No doubt , both Tan Sri Bernard and Datuk Dr Jeffry came from the same ethnic group, the KDM. Yet, they adapt different kind of political philosophy. However, in the case of problematic NRD, both of them share the same concern. Briefly, let see what they have to say about it.
NRD According to Tan Sri Bernard Dompok
According to (UPKO) President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, there is a need to revamp the National Registration Department (NRD) administrative system to better handle cases of locals unable to attain citizenship in Sabah.
"However, if it is only an administrative problem, then there is no need for me to raise it to the Federal Cabinet" , he said.
He was commenting on two new cases of locals who had their applications for citizenship meeting dead ends despite trying for more than three decades (see separate story) as well as Yong Lee Hua who lost her citizenship after getting a replacement for her stolen IC.
"There's something wrong in the system. These are some of many cases of people who are still struggling to get their citizenship and the saddest part is that there are other people who walked into the country easily obtaining their citizenship through the backdoor.
In fact, we have been calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (among others, to solve such problems)," he said, adding that some of the perennial issues were about to be uncovered when he chaired the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity. " he concluded.
NRD According to Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan
On the other hands, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan felt that such revamp alone as mentioned earlier by Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, will not solve the problems of issuing identity cards (ICs) to non-citizens while denying locals of their citizenship rights.
He said, “No amount of administrative revamp can solve the IC and citizenship problems in Sabah without a strong political will or a change of government.”
he reckoned, the need for a whole new attitude by the federal government and the federal civil servants towards Sabah that was to respect Sabah’s rights and roles in the federation.
He also said the NRD staff had to understand what these rights were and to assist Sabahans to obtain their citizenship rights, including ICs without hassles and to protect Sabahans’ rights and sovereignty by rejecting any application by non-Malaysians for IC.
He believed that any manipulation or political abuse of citizenship rights and issuance of ICs to non-citizens should be exposed so that appropriate action could be taken against the perpetrators.
According to him, ‘do not care’ and ‘neo-colonial’ attitudes of the federal government over the last 45 years towards Sabah as well as their continuous denials and pretence that Project IC did not exist and given that the same Umno-controlled BN government was in power, he said only with a strong political will or a change of government could resolve these problems once and for all.
Author Comments and Conclusion
If we are Patriotic Sabahan as what we always claimed, then we should give our due appreciation to both leaders for contributing their opinions on how to handle the complex IC's problems faced by Malaysian citizen, living in Sabah. Rather than complaining, who is right and who is wrong, for once, let be serious. Malaysian Identity Card(IC) is our legacy. It is our recognition's ultimatum in the face of this trouble Earth.
Pertaining to this isu, it is easy to say than done and it involves a lot of bureaucratic works . Among others;
1) System updating for both statistic and logistic facilities.
2) Smart strategy and tactic in getting informations.
3) Good integral relationship with neighbouring countries and etc
4) Aggressive participation of relevant NGOs’
5) Enough funding
2) Smart strategy and tactic in getting informations.
3) Good integral relationship with neighbouring countries and etc
4) Aggressive participation of relevant NGOs’
5) Enough funding
EPILOGUE
So far, our mind set had been prejudicially focusing so much on the faulty made by those from Philippine and Indonesia. Some how and as a result of further investigation, new informations had surfaced. Showing that there could be a possibility of breach in citizen ownership by those coming from Mainland China, Taiwan or from our own neighbuors; Sarawak and Semenanjung.
So far, our mind set had been prejudicially focusing so much on the faulty made by those from Philippine and Indonesia. Some how and as a result of further investigation, new informations had surfaced. Showing that there could be a possibility of breach in citizen ownership by those coming from Mainland China, Taiwan or from our own neighbuors; Sarawak and Semenanjung.
Just for a while, think about it.
Ref: http://pemudasabah.blogspot.com
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