Mahathir should speak up about the serious allegation about “Project Mahathir False ICs” in Sabah which has resulted in foreigners exceeding Sabahans in the state population

_____________________
Press Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
______________________

(Kota Kinabalu, Friday) :Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad should speak up about the serious allegation about “Project Mahathir False ICs” in Sabah which has resulted in foreigners exceeding Sabahans in the state population.

As reported in the local Sabah press today, former Senator Dr. Chong Eng Leong in his submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee on integrity at the Sabah State Assembly yesterday, alleged that the extraordinary population increase in Sabah was caused by the deliberate issuance of Malaysian ICs to foreigners based on false Statutory Declarations under “Project IC” or “Project Mahathir”.

As a result, there are today around 1.75 million foreigners in Sabah, including those in possession of the Project Mahathir ICs, as compared to 1.5 million genuine locals in Sabah.

Dr. Chong said he was talking about hundreds of thousands of false ICs already in the hands of foreigners who are proclaiming themselves not only Malaysians but Bumiputras having all the privileges and rights of Customary Native Rights in Sabah.

He disclosed that in the 1999 certified electoral rolls, through the new IC numbers, it was revealed that there were 150,000 Sabah-born registered voters who were born in 1952 through 1960 but according to the Sabah Statistics Department, the State’s population in 1951 was 334,141 and in 1960, 454,421, an increase of 120,000.

He estimated that with 80 per cent registered as voters, there would only be about 100,000 Sabah-born voters for this period – which would mean that about one-third of voters allegedly born in Sabah in 1952-1960 were foreigners with ICs issued fraudulently with the use of falsified Sijil Akuan under the Project Mahathir False I/Cs.

These are very serious allegations which Mahathir cannot allow to stand in the public domain uncontradicted or unclarified. Alternatively, Mahathir should ask for an appearance before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity to give his version of the Project Mahathir False ICs as alleged by Dr. Chong.

(16/06/2006)

This is an admission of an ex Chief Minister of Sabah: Harris Salleh

"The Kadazans will become like the Sikhs are now in India, a race forever under
suspicion by the majority race. There is no doubt that Sabah is moving towards
being dominated by the Muslims who already make up more than 50% of the
population. It all depends on the federal government, how fast the process con-
tinues. Remember we have nearly 300,000 Filipino and Indonesian refugees and
workers here in Sabah and most of them are Muslims. Most have been here for
many years and will become eligible for citizenship. They are happy living and
working here and do not want to leave. . .the federal government can register any
of the refugees in three hours, three days, three months or three years. There is
no law stating the time and if the federal government wants to alter forever the voting
patterns of Sabah then it can do it as easily as signing the papers "(Raffaele, 1986:424–
426; emphasis added).


shouldnt these monkeys be put under ISA, or be charged for treason?

This is disgusting. I have read something relevant to this too in one of the blogs that in the early 90s, foreigners from Southern Philippines were given ICs and were asked to vote for BN. Apparently this was carried out with the intention of overthrowing the previous government by the BN which eventually BN succeeded and continue to maintain their control till today.

ya, it is disgusting. heres an interesting article written by a Kamal Sadiq from Uni of California - Irvine:
(in pdf; and too long to cut n paste here)

When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigrationinto Malaysia.

http://www.malaysia-today.net/blog2006/rep...php?itemid=2275

The following item has been deleted from Bernama's website. Why?

Project IC Boils Over In Sabah
Features
January 19, 2007 22:12 PM

By Newmond Tibin
Malaysian National News Agency

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Hassnar Ebrahim shocked a lot of people, particularly the locals, when he exposed a Malaysian identification card (IC) scam or known as Project IC in Sabah, in a recent interview with a local newspaper.

The locals here are stunned as many of them who reside in the state's interiors have yet to own the sophisticated Malaysian IC or MyKad, but based on Hassnar's claims, it seems that the card was easily accessible to foreigners.

