Sarawak's sole DAP state assemblyperson Chiew Chin Sing has questioned the real intention behind the government's plan to do away with passports and allow Malaysians from other states to enter Sabah and Sarawak using MyKad.

(MyKad is the sophisticated identity card which contains a microchip that stores the necessary information of a person).

The use of a 'hassle-free' simplified procedure by swiping the MyKad on arrival at entry points is aimed at a gradual loosening of immigration control by the two states till there is no control at all, stated Chiew in response to an article by a New Straits Times columnist.

In his Wavelength column, Kuching-based John Teo described Chiew and DAP as parochial for advocating a shut-door policy.

He also suggested that DAP contradicted itself when Chiew advocated for the passport requirement for entry to be reinstated. He said state rights on immigration remained intact despite the introduction of a simplified entry requirement.

Responding, Chiew said the columnist's tone in the article was typically that of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) leaders, the backbone of the state ruling coalition.

'Look beyond the trees'

One should look 'beyond the trees,' he said, claiming that "it is obvious that after the MyKad reader gadget ,which is able to print out the IM114 form, the next move will be to do away with the gadget and just show the card and come in."

"Any sensible person can reason that out," added the Kidurong representative.

He said people should learn from history. "First, the passport requirement for entry into Sarawak was done away with and substituted only by the filling of the IM114 form, on the pretext that the IM114 form will reduce hassles for travelers and will not affect the two states's control over who can and cannot get in, in other words state rights are still intact ..."

"Let me ask, how long will it be before the signature on the IM114 form print-out will be waived and it will suffice to just show the Mykad for entry?"

Chiew said it is a fact that there are people in Peninsular Malaysia who are keen on abolishing the immigration powers of Sarawak and Sabah.

"The use of MyKad for entry into the two East Malaysians states is deemed to make the two states lose their immigration right despite the agreement prior to the formation of Malaysia," he added.

The opposition leader said using MyKad was totally different from using a passport that is stamped when entering the two states.

Easy entry

"(With a passport) the holder is permitted to stay until such and such a date. IM114 is not a passport, it cannot be used to substitute the passport. It does not even carry the command which a passport holds, it is just a piece of paper and nothing more.

"With the use of MyKad for entry into Sarawak, it is going to make it too easy to come into Sarawak. All that is required is for someone to produce his MyKad, sign on the print-out and he or she is through.

"He or she can stay for three months, work, do business or do anything he or she likes and when the time is up, he or she can go home and come in again," he added.

Chiew also wondered if this is a new way for the state and federal governments to work around the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report which states that passport is required for Malaysians from other states to enter Sarawak.

The report adds that the state has the right to refuse entry with justified reasons and no one can take up employment without the approval of the state authorities.

"Will the use of MyKad for entry into Sarawak not have implications on the Sarawak Labour Ordinance?" he asked.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.