KUCHING: A delegation from Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF) yesterday presented a memorandum to the Astana, calling for July 22 to be gazetted an annual holiday commemorating Sarawak Independence Day. Assistant Private Secretary to Head of State Wan Mazehi Wan Akil was on hand to receive the memorandum from Alim GA Mideh, co-chairman of the delegation, entitled ‘The Demand’. Among the visitors were organising secretary Lina Soo and social activist Dr Elli Luhat. Alim said ‘The Demand’ was to commemorate the day Sarawak regained its independence and sovereignty from British colonial rule. They also handed another document called ‘The Resolution’. “The public and members of the Borneo Heritage Foundation signed this citizens’ petition in their support to allow the date as public holiday,” said Alim after handing ‘The Demand’ and ‘The Resolution’ at the Astana entrance yesterday. The two items were drafted following the group’s Sarawak 50th Independence Day forum held in Kuching a few days earlier. Alim revealed that among the seven points resolution were: that commencing year 2014, July 22 be declared an annual public holiday for Sarawak henceforth; that misleading historical information on Sarawak be corrected and disseminated to all levels of Malaysian community which includes, but not limited to, a review of Malaysian history curriculum in school and; that the Malaysian Agreement be reviewed to ensure due compliance of its terms and conditions in keeping with the spirit in which the agreement was forged. Others were that the Sarawak Museum archive of identity, document and historical resources be readily accessible to all Sarawakians for future reference and study; that the government dispense with the term ‘lain-lain’ to indicate the race of the applicants/deponents in all forms be it for government use or otherwise and replace it with ‘Dayak’ or alternatively, to do away with the requirement to state one’s race altogether; that the government of the day must honour and implement, with utter justice and fairness, the special position of all ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak enshrined and guaranteed in the Federal constitution; and that a permanent secretariat be established to pursue the attainment of the aforesaid resolutions. Alim said that BHF president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and member Jalumin Bayogoh sent their apologies for not being able to attend the handover of documents yesterday.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:34:27 +0000