While Project IC is not a new issue in Sabah, it continues to be debated by many who express concern as the matter is related to the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah which is perceived as the mother of all social woes in the state.

Hassnar, an entreprenuer, confessed that he unknowingly became involved with others who made it possible for thousands of foreigners to secure Malaysian ICs.

The former Sandakan district chief, while refusing police's request to make a statement on the issue, however, is willing to give testimony in court.

Hassnar was detained under the ISA on Aug 9, 1998 for two months, and then placed under house arrest for two years in Sandakan from Sept 6, 1998. He was also among the material witnesses in the Likas election petition trial in 1999.

Meanwhile, Sabah Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has claimed that currently there are 1.7 million foreigners in Sabah, including 600,000 who possess the ICs.

Responding to the allegation, former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak challenged Dr Jeffrey to list the names of the 1.7 million people but the latter has so far not done so.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the state government viewed the matter very seriously and was doing all it could to solve it.

He asked those who exposed the issue to come forward and cooperate with the police.

"Do not simply talk through the newspapers. Cooperate with the authorities," said Musa, who also directed the National Registration Department (NRD) and the Immigration Department to explain the issue to the public in the interest of all.

Following the expose, Sabah police commissioner Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Hassan had requested Hassnar to assist police in the investigation.

He said the police could not complete the investigation into Project IC without the cooperation of those with information.

As such, the police were putting Hassnar's statement on the issue on record to speed up the investigation, he added.

Mohd Mokhtar said the police would not arrest Hassnar or anyone without sufficient proof to link them with the criminal activity.

Several residents here met by Bernama, however, admitted they were from the Philippines and had secured the Malaysian IC through the said project.

"True. Project IC exists. I secured my IC from the project in the early 1980's," said Fuad Arif from Tawi-Tawi island, the Philippines, who now resides in Kampung Sabang in Menggatal, near here, with his family.

According to him, he came to Sabah in the mid-1970's with his parents, and they had stayed at Pulau Mantanani before moving to the village.

"After living here for several years, I finally received my Malaysian IC in 1984. At that time, a middleman came to our village to distribute the cards.

"I still remember the middleman coming to every house in the village to fill up forms for the IC and collect the fee of about RM10 each for stamp duty.

"One of the documents used to support the IC application was the late birth certificate registration letter," he recalled.

Fuad said that once the ICs were ready, the middleman would return to the village to distribute the cards to the residents, who were immigrants and had lived there for a long time.

In fluent Bahasa Melayu, he said that his family believed that they would have a better future in Sabah compared to Tawi-Tawi.

"There is no unrest here. We are free to roam anywhere we want. We can go to Tanjung Aru, Mount Kinabalu or Kota Kinabalu," said Fuad, who is the holder of the IC bearing registration number H0504933.

Earlier, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) secretary-general Radin Malleh had questioned the authencity of ICs with numbers starting from H0288001 to H03840000, involving 96,000 holders; H0480001 to H05760000 (96,000); H0609601 to H0610000 (400); H0658001 to H0658200 (200); H0658401 to H0659000 (600); and H0666001 to H0666400 (400), saying he had taken up the matter in the Dewan Rakyat when he was the Member of Parliament for Tenom.

Another Kampung Sabang resident, Jamili Bungsu, 53, said the issuing of ICs under the project was rampant in the early 1980's until 1985.

"Just imagine, in the early 1980's at Kampung Pondo in Pulau Gaya (near Kota Kinabalu), there were only about 10 houses there. But the number soon increased to almost 500 squatter homes whose occupants were immigrants from the Philippines.

"It was not their fault that there were locals who were willing to arrange getting the ICs for them. Not many knew who were the masterminds behind the operation. It might have been done by those with high ranks as it was not easy to make an IC," he said.

Jaidy Kamlun, 26, from Kampung Pulau Gaya, said most immigrants who secured the ICs through the project had been living in the country for a long time and were involved in the state's development projects.

