There should be more dialogues held between the people of Sabah and Sarawak with leaders in peninsular Malaysia to iron out the 20 point agreement with Sabah and the 18 point agreement Sarawak, said constitutional expert Professor Emeritus Shad Saleem Faruqi.

He was speaking at the Ideas' Malaysia Day conference in Kuala Lumpur.

He added there needs to be an investigation how many points are incorporated into the constitution and how many are not.

"A lot of the 20 points and 18 points are not incorporated into the law and hence they have no legal status. Hence, there is no legal duty but it is a moral issue," he said.

"That is why I think there should be more dialogues with those in Sabah and Sarawak, despite the fact that federalism in Malaysia has been more harmonious compared to other countries," he said.

More discussion needed

However, Shad said he felt the situation warrants the need for discussion, what more with 56 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak in the Dewan Rakyat.

He warned that they could actually make or break future governments.

"Politically, it is important in terms of honouring a gentleman’s agreement for us to listen to their concerns and also for the survival of the nation," he declared.

Shad Saleem added the idea of Malayanising Sabah and Sarawak should not happen.

"Sabah and Sarawak have their own separate identities. This has not been fully acknowledged and they should be preserved," he said.

Despite this, the constitutional expert has confidence Malaysia will manage to resolve its problems harmoniously.

"We may not love each other but we do not kill each other," he said, adding that this is a remarkable achievement, looking at other countries like Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Lebanon.

Shad Saleem said it is good that Malaysia had recognised the need to celebrate the enlarged federation on Sept 16.

On media giving attention to racist and bigots, he said this should not happen as bigots were not opinion makers.

The deputy director of the Institute of South East Asian Studies, at the Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, Ooi Kee Beng said history showed leaders do not seek unity.

He said what they sought was to exclude others to maintain party unity and support the party agenda, and in this case it was an example of Malay ethnocentricism.