20 Points brainchild of Lo: Harris
Published on: Monday, January 06, 2020
By: James Sarda
KOTA KINABALU: Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh has confirmed that it is late Tan Sri Peter Lo Su Yin (pic) who was responsible for the famous 20-Point safeguards on state rights as a pre-condition for then-British North Borneo’s (now Sabah) acceptance of the proposal to form Malaysia in 1963.
Harris said that at the time both Tun Donald (later Fuad) Stephens, the first Chief Minister after independence, and Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun, the first governor after independence, agreed in principle on the merger of British North Borneo, Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya to form the new federation.
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However, some of the conditions were still not settled and being a lawyer, Lo felt that the best solution would be to make Kuala Lumpur first agree to a set of demands that most concerned the people in the territory.
“He is why the 20 Points came about. He drafted it over lunch at the Jesselton Hotel. A few of the suggestions came from other Sabah alliance members like Mustapha, Stephens, (Datuk G.S.) Sundang, etc, and this was then submitted to two visiting Malayan Members of Parliament,” he told Daily Express in an exclusive.
The revelation by Harris puts to rest decades of debate over who actually was responsible for initiating these safeguards amid conflicting claims from other quarters linked to the merger. Lo, himself, never officially laid any claim that he was the one responsible, preferring to do so only in private and only when asked.
The 20-Points have always been an emotional issue in Sabah. They concern (1) State Religion, (2) National and Official Language, (3) Constitution, (4) Head of the Federation, (5) Name of the Federation, (6) Internal Immigration, (7) Self-denial of Sabah’s right to secede, (8) Borneonisation of civil service, (9) Encouraging British Officers to stay on, (10) Citizenship rights, (11) Tariffs and Finance, (12) Special position of the indigenous races, (13) Cabinet System for the State Government, (14) Transition period, (15) Education under State control, (16) Constitutional safeguards, (17) Representation in Federal Parliament, (18) Name of Head of State, (19) Name of State and (20) Land, Forest and Local Government.
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Of the 20 Points, only five of them refer to special privileges and safeguards for Sabah-borns. The memorandum of demands were later incorporated in the Inter-Governmental Committee Report (IGC).
Points 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 and 20 have either been dealt with or become irrelevant over the years or have been overtaken by developments or circumstances.
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Both the Sabah and Sarawak state governments have lately shown interest in revisiting some of the safeguards following the last general election with the new Sabah Government having its own ministries to oversee education and health matters. Sarawak wants education to be in line with its own vision of what is best for the State’s development.
Harris is one of the last surviving members from the era who played a major role in the formation of Malaysia, alongside Tan Sri Richard Lind.
Lind, like Harris, is now in his 90s. Lind is best known for the erection of the Oath Stone in Keningau where the three salient conditions of these 20 Points relating to freedom of religion, jurisdiction over lands and upholding of native customs were literally cast in stone.
[The Oath Stone, believed to be the only such acceptance in the world by indigenous people of the creation of a nation with their demands cast in stone, was erected a year after Sabah’s independence in 1963 when the Interior natives who opposed the formation of Malaysia told Lind – who was dispatched by Stephens for the purpose – that they would not settle for anything that was written and signed on paper as it could easily be tossed into the bin].
Lo was appointed a compromise Chief Minister by first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman in January 1965 when the bitter political rivalry between bumiputra giants Stephens and Mustapha began to spiral out of control. He served until 1967 when the first State elections were held to decide who should hold the Chief Minister post through voting.
He was among the corps of Chinese leaders who first opposed the formation of Malaysia, preferring for self-government, instead. However, when it became inevitable that Malaysia would come about sooner or later, Lo convinced the Chinese that they should settle for safeguards, instead.
Harris also paid tribute to Lo, who passed away peacefully aged 96 on New Year’s Day, describing him as a real Malaysian who was very honest, straightforward and admired by Tunku, his Deputy Tun Abdul Razak and Finance Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin.
“He was my political mentor and Secretary of Bunap (party). He was very instrumental in convincing the rest of the Chinese Sabah Alliance leaders to accept the Malaysia proposal.
“He represented Sabah very well as Sabah’s first Federal Minister (without portfolio in 1964) and was well liked by the Federal leaders. Everything that he did was for the sake of Malaysia,” said Harris.
Harris served in the Peter Lo Cabinet as Finance Minister. He said Lo always gave him advice and never failed to consult him when it came to matters relating to the interests of bumiputras.
“It was a great loss to Malaysia and Sabah when he retired from politics early. I don’t know of anyone in Sabah who can match him politically, individually and professionally.
“Even after he retired, he would call me once in a while to talk about Sabah’s problems. He was critical about a number of Sabah leaders, including some Chief Ministers. He would say this is not right and that is not right.
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