Baru on the 18-Point Agreement

PKR State Assemblyman fir Ba’kelalan Baru Bian has urged the state government to look into Sarawak’s rights as set out in the 18-Point Agreement during the formation of Malaysia. Baru was concerned that the state’s rights had been slowly and insidiously eroded without anyone realising it.

Highlighting several areas of concern, he said it was agreed that there should be no state religion in Sarawak as the state was of a different ethnic composition from Peninsular Malaysia.

“The absence of a state religion is a hallmark of Sarawak agreeing to join in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, due to the wisdom of our forefathers who acknowledged that Sarawak is a land for all creeds or beliefs to mutually prosper and grow with respect for each other’s rights and freedom,” he said during the debate on the Head of State’s address in the State Assembly yesterday.

As such, Baru said he was disturbed to note that the State Planning Unit’s publication Sarawak Facts and Figures 2010 stated on page two that Islam was the official religion of Sarawak.

He requested clarification on this matter and hoped for reassurance that this point of the agreement had not been amended or taken away.

Baru called for clarification on whether there was an official language for Sarawak as the same publication had stated that Bahasa Malaysia was the official language.

He said the 18-Point Agreement preserved the use of English as one of the state’s official languages, a right that was further safeguarded in the Federal Constitution.

“We are perhaps the only State Assembly in Malaysia which allows any language spoken in Sarawak to be used in this August House. On that premise, there cannot be an official language for Sarawak,” he said.

He added that more Sarawakians should be appointed to senior state and Federal government positions in Sarawak as called for in the “Borneonisation” clause of the 18-Point Agreement.

On another matter, Baru said the setting up of moral or religious clubs in schools should be made clear to the principals.

He said such clubs should be encouraged rather than hindered through red tape or preconditions because they provided a firm grounding in spiritual and moral values in youths, which in turn would keep them from straying into lives of crime in their later years.

“As a Christian, I wish to acknowledge the contributions made by the Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF) in many schools throughout Sarawak before and after my time in the 1970s.

“But unfortunately some schools are not very open to have such clubs or religious bodies formed in their schools today,” he said.

Referring to one case, he said an application to set up ISCF in SMK Merapok was rejected by the principal on the ground that there was no approval from the state education director.

As such, Baru asked the minister in charge to make a clear stand on this matter.