Henrynus: Sabah natives should be called Momogun

Kota Kinabalu: Momogun National Congress (MNC) President Datuk Henrynus Amin said the Federal Government's move to recognise the racial categories of Sabah and Sarawak natives is justified and long overdue. He said official recognition for Sabah and Sarawak natives is not only necessary but is fully justified as they no longer want to be identified as lain-lain (others).

For instance, Dayak NGOs, he said, were united in their demand for Dayak to be accorded special recognition in official forms.

According to him, a Dayak Federal Minister, Datuk Joseph Entulu, had proactively invited all Dayak based NGOs to meet and discuss the issue of Dayak identity in official forms last year.

He said the group which attended a meeting in Kuching, Sarawak issued a historic declaration to collectively demand Dayak be recognised as the national identity of Sarawak natives in official forms.

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However, he said he can't "recall any similar initiative was carried out in Sabah for the Dusunic, Murutic and Paitanic speech community who are collectively Momogun".

He said in the Sabah context, Sabahan natives should be listed under "Momogun" while naturalized citizens like Filipino Bajau/Visaya, Indonesian Bugis/Tatur/Timorese, etc, should be placed under "Lain Lain"

"Any discussion or conclusion reached on the question of national identity for Sabah natives in official forms should be transparent and citizens allowed to ask or express themselves," he said.

The closest effort, he said, is the one carried out by the State Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry, which has initiated discussions to deal with the definition for natives in Sabah through the Sabah Cultural Board.

"But I believe the Ministry has not finished its work with regards to the definition of Sabah natives and MNC looks forward to be part of any future discourse with the Ministry," he said.

MNC opined dropping the "Lain Lain or Others" category in forms will leave out other racial minorities such as naturalised Indonesians, Filipinos and Europeans.

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He said MNC felt that while there should be a separate category for Sarawak and Sabah natives such as Dayak and Momogun, the term 'Others' should be retained for such ethnic minorities.

"In the case of Sabah, if lain lain were to be dropped where are they going to put non-native Filipino Bajau or Visaya, Indonesian Bugis or Tatur or Timorese who are naturalised citizens in official forms," he asked.

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