Who’s the real sultan of Sulu?
Ir. Hj. Othman bin Ahmad
An interesting article from the Star. It is interesting not for its
topic, but the realisation that West Malaysian journalists are
beginning to understand the real history of MALAYSIA, instead of just
Malaya that almost all Malayans seem to consider as Malaysia.
Based on what I read in newspapers and blogs, including a lawyer in
Sabah, Lex Borneo, these Malayans are ignoring the real issues of
justices that will be applied all over the world. Malaysia may no
longer pracitise the normal and correct justice system, but there is
still the world and our neighbours, who will insist on their rights
once they become powerful and Malaysia becoming weak.
The issue of the Sultan of Sulu is very hot because of the wealth that
it represents, i.e. the entire wealth of Sabah that is for all
purposes the richest in Malaysia, richer than even Sarawak.
Unfortunately, the right of the Sultan of Sulu is only for half of
Sabah, currently the poorest in the whole Malaysia, and among the
world, i.e. the eastern part of Sabah that is mostly populated by
Muslims.
Once these people realise this, there should be less contender for the
title of the Sultan of Sulu, except for those who really want to
develop this part of Sabah to its full potential.
The eastern part of Sabah is the one with the most bio-diversity and
the most unique water front geography, comprising the Marudu
Bay(Kudat), Sandakan bay, Darvel bay(Tawau) and even Lahad Datu bay,
It may not have mount Kinabalu, but it has Maliau basin and Danum
valley, as well as the longest river, Kinabatangan.
For lawyers who insist on interpreting the word "pajak" as understood
by the document in the possession of the descendents of the Sultan of
Sulu, as the "sale" of half of Sabah, the judge in British Colony had
acknowledge these rights by reestablishing the payment of the lease
money to the descendents for "eternity".
In what justice system anywhere in the world, that interpret the
perpetual payment of lease money as outright selling of property?
Probably in Malaysia and other corrupted nations.
One important aspect of this lease payment is that, it is to the
sultanate, i.e a human being, that have inheritance rights. As
Muslims, these inheritence rights must be decided by the Syariah
courts of Malaysia if the case were to be tried in Malaysia.
This payment is actually very small. Much smaller than the payments
made to the Sultans in West Malaysia, but the implication of not
paying it is very severe. The lease agreement is terminated, then the
property or rights revert to the Sultanate of Sulu, whoever that may
be.
Of course, you must be willing to fight for your rights. Malaysia will
not just give up all the wealth that this property offers for free. If
Malaysia were so stingy as not to pay even the small lease money, why
should they surrender much more wealth than that.
Sunday July 13, 2008
So, who’s the real sultan?
KUALA LUMPUR: Will the real Sultan of Sulu please stand up.
Over the past few weeks, several individuals have come forward
claiming to represent the Sulu sultanate and giving their views on
Sabah’s long-standing illegal immigrant problem.
The sultanate, no longer a legal entity, existed before the European
colonisation of the Philippines and Sabah in the 19th century, ruling
parts of Mindanao, Sabah and the islands of the Sulu Sea.
Following the Federal Government’s announcement of a crackdown on
Sabah’s illegal immigrants, an individual identifying himself as
Sultan Esmail D Kiram II, claiming to be 34th Sultan of Sulu, urged
Malaysia to take a humane approach in dealing with the problem.
He echoed the Philippine government’s suggestion that Malaysia grant
permanent resident status to Philippine citizens who had been staying
in Sabah for a long time.
On Friday, soon after DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang’s claim that the Sulu
sultanate had been issuing birth certificates to illegal immigrants
from the Philippines in Sabah, three people approached The Star
claiming to represent another person claiming to be the Sulu sultan.
The three – Datuk Seri Putra Eddy T. Sulaiman, Datuk Seri Wilfred J.
Kulungan and Datuk Seri Harry Lye Kok Heng – handed in a statement
from Sultan Rodinood Mohamad Julaspi Kiram II, which said he was not
the one behind the issuing of birth certificates to illegal immigrants
in Sabah.
Putra Eddy’s business card states that he is the sultan’s adviser and
personal secretary while Wilfred and Lye are the sultan’s financial
adviser and associate respectively.
In January, Sultan Rodinood, who claims to be the 29th reigning
“Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo”, was quoted in Manila as saying that
he was claiming territorial rights over Sabah and was willing to take
his case to the World Court.
Three years ago, Sultan Rodinood asked Malaysia to pay his sultanate US
$20bil (RM75bil) in compensation for getting the Philippine government
to drop its claim for Sabah.
Yesterday, Kota Kinabalu MP Dr Hiew King Cheu handed in a letter at
the Karamunsing police station in Kota Kinabalu asking the Sabah
Police Commissioner to investigate the issuance of the birth
certificates by the Sulu sultanate.
To add to the confusion, there is a website (www.topix.com/forum/news/
weird/TANTCGDQKOM7L0769) where people are asked to vote who they think
is the “legitimate Sultan of Sulu”.
The names listed are Sultan Ibrahim Barjin, Sultan Esmael Kiram III,
Datu Udah, Sultan Rodinood Julaspi, Sultan Aydal Aliuddin, Sultan
Ibrahim Pulalon, Datu Muedzul-Lail Kiram, Aliuddin Haddis Pabila,
Akijal Attih and Sultan Fuad Abdullah Kiram I.
Yet another claimant to the throne is Sultan Jamalul D Kiram III, who
was “crowned” the 33rd sultan in 1986.
cslee
<oth...@lycos.com> in this message from
<82fe3600-8ed5-4738...@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> subject as:
Who’s the real sultan of Sulu?:
wrote/and/or quoted:
>http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/13/nation/21813677&sec=nation
>
thanks hoa for the input
i missed this in the last reading
come to think of it, in the colonial days the bnbc and rajabrook did their
shares of plundering the lands leaving the local indigenous problems to be
"solved" by the local headmen/sultans/despots
had they left the former colonies with grace and good will these places would
not be such a mess now.
nevertheless, uk is suffering from the former colonial backlashes
my nextdoor neighbour just informed me that nearly the whole of birmingham is
coloninised by indians and the mayor is an indian.,!
-short-...@batuapi.cum.au-vide-napoleon-dengsping-cslee