By CC Pung, JP
The call for autonomy has been getting a lot of support in Sabah and Sarawak.
In between came calls for the two East Malaysian states to drive for independence by seceding from the Federation of Malaysia.
The rising sentiments is the manifestation of decades of having been taken for a ride by Malaya which has recently gained a new moniker as neo colonialist.
I first heard autonomy mentioned some 30 years ago during the Adullah Badawi premiership.
Sadly no real autonomy is seen. Other than the incessant chorus about it.
I think the lack of progress has to do with the seemingly incoherent articulation.
First, is autonomy an official agenda? Who’s is charge of it? What’s the timeline ?
Is there even a position paper on Sabah’s desire for autonomy?
How far and wide is this autonomy we desire, in what sectors, why?
Existing laws already give Sabah autonomy over, for example, immigration and land matters.
We’ve been told here and there that Sabah wants control over education, health care, etc.
These are ministries that involve big budgets that Sabah do not have, and neither does Sabah have the expertise to ad.inister them.
I have not heard or read about any study about the pros and cons, and the how of it.
I was thinking that perhaps some clever people would have gone about with some SWOT analysis, surveys and data analysis and create models for a staggered move towards autonomy.
My guess is, if Sabah were say granted autonomy in any sector, we will flop miserably.
Sabahans cal recall how we cried for Sabah Electricity (which is controlled by Tenaga Nasional) to come under state control.
TNB did let go but many strings remain tangled.
Instead of improving power supply (which motivated the cry for independance) the only thing I’ve seen has been the change of logo and much brave promises.
Autonomy is very emotional.
Unless I see a deliberate, dedicated, in-depth, comprehensive measures towards gaining autonomy, all the macho talk is nothing but castle in the sky.
The hidden word within autonomy is independence.
What do we do with defence and security?
Some pirates and Sulu rebels created troubles in our East Coast that required a mobilisation of over RM1 billion since 2013.
The money came from defence, police and MMEA (maritime enforcement agency) that are not under Sabah.
We don’t have that kind of monet.
We don’t even have enough to deal with recurring pot holes on our roads!
Fugg autonomy.
Editor: The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of talantang.com
