Teo: Study the organisational structure of Chinese Kapitans
Published on: Friday, January 30, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Just as the State Government is studying ways to strengthen the Native Courts, the Government should also study the organisational structure of Chinese Kapitans to enhance their effectiveness in serving the people. Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang said this during a courtesy call by Chinese Kapitans from all over the State, including Tawau, Kota Belud, Tuaran, Lahad Datu, Inanam, Tenom and Kota Kinabalu, recently. He said the Kapitans in Sabah have organised a working visit to study the organisational structure, operations and job scope of the Chinese community leaders in Sarawak.
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He said some Chinese Kapitans reported that they have been invited to attend the Native Court proceedings when there were cases involving Chinese affairs. However, Teo said Kapitans were actually not suitable and should not involve in native customs in the State. Hence, Teo proposed to the Government study the organisational structure of Kapitans while the Government was in the process of strengthening the Native Court institution. On the other hand, Teo commended the Kapitans for their hard work in serving the people.
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He said being a Kapitan was an important responsibility as the leaders served as a bridge between the Government and the people to ensure government policies were disseminated to the people while the people's needs were channelled to the Government. According to Kapitan Yap Kin Vun, Chinese community leaders in Sarawak are referred to as Kapitan, Malay, Melanau and Bisaya leaders as Ketua Kampung, Dayak and Bidayuh leaders as Tuai Rumah and Native leaders as Tua Uma.
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Each of the four major ethnic group leaders has their own organisational structure that is independent of each other. For instance, Chinese community leaders are headed by Temenggung, who is then assisted by Pemanca and Penghulu, all of them operating as an independent government unit. In contrast, Yap said both Chinese Kapitans and Bumiputera village chiefs in Sabah are under purview of OKK despite the difference in race and culture, which sometimes caused disagreements, Yap said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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