He said in Pulau Gaya alone, there were now more than 10,000 immigrants from a neighbouring country and most of them were helped by 'locals' to get the ICs.

"Of course the immigrants would grab the golden opportunity as it required no documents. Furthermore, they wanted to stay here. Most of them now have MyKads and can vote. As far as I know, the project not only benefited Filipinos, but those from Indonesia, India and China. The modus operandi was the same, that was, through a middleman."

He said it was unfair to link immigrants holding the ICs with criminal activities in Sabah.

"Perhaps some of them are involved in criminal activities or social problems but not all. Society's perception is inaccurate as we came here to earn a living.

"Our parents have lived in Sabah for a long time, and as a new generation, we do not desire to return to the Philippines. We are like the locals who love and are loyal to Malaysia," he said.

Jaidy supported the government's efforts to send back illegal immigrants to their home countries and prevent them from re-entering Malaysia.

"Let bygones be bygones. There is no need to determine whose fault it was. Let's work together towards a better Sabah," said Jaidy, who received his education up to Form Five here.

His views were echoed by his village friend Tamskie Abdul Said, 36, who said that until now, nobody knew who were the masterminds of the IC project that involved Pulau Gaya residents.

"Project IC was different from those involving fake identification cards. The immigrants preferred Project IC as fake ICs did not allow voting rights and the holder would be repatriated if caught by the police," he said.

Several quarters including political parties and non-governmental organisations in Sabah have expressed concern over the existence of Project IC as it could threaten the country's security and deny genuine citizens employment opportunities as blue collar workers.

In this regard, they have appealed to the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to get to the bottom of the issue and ways to resolve it.

The state and federal governments are also aware of the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.

Even the Barisan Nasional component parties including the PBS, United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) have been vocal in expressing their concern over Project IC. -- BERNAMA

Is the government really stupid to let foreigners flood East Malaysia.Its endangering national security.

I understand that Federal government rarely intruded into the matter of East Malaysia politics for years,is it possible this ruse is purely the agenda of Sabah politicians rather than of the Federal government.

They government never feels comfortable when there are any non-Muslim leaders in the country. In penang also they are trying hard to find a way to end "chinese domination", by suggesting the CM post to be rotated. christians used to form the majority in sabah, but not anymore. Im not sure if its the pple within the state who started i this idea, or ppl in the Federal govt. But ex-CMs Harris Salleh and Tun Mustapha are guilty. If u see Harris Salleh's admission in my first post, he already implicated the federal government.

Why dont u come here and see how messed up it is. i already mentioned that Sandakan is like Mindanao. Tawau like Surabaya. i know. ive been there. maybe the opposition politicians exagerated the numbers a bit. but regardless, official census estimate for 2006 says 25% of the population consists of "non-msian citizens". there was abnormal growth rates for: "malays", "other bumiputeras", and even "indonesians". please do read the article i posted above (post#3). btw, who the else would vote for UMNO, a malay party, in Sabah???

Is this a problem in Sarawak too?

i dont think so. their population is quite low, and never really hear any complaints. plus BN has ruled over the state since '63 if im not mistaken.

The next general election is coming soon, that means more foreigners would be able to become instant malaysian citizens huh ? There are some foreigners married to genuine Malaysian and have been applying for permanent resident status (not even citizenship) but failed to receive any approval after years and -years of waiting and yet these filipinos and indonesians are able to get citizenship so easily.
If this is the situation, then don't have election in Sabah, just put BN in control forever and no need to import these "citizens".

if the sabah leaders knew how to "play the game" like sarawak, maybe there would not be any problem. unfortunately our leaders too cannot harap. but then again why should we please the federal govt all the time?

sabah and sarawak entered the federation based on the 20-point agreement which guaranteed a certain degree of autonomy. we were supposed to be on out of four entities in malaysia: malaya, s'pore, s'wak' and sabah. but slowly we were reduced to being one of only 13 states. now the 20 point agreement is worth nothing. the federal govt can easily amend the law with the majority in the legislative assembly being from umno (a true extension of the federal govt.)

