KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) deputy president Datuk Eric Majimbun claimed that a new trend of voters without surnames had emerged in the new electoral rolls ending Dec 31, 2011, and March 31, 2012.
According to the Sepanggar member of parliament, there were 55 such voters from Kota Marudu, 75 from his constituency and 12 from Penampang.
“This is a surprising and worrying trend, for example, Kinsui @ Miri from Kayu Madang, Suhaidi from Marua, Deezey from Menggatal, Athomas from Taman Khidmat, Asiusin- Sukang, voters for the Inanam constituency listed in the electoral roll ending Dec 31 2011.
“Then there are Azminah from Gudon, Abidin, Inanam Laut, Sanjiv, Likas, Irrene, Taman Indah Permai, all voters for Karambunai in the electoral roll ending March 312012,” he said, adding that the voters were aged between 22 and 74-years-old.
Eric believed that the lists were only the tip of the iceberg and questioned if it was the trend that a surname was not a must for individual identity now.
He added that the Election Commission had said it was aware of the matter but was unable to do anything as the names of these voters had been confirmed and verified to have been issued by the National Registration Department (NRD).
“It is against the tradition and culture of Sabahans to discard surnames for no valid reason. This act of conflicting human culture and tradition could further erode us as true Malaysian Sabahans on the surface of the Earth,” he lamented.
To this end, the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants’ presence in Sabah must be investigated and to get to the bottom of the matter, he opined.
The state government, he stressed must also stop this practice immediately, and carry out a thorough investigation to find out and verify that those registered in the past with no surnames were genuine Sabahans.