Government’s deafening silence on London trip questioned

0

Chong (centre) flanked by Dr Tii (left) and Yong, shows the ‘British Documents on the End of Empire’ at the press conference’

KUCHING: The state government’s deafening silence three months after a legal team was sent to London to study the state’s rights under Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is being questioned.

The state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said 10 individuals which included Assistant Minister of Law, State-federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali and state legal advisor Dato Sri JC Fong went to London to look for documents leading to the formation of Malaysia about three months ago.

“Nothing has come up from the whole thing except for the technical committee,” Chong told a press conference here yesterday.

Noting that all documents leading to the formation of Malaysia were no longer classified under Official Secrets Act and were now open to the public, Chong said it therefore did not serve any purpose for the government to be ‘so secretive’ about the documents they collected from London.

“Anyway, I have here the whole book (British Documents on the End of Empire) published by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in the University of London. I have it here with me (the book) which contains (among others) 227 correspondence leading to the formation of Malaysia from the time of Lord Cobbold to the Prime Minister Harold McMillan of Britain, to Tunku Abdul Rahman and even to Lee Kuan Yew. The book contains all the correspondents including telegram exchanges that ultimately led to the formation of Malaysia.

“These are published in a book and I got the book at no cost at all. Even as an opposition leader, I have been given a book on all the correspondents that led to the formation of Malaysia.

“So, my question to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg is: ‘what is the big hassle in spending hundreds of thousands of tax payers money to bring all his legal officers to London for a tour to obtain some documents which you can easily obtain from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in the University of London?’

Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman,  had gone through all the documents and found them a good collection of correspondence for the purpose of historical study on the formation of Malaysia.

“They are historical documents but add no additional knowledge to the fight for Sarawak’s autonomy. As I have always mentioned and I still maintain my position that the fight for autonomy for Sarawak rests solely on the political strength and willingness of the federal government to accede to our demand and not about some correspondence that led to the signing of the Malaysia Agreement.”

He said the points in fighting for Sarawak’s autonomy rested on the terms stated in the MA63, provisions stated in the Federal Constitution and the demand on the part of the Sarawak Government and willingness of the federal government to devolve certain powers to the state.

“All the hoo-haas about going to London has added no extra edge to Sarawak’s fight for autonomy except extra holidays for those involved at the expense of the tax payers’ money.”

Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong and Chong’s special assistant Dr Kelvin Yii were also present at the press conference.