KUCHING: The way forward for Sarawak and Sabah is to continue striving to restructure the existing federalism system of the country.
In stating this political pundit Dr Arnold Puyok poured cold water on the often bandied about idea of seceding from the Federation of Malaysia, saying this is not the answer to reclaiming the eroded rights of both states under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“What we can do now is to restructure the federal system. We have the opportunity to restructure as the issue of MA63 has already gained nationwide attention and there were also constitutional amendments (on MA63).
“We know the formation of Malaysia was done in a hurry. We also know that there are several things that render Sabah and Sarawak quite untenable in this Malaysian federation system. But this can be improved.
“That is why I say there needs to be a restructuring. The constitutional amendment is the first step for us to structure the Malaysian federalism system. Another way we can think of is by allowing certain powers to return to Sabah and Sarawak,” he explained during the Politik Sabah dan Sarawak Dalam Konteks Hubungan Persekutuan – Negeri, (2008 – 2021) online webinar on today (June 7).
The Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSH) deputy dean noted that there would be significant impact to the country should there be any secession.
“We can see in some places around the world where secession has happened, there have been cases of civil wars, bloodshed and so on and I’m sure we don’t want to see such things happen in Malaysia,” he said.
Arnold also pointed out that the issue is often raised because those who are pushing for secession are those who believe that Sabah and Sarawak are bound for better development, similar to Brunei and Singapore.
However, he emphasised that governance plays a bigger role for the two states to be ahead of the curve in being developed states.
“If we were to compare Sarawak and Sabah to Singapore, we should avoid trying to replicate its state of being an independent and sovereign country by itself. We must look at other aspects such as its leadership and governance.
“It is not impossible for Sarawak and Sabah to become as developed as Singapore even as part of the Federation of Malaysia, and secession does not promise this as well.
“To me, leadership and governance are the two things that must be highlighted when trying to emulate Singapore and other developed countries,” he explained.
