KUCHING: State Reform Party Sarawak (STAR) is perturbed by recent calls from some parties to amend the gazette notification of ‘Sarawak Independence Day’ to ‘Sarawak Day’.
Its president Lina Soo agrees that July 22 is not the date of Sarawak independence as it was not decolonisation from British imperialism and not a surrender of independence and sovereignty back to Sarawak.
She said it was merely the date of internal self-government with the first ever appointment of a Sarawak chief minister and Cabinet.
Soo said it was devolution of powers from the British Governor and colonial officers to a local government, but without the handover of sovereignty, which remained with the British government until September 16 when Sarawak’s sovereignty was surrendered to the Federation of Malaya to be renamed Malaysia.
“Was Tok Nan (late chief minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem) wrong when he called it Sarawak Independence Day?
“No. Tok Nan was a learned lawyer and the former chief minister knew what he was doing,” she stressed.
Soo pointed out that what Adenan had done was a pre-emptive strike straight into the heart and aspirations of many Sarawakians who have a shared dream and vision of a state enjoying its full rights as enshrined in Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“By daring to call it ‘Independence Day’ when it is not, Tok Nan had, in fact, left his legacy behind for us to chase the bigger picture and to make it happens,” she said.
“So, let us appreciate and treasure Tok Nan’s legacy, and remember his reminder ‘Jaga Sarawak Tok Bait-Bait’.”
