Even a stone speaks in Sabah

By admin-s On Oct 6, 2014

It may sound strange, but it is true. In Sabah, even a stone speaks and speaks loudly when the repeated cries of the people in this Borneo state are left unanswered by the people in power at Putrajaya in Kuala Lumpur.

Joe Leong, The Ant Daily

An ‘oath stone’ on which was engraved Malaysia Day promises that have not been kept in the past half a century has now come back to haunt those in power and cry out for retribution.

The oath stone was an iron clad guarantee on three conditions for natives in the interior region of Sabah to accept the new Malaysian Federation, namely freedom of religion in Sabah, the state government to have authority over land in Sabah, and that native customs and traditions are to be preserved.

The proposal for the stone to be erected was made by Datuk G S Sundang, a native chief in Keningau, administrative headquarters of Sabah’s interior division, following a series of discussions and consultations, to summaries guarantees given by the Malaysian government to Sabah and at the same time to reiterate the loyalty of the people of the interior to Malaysia.

Known as the Keningau Oath Stone, erected within the compound of the previous site for the district office of Keningau, was unveiled on August 31 in 1964, the first anniversary of Malaysia’s formation. A ‘maningolig’ ritual ceremony was held, involving the sacrifice of a cockerel and conducted by a ‘babalian’, a tribal priest, in accordance with beliefs of the Murut people.

Tan Sri Richard Lind, who was the district officer of Keningau at that time and in charge of overseeing the erection of the oath stone, has stressed on the significance of that ceremony to the natives in the interior.

“An oath stone is held in reverence by the people of the interior. Any person or tribe breaking the terms of peace symbolised by the oath stone is said to be liable to incur misfortune or disaster,” he said in an article in a local daily recently.

According to him, the people in Sabah’s interior were reluctant to accept a written Constitution or the ‘Twenty Points’ of safeguards for the formation of Malaysia. Eventually, through diplomacy, this reluctance gave way when the essence of the Twenty Points were literally set on stone in a manner reflective of the traditions of the natives of the interior.

Local leaders had requested the unveiling of the oath stone to be conducted by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister or his deputy Tun Abdul Razak. Neither was able to attend.

Instead, Tan Sri V Manickavasagam, Minister of Labour was asked to represent the Malaysian government to witness the oath taking ceremony. Also present were Sabah Chief Minister Tun Fuad (Donald) Stephens, Datuk GS Sundang, president of Pasok Momogun, the main opposition party at that time; OKK Sedomon Gunsanad, OKK Angian Andulag and leaders of various other ethnic groups.

As it turned out, the hopes and dreams for a better deal than what the British colonial masters were able to dish out to native inhabitants on North Borneo have been shattered and remain largely unfulfilled.

The oath has been broken.