(Borneo Post) - A few days after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement on the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) and the illegal immigrant issues in Sabah was made, a continuous wave of backlash by angry Sabahans was evident.
The people in Sabah are riled by what the former premier has said especially on the point that illegal immigrants could become Malaysians because of their mastery of Bahasa Malaysia.
Kota Kinabalu member of parliament Hiew King Cheu, commented that “if Mahathir opined that there was no necessity for the RCI to be established to investigate into the abnormal upsurge in the population of Sabah and migrants becoming citizens of Malaysia, Mahathir is definitely going against the will of Sabahans.
“It was better for him to keep quiet and be happily retired,” he suggested.
Hiew said it would be up to the members of the RCI to inquire and investigate to determine those responsible for the treasonous act and the facts and details would be eventually exposed.
He claimed that Mahathir’s ‘Project IC’ has been known to have existed for a long time and many migrants have openly admitted to having obtained Malaysian identity cards through the illegal programme and it would not be difficult for the RCI to establish this fact by probing into the root cause of the issue.
According to Hiew, Mahathir had said something irrelevant contradicting the issue and he had not only hurt the feelings but also insulted the intelligence of Sabahans.
His comments were akin to a cover up when he highlighted that those who had lived in the state for a long time were qualified to become Malaysians only because they speak the Malay language.
“What about the Chinese who are still holding red IC/PR after staying in the country for well over 70 years, speak good Malay and contributed their whole life in building up the country? Are they not qualified to be granted Malaysian citizenship?
“There have been too many instances where foreigners not knowing a single word of Malay were dished out with MyKads shortly upon arrival from their countries of origin. How do you justify this?” Hiew asked.
