DAP wants Sarawak to become another Singapore or Philippines
Why not just say you want Sarawak to be unofficially independent from Malaysia but instead of calling it ‘The Independent Republic of Sarawak’ DAP will call it ‘The True Autonomous Region of Sarawak’? Now that would be calling a spade a spade instead of calling it a cangkul.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Basically, what DAP wants is not just ‘Administrative Autonomy’ for Sarawak but self-rule; or what DAP calls ‘True Autonomy’. DAP is making it appear like there is a difference between ‘True Autonomy’ and ‘Administrative Autonomy’. And they are also making it appear like the Sarawak Chief Minister does not know the difference between the two — or he does but is pretending he does not.
I suppose if you can believe that then you can believe that Merdeka and Independence are two different things. But then the DAP Pakatuns can believe anything as long as it is not Umno or asal bukan Umno (ABU).
Autonomy is normally the first step towards independence. And the meaning of the word ‘autonomy’ — whether it is ‘True Autonomy’ or ‘Administrative Autonomy’ — is self-explanatory. Autonomy means self-rule, self-government or self-determination. And you are either pregnant or you are not. You cannot be a little bit pregnant like you are a little bit autonomous.
The word ‘autonomy’ comes from the Greek word ‘autonomos’, which is a combination of two words — auto, meaning ‘self’, and nomos, meaning ‘law’.
In the United States government, autonomy refers to one’s own self-governance. One former example of an autonomous jurisdiction into the United States government belong to the Philippine Islands; the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 provided the framework for the creation of an autonomous government providing the Filipino people (Filipinos) broader domestic autonomy, though it reserved certain privileges to the United States to protect its sovereign rights and interests. [Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Law)]
DAP is accusing the Sarawak Chief Minister of main wayang. Actually it is DAP that is main wayang when it asks for ‘True Autonomy’ instead of ‘Administrative Autonomy’.
Why not just say you want Sarawak to be unofficially independent from Malaysia but instead of calling it ‘The Independent Republic of Sarawak’ DAP will call it ‘The True Autonomous Region of Sarawak’? Now that would be calling a spade a spade instead of calling it a cangkul.
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Adenan, Najib putting on ‘show’ on autonomy
The True Autonomy that Sarawakians want is stated clearly in DAP Sarawak’s 2014 Bintulu Declaration i.e. autonomy in Education, Healthcare, Internal Security and Taxation.
(Free Malaysia Today) – As a veteran politician, it’s impossible that Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem does not know the difference between True Autonomy and Administrative Autonomy, said DAP Sarawak Chief Chong Chieng Jen.
“Is Adenan putting up this show (on autonomy) with Najib merely for the coming state elections? Is he powerless to fight for True Autonomy for Sarawak?”
Adenan, charged Chong, was lumping the two together hoping that the people will be “fooled” into believing that he’s fighting for True Autonomy for the State while in actual fact, he’s willing to accept Administrative Autonomy. “Sarawakians want True Autonomy and not merely Administrative Autonomy.”
The True Autonomy that Sarawakians want was stated clearly in DAP Sarawak’s 2014 Bintulu Declaration, added Chong, i.e. autonomy in Education, Healthcare, Internal Security and Taxation.
Under the Administrative Autonomy that Adenan was willing to accept from the Federal Government, continued Chong, the Sarawak Government does not have the power to decide even on the annual allocation for education in the state. “It has to abide by whatever decision made by or allocation given by the Federal Government.”
The only major change that Administrative Autonomy will bring about was a change of the cronies who will benefit from government contracts, claimed Chong.
Previously, he said, the main beneficiaries in Sarawak were the cronies of the Federal Ministers. “Under Administrative Autonomy for the state, the beneficiaries will be the cronies of the state ministers.”
The people of Sarawak, he lamented, will still be subject to the policies of the Federal Government. “For example, there would be no English-medium schools in Sarawak.”
The bottom line is that without the source of revenue at the Sarawak Government’s disposal, pointed out Chong, there cannot be True Autonomy for the state. “That’s why DAP Sarawak advocates for autonomy in Taxation, i.e. 20 per cent of oil and gas royalties and 50 per cent of all tax revenue collected from Sarawak to be given to the State Government.”
“It’s only with sufficient revenue that Sarawak will have True Autonomy.”