Yeah, Sabah will lose its autonomy because of this. Too much politicking in Sabah because too much money in stake.
Sometimes too much power for federal state also make it hard for state govt to admin the state peacefully.

I tot it's a policy of UMNO not to interfere in Sabah and Sarawak.

It not because UMNO want to intefere with Sabah govt but rather some politician from Sabah asking help from certain people within UMNO itself.

Yes its true and you are right my fren

they already rule sabah. current CM Musa Aman is from UMNO. ex-CM Osu "God of Gamblers" Haji Sukam also from UMNO. from 2004 election: 60 ADUN: 59 BN (32 UMNO, 13 PBS. 5 UPKO, 4 SAPP, 3 LDP, 1 MCA, and 1 PBRS); 1 independant candidate.



yeah right. ask help for what? to run the state? can u please elaborate and explain, maybe something i dont know yet.

UMNO get invitation from USNO leader, Tun Sakaran Dandai me think. Their objective was neutralize PBS power in Sabah. But I still don't know how much influance UMNO have in Sabah compare to what they have in Peninsular Malaysia ?

ya, u may be right. i believe Harris Salleh and Tun Mustapha also did have discussions with UMNO. but its also possible that UMNO are the one who approached these leaders. anyway, i think these leaders are stupid in allowing a peninsula based party to rule the state.

Maybe UMNO leader from Sabah want to have chance to become Prime Minister

Juz imagine if BN follow what the Spore Presidency rotation plan......Samy vellu might be PM of Malaysia...and juz imagine all road with have ERP....even the kampung road

Pacaindera, since you from Sabah.. What the fuss about Chong Kah Kiat resignation... Is it about i/c problem in Sabah... All I know was i/c problem seem related too Musa Aman Khan ???

Sorry Betong. im not too informed on this yet. But from what i know, Chong just said he resigned over matters of principles. No offence but for me Chong is just another puppet for BN and even UMNO. When get some info on this will let u know.

Betong, it seems that the problem got nothing to do with the i/c problem (correct me if im wrong). many ppl suspect that there is some kind of rift between Chong and Musa. but its mostly speculation. as u might be aware Musa has been under a lot of $hit, accused of many things including corrupt practices. Even police report by opposition of all his wrongdoings. Whn Chong was CM apparently he refused some of Musa's proposal when he was Finance minister. now some people say Chong proposal to build temple in kudat rejected by Musa, so Chong not too happy. Musa also plan to develop Sipadan island, Chong disagree. these are what i found around the net.

maybe theres bigger problem? chong feel alienated by other cabinet members led by Musa. Maybe he's protesting against Musa overly corrupt practice? Maybe he feel like a mosquito? (he say "...I'm nobody, not important and I'm nothing"). maybe he planning to join opposition? dunno la.

MALAYSIA: Permainan Angka Politik di Sabah (Bahasa INdonesia)
April 2nd, 2007 by Vanitha Nadaraj Print This Post/Page

humana3.jpgDalam waktu 30 tahun, jumlah warga Melayu di Sabah meningkat enam belas kali lipat. Etnik Melayu bukanlah orang asli Sabah. Mereka adalah ras dominan di semenanjung Malaka. Penduduk Sabah heran mengapa hal itu bisa terjadi, terutama karena tidak adanya perpindahan masal dari semenanjung ke wilayah itu. Vanitha Nadaraj mengungkapkan bagaimana bekas Perdana Menteri Mahathir Muhammad berada dibalik fenomena itu. Ia menggunakan imigran Indonesia dan Filipina untuk mempertahankan kekuasaannya. Laporan ini akan disampaikan oleh FIA ANWAR.

Liyah, imigran asal Sulawesi berumur 35 tahun sedang menyiapkan makan malam di Kota Kinabalu. Delapan belas tahun lalu, ia meninggalkan keluarga dan kehidupannya yang miskin untuk masuk ke Sabah dengan izin sosial.

