Abdullah (center) with his friends after making the police report.
SANDAKAN: A local man has made a police report stating that he believes two ethnic Chinese brothers who are traders are in possession of a dubious native certificate that was allegedly used to obtain benefits like bumiputeras, including thousands of acres of land in Kinabatangan.
Abdullah Japar, 55, of Kampung Suan Lamba, who was accompanied by a group of friends when making the report at the police station here on Thursday, said the brothers are believed to have claimed they were Sino Kadazan when obtaining the native certificate endorsed by Kota Kinabalu Native Court on September 5, 1979.
He claimed that the father of the brothers is a Chinese born in Singapore based on his citizen certificate and a copy of his citizenship application form as confirmed by the National Registration Department in Sabah.
Abdullah said the father of the siblings applied for Malaysian citizenship in Lahad Datu on December 12, 1966 and the brothers were born in Lahad Datu on February 22, 1958 and July 12 1960.
“According to the birth certificate issued by the department on April 5, 2007, the brothers and their parents are Chinese and have no blood connection with the locals,” he said.
“Now the brothers are rich because their birth certificate allows them to own land in places, including Kinabatangan,” he added.
Abdullah said he was encouraged to lodge the police report after the government announced its decision recently to revoke the Sri Tanjung assemblyman Jimmy Wong’s Native Certificate.
He said he agrees with Sukau assemblyman Datuk Saddi Haji Abdul Rahman’s call to investigate birth certificates of questionable validity.