajiji in seeing Wong as a test case of sorts.

Wong's SAN erupted into a public controversy when Sekong state assemblyperson Samsudin Yahya questioned during an earlier state assembly sitting whether the member for Sri Tanjung possessed a fake native certificate.

Wong, in response, offered to surrender the document if it was raising so much concern. He disclosed that his brother had applied for the native certificate on hisbehalf when he was still studying in London before 1982.

Samsuddin wants the state government to take further action against Wong for using his SAN to purchase native land to which he was not entitled.

In a previous case, after the fall of the Usno government in 1976, Kedah lawyer Syed Kechik Syed Muhammad had his native certificate revoked by the Berjaya government. Syed Kechik, political secretary to the previous Chief Minister Mustapha Harun, took the matter to court and successfully had the ruling overturned.

Wong's case, however, may not be the same as Syed Kechik's. The law provides for natives of Sarawak, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, the Peninsular and the Sulu group of islands in the southern Philippines to be declared natives of Sabah if not hindered by the state's immigration laws.

One point in "favour" of Wong, according to lawyers in the know, is the "instant native status" allegedly obtained by thousands of illegal immigrants who were issued the MyKad via the backdoor. However, two wrongs do not make one right.

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