Di awal 1990an, ia mendengar bahwa ada yang menyebarkan Akte Kelahiran Malaysia secara gratis. Saat itu, Liyah sedang bekerja di sebuah pabrik. Ia pun segera berangkat untuk memperolehnya. Akte itu akan memudahkan dia untuk mendapatkan kartu identitas Malaysia.

“Yang lain mendaftar, jadi saya mendaftar juga. Sebelumnya, tahun 90an, banyak orang yang mendaftar. Tidak hanya satu, tapi ribuan. Saya tidak yakin apakah mereka memberikan akte kelahiran agar saya memilih mereka. Yang lain bilang, itu tujuannya. Tapi saya tidak pernah memilih, saya tidak akan pernah memilih.”

Pemimpin madya di partai UMNO Sabah tahu betul akan hal itu. Ia membantu pemeberian akte kelahiran dan kartu identitas kepada warga Indonesia dan Filipina. Ia juga membantupara imigran menjadi anggota partai itu.

Ia menolak memberikan namanya saat diwawancara, khawatir kalau hal itu akan menggagalkan karir politiknya. Kita panggil saja dia Irvan.

“Saat itu, warga Muslim Melayu masih menjadi minoritas di Sabah. Jadi, mereka diberikan kartu identitas dan harus memilih Barisan Nasional. Hal ini terjadi saat UMNO masih belum berkuasa dan tidak ada di negara bagian ini. Saat UMNO berkuasa pada pertengahan tahun 1990an, pemberian kartu identitas tidak diperlukan lagi. Saya hanya membantu para pemilik kartu untuk menjadi anggota UMNO saja. Tidak masalah apakah mereka orang Indonesia atau Filipina, asalkan mereka Muslim. Mereka harus bergabung dengan UMNO. Karena itu ada kecurigaan apakah pemimpin madya UMNO adalah benar-benar orang Malaysia. Departemen pendaftaran menyatakan, mereka dan kartu identitas mereka asli. Bagaimana bisa seseorang yang baru datang ke Sabah, mendapatkan kartu identitas, lalu dua tahun kemudian menjadi pemimpin UMNO cabang?”

Pada awal tahun 1990an, partai Kristen PBS berkuasa di Sabah. UMNO yang berada dibawah kepimpinan Mahathir Mohammad ingin menurunkan mereka.

Warga Sabah tidak mendukung UMNO. Banyak penduduk lokal yang memiliki dendam terhadap sesuatu yang berasal dari semenanjung Malaka. Jadi, strategi UMNO adalah mengajak kaum pendatang untuk bergabung.

Proyek ini pertama kali terungkap kepada publik pada bulan Februari 2000. Saat itu, hasil pemilihan umum di distrik Sabah dibawa ke pengadilan.
Pengadilan menerima bukti yang menunjukkan bahwa kartu identitas diberikan kepada kaum imigran. Mereka kemudian diarahkan untuk memilih Barisan Nasional yang sedang dipimpin oleh Mahathir Muhammad.

Skandal pemilihan umum itu dikenal sebagai Proyek IC atau Proyek MM. IC adalah singkatan dari Identity Card atau kartu identitas, sementara MM adalah singkatan dari Mahathir Muhammad.

SIMON SIPAUN menceritakan kepada saya tentang proyek ini. Ia sekarang pension dari posisi Sekretaris Negara Bagian, jabatan tetringgi dalam birokrasi Sabah.

“Awalnya, tentu saja hal ini didorong oleh Tun Mustapa karena factor ke-Islamannya. Menurut saya, dukungan dari pemerintah federal untuk menciptakan hegemoni Muslim di Sabah akan selalu ada. Hal ini untuk memastikan adanya pemerintahan yang dipimpin oleh orang Islam di sini.”

