'No Native Court rule stating it's an offence'
Published on: Saturday, December 27, 2014
PENAMPANG: There is no such rule in the Native Courts Enactment that building replicas of the Keningau Oath Stone is an offence. "If anyone says it is an unwritten custom of a particular district, then let the council of elders prove it," said Orang Asal activist Adrian Lasimbang. He was responding to an incident where a village chief in Inanam was reported to have fined a landowner one buffalo for building a replica of the oath stone on his own property."My friends and I are all sons of natives and our parents and grandparents have told us lots about native customs but we have never heard that this is also an offence," he said.
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On another incident in Pensiangan where a landowner was assaulted for doing the same by Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sabah (PBRS) supporters, he said:"Those political party members who assaulted the landowner had already breached Section 4 of the Native Enactment and liable to be fined up to two buffaloes. "I hope the victim will seek justice," he said.Meanwhile, Sabah DAP will file a case against the Kg Kionsom village chief in the Native Court once he issues an official letter ordering a party member to pay "sogit"
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(compensation) of a buffalo for erecting a replica of the Keningau Oath Stone.Its Sabah Secretary Dr Edwin Bosi wondered under which authority the village chief used to fine them a buffalo. "As far as I am concerned, the power of hearing and deciding the fine is made by the Native Court.
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"I was informed that 12 village chiefs were called but only 10 attended. In the letter from Kg Kionsom village chief KK Yong Chi Kong to DAP Inanam Edward Liau it was stated that a meeting at Kg Pomotodon hall Inanam on 13/12/2014 at 9.30am is to discuss the batu sumpah at Kg Kionsom. "After the 'discussion' the village chiefs decided to summon Edward and others a 'sogit' or a customary fine of one buffalo for not informing them of the event. On the bright side, the 10 village chiefs were not against the idea of erecting the replica."A police report was made by Kurup's Political Secretary Rayner Udong against Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS) and the natives who erected a batu sumpah outside the Keningau district office on August, 31 2014. "What would the natives do when not allowed by the District Officer to enter the compound of the Keningau district office to perform the annual ritual on the batu sumpah?"Bosi said he is also happy to note that Minister in the Prime Ministers Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup is not afraid of DAP's plan to erect more replicas of the Keningau Oath Stone or batu sumpah in all the native villages in Sabah. "As an educated native leader, I think Kurup knows what we are doing is to sow the seeds of historical fact and thereafter awareness to the indigenous people of Sabah.""The question of DAP Sabah tendering our apologies to the natives of Sabah is irrelevant. On the other hand I was expecting Kurup to apologise to those who were beaten up by his supporters at Kg Mempulut because of the batu sumpah replica. Kurup should also apologise to the Murut and Dusun community in Pensiangan for failing to inform them of the three guarantees engraved on the batu sumpah that have gone missing.Bosi, who is Chairman of DAP Sabah Native Consultative Council, is disappointed with Kurup's low tolerance for leaders from Semenanjung. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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