PENAMPANG: The Kadazan Society Sabah (KSS) reiterated its firm stand for the Kadazan community’s objection to the use of ‘Momogun’ as the generic term for the indigenous people in Sabah.
Its Deputy President Datuk Albert F. Tokuzip said KSS fails to understand how the continuous debate on the ‘Momogun’ can be resolved “once and for all” in just one single day.
“A “national referendum” as we understand it in this context is to obtain the votes of those people across the length and breadth of the nation, Sabah in particular, who are directly impacted on the proposal of ‘Momogun’ being used as the generic term of all the indigenous people in Sabah,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
He was referring to a Daily Express article quoting Momogun National Congress President Tan Sri Wences Angang as saying MNC will be organising a national referendum on Aug 3 to put to rest once and for all the continuous debate over the use of ‘Momogun’ as the generic term for indigenous people in Sabah.
Wences had said that it is high time we resolve the issue once and for all.
KSS had stated its objection to the use of ‘Momogun’ in a statement published in the same newspaper on April 30.
On May 3, 2024, in an article under the title ‘Let the person decide: Sipaun’ in the Daily Express, a Kadazan elder Tan Sri Simon Sipaun on a similar note advised, “We should leave it to the individuals what they like to be referred to. It should not be dictated to by any individual or groups.”
He cautioned “You create unnecessary problems and confusion. Let the people themselves choose the race they prefer to be called.”
