KUCHING: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has sent his heartiest congratulations to the state government for recognising Sarawak’s independence with the inaugural official celebration of Sarawak Day as a public holiday.
In a press statement yesterday, the Bingkor assemblyman and Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF) president said July 22 “is a historic day and the Sarawak government and its Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri) Adenan (Satem) deserve more than congratulations for stepping up and declaring Sarawak Day a public holiday.
“It’s not surprising that Sarawakians are jubilant that Sarawak Day has not only been declared a public holiday but recognised as its Independence Day. It also marks the first step in recognising the status of Sarawak and the basis of the formation of Malaysia.”
He said it also represented a crucial step in helping to correct the manipulations and distortion of the history of Sarawak and of the formation of Malaysia.
“Closer to home, Sabah should honour and celebrate Sabah Day on Aug 31 and celebrate Sept 16 as Malaysia Day and National Day and not Aug 31 as Merdeka Day, which is factually the Independence Day for (the Federation of) Malaya. For without Sabah and Sarawak, there would be no Malaysia today.
“Now that Sarawak Day has been declared and officially recognised and celebrated in Sarawak, there is no reason for the Sabah government not to recognise Sabah Day this year and to declare it a public holiday too,” he added.