Kota Kinabalu: Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau slammed former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his controversial claims about “Tanah Melayu” (land of the Malays) and Malaysia’s multiracial identity, describing it as an insult to East Malaysians.
In a statement, the former Upko president said Mahathir’s attacks on multiculturalism and secularism revealed the “malicious mind of a Malayan imperialist and colonialist” who saw Sabah and Sarawak as “colonial possessions of Malayan Malays”.
He reminded Mahathir that when Malaysia was formed in 1963, it was a union of four multiethnic and secular countries: Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak.
“Dr Mahathir, listen clearly to us if you ever need a reminder: Sabah and Sarawak are not colonial possessions transferred from Great Britain to Tanah Melayu,” said Tangau.
“We did not opt to replace the British with Malayans as our colonial masters in 1963. If the plan was to become appendices of an ethnocracy as Dr Mahathir wants Malaya to be, Sabah and Sarawak would have stayed out.
“If anyone wants to change the social contract in 1963 by internally colonising Sabah and Sarawak, then they are taking Malaya out of Malaysia.
“The Malaysia that Sabah and Sarawak signed up for in 1963 is a land of freedom and democracy, (and not) an ethnocracy for Malays or a theocracy for Islamists.
“By insulting Sabahans and Sarawakians as subjects of Malayan imperialism and colonialism, Dr Mahathir is declaring war on the very idea of Malaysia.”
At a press conference last week, Mahathir claimed that there were attempts by people “from other countries” to change Malaysia from being a “Tanah Melayu” into a multiracial country.
Mahathir also claimed that these people refused to recognise Malays as the “founders, locals and builders of the country”.
On Monday, the 97-year-old claimed that promoting a multiethnic country went against the Federal Constitution, adding that the constitution “emphasises the ‘Malayness’ of Malaysia”.
Tangau, a former federal minister, said if Sabah and Sarawak were to have become appendices of Tanah Melayu by being part of Malaysia, and Sabahan and Sarawakian natives were to be assimilated as Malayan Malays, “there would not be a Malaysia in the first place”.
“Sabah and Sarawak would have stayed on as British colonies and waited for our own independence at a later date as Brunei did in 1984,” said Tangau.
“Sabah and Sarawak are proudly multicultural and inclusive.
“As in Malaya, we have the Malays – Sarawak Malays and Brunei Malays – and Chinese and Indians.
“We also have Kadazan-Dusun-Murut, Bajau, Suluk, Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Hulu, Melanau and many other groups.
“Don’t pigeonhole our natives as Malayan Malays. We celebrate inter-faith harmony and multilingualism.
We eat at the same table. We celebrate each other’s festivals.
“We will stay this way and not be assimilated into bigotry and segregation.”
