Wong in a photo taken in a ward after he was admitted to Sarawak General Hospital to get medical treatment. – Photo taken from Wong Chin Huat’s Facebook account
KUCHING: A member of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC), Prof Dr. Wong Chin Huat, has called on the Sarawak government to explain why he was barred from entering the state last Thursday.
He asked why he was allowed to enter the state from August 25 to 30 for an ERC programme but not recently, even with two letters from the committee to explain that he was attending the “Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) and Constituency Delimitation: Experiences of Germany and New Zealand for Malaysia’s Reference” workshop here.
Relating his ordeal at the Kuching International Airport, Wong said the state government must explain to the public what changed over the span of three months or what in the said workshop made his entry this time threatening.
“I respectfully invite Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, the ‘State Authority’ defined in the Immigration Act, to offer the public of Sarawak and Malaysia the justification for the denial of my entry into the state on Nov 14,” he said in a statement published on the MalaysiaKini news portal.
He said that while he fully supported the immigration powers of Sarawak and Sabah under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, it must be exercised transparently, rationally and in good faith.
“The Sarawak government should make public its consideration in denying entry of every person, so that its rationale will be appreciated, and its intended effect achieved with public consensus in Sarawak, if not also in Malaysia,” he said.
He pointed out that he was served a “Notice of Refusal of Entry” which merely stated: “This serves to notify you that pursuant to Section 65(1)(a) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, the State Authority has directed that no pass be issued to you to enter the State of Sarawak and such pass is required under the Section 66 for you to enter the State.”
The activist, who had arrived at about 3.50pm, was only allowed to enter the state at 9.45pm in order to seek medical treatment at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), where he was admitted overnight.
Wong, who left the state on Friday as he had initially planned, asked the Sarawak Immigration Department to explain its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in treating persons in a medical emergency.
Revealing that he had developed a severe headache and that his blood pressure had spiked at around 7.20pm, he rubbished claims in a news report that cited an unnamed source as saying that he had “refused to take any medicine” after being referred to a medical officer.
The chief minister told reporters late Friday night that Wong should have checked whether he was allowed to enter the Sarawak before coming to the state.
Nevertheless, he felt that the activist should have been given immediate medical attention.
“There is an (existing) standard operating procedure. He (Wong) should have been given the medical treatment that he requires immediately,” the chief minister said, when asked about the incident.