'Stop people receiving Sulu Sultan awards'

KENINGAU: The Government must investigate the action of the Sulu Sultan who conferred the Datukship title to local Sabahans as it should not have happened here.Former politician Engah Sintan said such things, however, have been going on for far too long and it is the right of the government to stop the activity.

He recalled a chance meeting with a husband and wife who claimed that they are of royal blood from the Philippines and had come to the State to meet all the Sulu people here.

"When asked the purpose of their visit, they only said that in Sabah, there are about 1.5 million Suluks and they wanted to discuss with the relevant authority to take care of their people.

"After they went back to the Philippines, suddenly the Tanduo incident happened. These were people who said that Tanduo belongs to the Sulu Sultan," said Sintan.

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He added that right after the incident, there have been frequent incidents in Semporna including kidnappings and murders of a tourist and police officer.

The government, said Sintan, must pay greater attention to this problem and stop considering these people as friends or brothers just because they are of the same faith.

"All these problems must be resolved by Kuala Lumpur. If it continues to carry on like this, then the power to decide must be given back to Sabah to guard its own borders," he said.

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In an earlier report, one of the recipients of the award said they should not be blamed for having been granted the title because the Malaysian Government had allowed it.

"There are many more who have accepted the title, including those from peninsula," said United Murut Community Organisation (Umco) President Dato' Alizulfakar Alexsius Mangka Salamat. "Historically, the Sultan had started giving out the title to the people since the 80s."

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