Skandal itu segera menjadi berita di Malaysia. Pejabat Sabah dan Komisi Hak Azasi Manusia menuntut agar kebenaran diungkapkan. Tetapi sampai saat ini, pemerintah tetap diam.

Pemerintah sekarang dan sebelumnya menolak untuk diwawancarai mengenai kasus ini. Tetapi dari hasil penyelidikan saya, pemberian kartu identitas ini tidak dipelopori oleh Mahathir.

Ada dua kasus serupa yang memakai pendekatan itu. Yang pertama adalah pendekatan partai Muslim Berjaya di tahun 1980an dan partai Kristen PBS pada awal tahun 90an.

Irvan, pemimpin menengah di partai UMNO mengatakan, ada metode lain yang digunakan untuk mendapatkan suara bagi Barisan Nasional. Hal itu dilakukan dengan menerbitkan ‘surat IC’. Dalam surat itu disebutkan bahwa orang yang memegangnya telah memenuhi syarat untuk mendapatkan kartu identitas.

“Saat masa pemilihan umum sudah dekat, berikan dokumen pada para imigran gelap dan suruh mereka untuk memilih. Mereka sangat bahagia. “Ini kartu Anda, pilih UMNO, pilih Barisan”. Dahulu bekas kepala Departemen Pendaftaran melakukan hal ini. Pilih imigran gelap, berikan mereka surat IC. Sehari sebelum pemilihan umum, para petugas pergi ke daerah perkebunan lalu membawa para pekerja imigran ke dalam bis. Kami menempatkan mereka ke dalam sebuah rumah, jumlahnya sekitar 200 sampai 300 orang. Kami memberikan mereka surat itu dan mengirim mereka ke pos pemungutan suara. Lalu kami mengirimkan mereka kembali ke perkebunan.”

Metode ini masih digunakan. Cara ini membantu Barisan Nasional untuk tetap berkuasa dan mereka tidak terburu-buru untuk meninggalkannya.
###
http://asiacalling.kbr68h.com/index.php/archives/172
http://asiacalling.kbr68h.com/index.php/archives/170 (another article)

Sorry to bring this up again. But my brain just kicked in

So what are u saying? Is this your justification for UMNO to rape our state? Because we invited u here?

Picture this scenario: U invited me to your house becoz u had problems with your CPU. So i come. In your house your sister is there. She is hawttt. . But i keep quiet. I carried on to try fix your CPU. U suddenly wanted to go take a dump. U say this gonna be a long one . I say OK. after 5 mins, i went to your sis room and molested her. She wasnt too happy. U came out, and found out what happen. U also angry, want to kick my @$$. I say wait! U invited me here in the first place. What do u say????

We may or may not have invited UMNO here. But that doesnt mean u have the right to rape our state!

I think Musa Hitam was the one who's responsible introducing UMNO to Sabah because of political chaos in Sabah that day but certainly I didn't know what that choas were.
Certainly I didn't agree with you that UMNO come to Sabah and rape its people but rather their people rape their own people since all of UMNO leader was from Sabah...
You just can't blame UMNO for interfering in Sabah since UMNO have wait it since 1963 to spread their wings into Sabah. They just wait their chance to consolidate their influance in other place in Malaysia like others. If you read news on the net there was not single leader in Sabah who were not corrupted including UMNO but again that was just pure news not fact.

Who write this article. Maybe she live in pre-historic era or just amateur. How can she mention that Semenanjung Malaysia as Semenajung Melaka. I think BN doesn't need to give free ic just give money to opposition in Sabah. Sure they will join BN after that. Just see what happen to PBS.

There was no chaos. umno just being busybody.

Ya, i didnt literally mean rape our ppl. Rape as in plunder our resources and flood our state with illegal immigrant.

I dont deny la that our own leaders rape us. but these sabahan umno leaders: who is their boss? Who do they reports to? of course to those umnoputras in KL.

its just a minor mistake. get over it

Ok, BN didnt need to. So What? They still did it. So BN give free IC just for fun? That just great isnt it