By Simon Peter
KUCHING, July 20, 2017 - Sarawak For Sarawakians (S4S)
movement has called on Sarawakians to wear red on Sarawak Day on July 22 as a
sign of solidarity with the state government.
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| S4S leader Peter John Jaban: Let's us wear red to celebrate Sarawak Day on July 22 as a show of solidarity with the state government |
Its leader Peter
John Jaban said they can wear red to coffeeshops, when shopping, walking on the
streets and going to their farms.
He said they can go to the Museum Garden where S4S and
Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) will be holding a gathering to celebrate
the event which starts at 8.30am.
"We must stand together to show that we support
the state government’s direction to
reclaim our rights from the federal government," he told reporters today.
He said the people should not take Sarawak Day for
granted, but to go all out and show their full support to Chief Minister Datuk
Amar Abang Johari Openg and members of the state cabinet.
Peter said Sarawakians must enjoy being special on this
historical day.
"But, its citizens must also look ahead to the
future, to the fight ahead," he said, inviting fellow Sarawakians to come
to the Museum Gardens to mingle and learn, discuss and debate, meet new friends
and show why we are truly a city of unity.
"We are united in our push to achieve our full
rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and we are united behind a state government
that is moving towards this.
"Let the people see a sea of red, one of our State’s
colours and an expression of our intent.
We love Sarawak and will ensure that our state gets everything it
deserves," Peter said.
He said over the last three years there has been an
enormous positive steps, from the establishment of a Sarawak-based taskforce to
examine the issues of statelessness, to the announcement of a team heading for
London to examine the state’s legal position under the Malaysia Agreement 1963
to even the celebration of July 22 as a
public holiday.
"The fight for full recognition of our rights under
the Malaysia Agreement 1963 is still at the beginning and there is much
distance to cover," he said, adding that Sarawak still faces problems with
finance from the Federal Government, from oil revenues to tourism tax and to stamp duty.
"We still face attacks on our religious freedoms in
the spectre of Hudud law, our cultural uniqueness is still being ignored in the
recent announcement that police officers will be banned from having
tattoos," he said.
Peter said Sarawak sees a Federal Court that is dominated
by West Malaysian judges who, despite their esteemed careers in the law, do not
appreciate the specific circumstances of Sarawak and Sabah with their own
separate court system.
He added only one Federal Court judge out of 15, Tan Sri
Panglima Richard Malanjum, is drawn from either of the Borneo states.
"As a result, communities across Sarawak are facing
the loss of their ancestral lands following a brutal Federal Court decision,
handed down by five West Malaysian judges with little or no experience in
native land rights cases.
"After years of favourable decisions in the lower
courts, under the aegis of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak and even the
Court of Appeal, the five judges ruled that Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau -
concepts central to the Dayak Adat on land tenure – have no force of law,"
he said.
He said this is a denial of the Adat as understood by all
Sarawakians and a downgrading of our own cultural and legal uniqueness, which
will lead to widespread dispossession of our natives from their ancestral
lands.
Peter said it is time for the Federal Court Chief Justice
to be taken from Borneo as a first step to redressing the bias and for the
State Government to step in and legislate on behalf of its people.
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