OKK Merdeka Surprise

I have the privileges of speaking with Gundohing Sylvester Disimon (right) and Penampang District Chief OKK Christopher Mojungkim (left) on Friday Aug 28, 2009. As in my previous posting, the government had terminated Mojungkim's service on July 23, 2009 and appointed Disimon to replace him on Aug 3, 2009.

Mojungkim appealed against his `sacking' while Disimon had accepted his appointment and all set to report duty to Penampang District Officer William Sampil at the Penampang Native Court tomorrow (Tuesday Sept 1, 2009).

But on Friday Disimon's appointment was revoked.

"Yes, I have received my letter of revocation," he told me on Saturday, confirming that he would not be the new Penampang OKK. His appointment was cancelled with him not even have the chance to sit at the OKK chair and hold court as the Native Court's Chief Judge.

But while Disimon's appointment had been revoked, there has been no word on Mojungkim's termination. The big question for now is will Mojungkim continue to be in office or a third person will be appointed as the new OKK.

In a case like this, either of the two will be happy. They are cousins and I smell of some `Surprise' development in a day or two.

Now that Disimon will not be an OKK at all, Mojungkim's future as OKK is not secured. As no solution to this controversial in sight, I assume that the post of Penampang OKK is now vacant or can even be said FROZEN for the time being

USDA Malaysia Day Count Down at Tuaran

In conjunction with Malaysia Day on Sept 16, the United Sabah Dusun Assoication (USDA) is hosting a Malaysia Day Count Down ceremony at Padang Selupuh, Tuaran beginning 8pm on Sept 15, 2009.

USDA president Datuk Kalakau Untol is inviting Sabahans who envisage - Changes for Politics - System of Government - to attend the function.

Speakers: -

1. Parti Keadilan Rakyat national Vice-President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan will speaks on the 20 Points, the foundation on which the people of Sabah stand in agreeing to be partner together with Sarawak, Singapore and Federation of Malaya to form a new nation, Malaysia, on Sept 16, 1963.

2. Sabah veteran politician Datuk Haji Karim Ghani will talk on System of Government.

3. Sabah senior lawyer Haji Ansari Abdullah is to speak on Judiciary Abuses.

4. Lawmaker (MP Tuaran) Datuk Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing will speak on Future Challenges for the People of Sabah.

5. Kalakau, a former lawmaker and ex-Federal Deputy Minister, will talk on Patriotism.

This is the first time that an event of this nature is being organised by USDA in conjunction with the day in which the people of Sabah celebrates the day on which the Federation of Malaysia was born46 years ago.

Malaysia celebrates Merdeka on Aug 31 which will be a Public Holiday nationwide. Sabah will observes Sept 16 as Public Holiday, also to celebrate the official birthday of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri.

Happy Malaysia Day. Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!!!

Those were the days we speak perfect English....

Nadeswaran was in London reading law when I was then the correspondent of the Times of Malaysia (London) Ltd, which is the New Straits Times' branch in UK. We had been friends for a long time as he was also a former senior journalist with the New Straits Times. He is now an editor with the Sun and I adopted here an interesting article of his which had appeared in his weekly column `Citizen Nades'.

Teaching children to fail
R. Nadeswaran

BROWN envelopes that land on our table always get immediate attention.
While some are routine anonymous notes with more venom than facts from
disgruntled members of the public, a few contain unsubstantiated
allegations while others usually are from self-appointed do gooders who think they have the right cure for all our country's ills.
A few contain valuable information which helps us in our journalistic
efforts to uncover some wrongdoing or another. But when the contents of one such envelope were opened on Wednesday, it wasnot only

this writer who went berserk, but also several colleagues with whom they were shared.
The header on the note read: Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Selangor: Program
Peningkatan Prestasi UPSR (Selangor Education Department: UPSR Performance

Enhancement Programme). It was a mathematics test preparatory paper for
Standard Six pupils who would be sitting for the exam next month.
Going through the 40 questions, there were no less than 33 grammatical
errors more than 75%! Poring through the 18 pages of questions printed
on 10 sheets of paper, one can only conclude that the questions were set in Bahasa Malaysia

and were translated by a less-than-competent cikgu who was not proficient in the language.
It also showed that whoever supervised this project never bothered to check them. Instead,

they were sent to the printers with an accompanying
which was signed: Saya yang menurut perintah.
These are not exactly bloopers which could be blamed on the printer's
devil. These were not created by some untrained person who makes a living
by making people laugh or a writer for David Letterman. These are what the authorities

believed were correct and accurate.
Some samples:
» Which of the following convertion is not true?
» What is the shape of the incline faces?
» What is estimate value in l of 60 glasses of water?
» How many oranges does Diana gets?
These are just mild. Here come the "better" ones:
» What is the difference value between the two number?
» The average of four number is 18. The fifth number is 28. What is the
of five number?
If you thought these were bad, here come the gems:
» Diagram 8 shows the Pravina's twelfth birthday. Her brother borns 3 years 6 months after

Pravina borned. What is the age of her brother at 7th
January 2014.
» Diagram 10 shows the mass of a packet of flour. The flour is fill in
three containers. First container fill in with 3.98 kg of flour. The rest
of the flour in second and third container. Which of the flowing mass is
for second and third container?
» Bar chart in diagram 16 shows the number of events won by Red Spout in
Annual Sport. Table 4 shows the mark of each places. Calculate the total
mark of Red Sport in Annual sport.
For years now, we have been
debating on the declining standards of the English language. This test
paper was set for pupils who have had six years of primary school
education. The medium of instruction for mathematics and science is supposed to have been

in English.
If the teacher or teachers who set these questions cannot write proper
English, how do you expect the pupils to write or speak the language?
This test paper shows that we are teaching our young minds to fail. It is also a reflection of the

lackadaisical attitude adopted by many who claim to be in the "teaching" profession.
Further, it displays the seriousness the authorities take in ensuring that our kids get a good

grounding in the language.
In a nutshell, these mistakes mirror what has happened to our education
system. As kids, we were taught to dot our "i"s and dash our "t"s. We were made to do

"corrections" to the homework if we got it wrong. Our teachers spoke to us – both in Bahasa Kebangsaan (at that time) and in English – without mistakes in pronunciation or delivery.
They were thorough. Teaching was a profession which was delivered with
utmost passion.
Today, some think of English as a language of our colonial masters and therefore shun it.

The system of education has been systematically dismantled
and even nursery rhymes like "Jack and Jill" have been dropped. They took away the

hallowed turfs in cricket pitches because "the game is only played by flannelled fools from

England". They have negative opinions about other people's history. When we were in primary

school, we already knew about
Alexander the Great, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Mahatma Gandhi, Prophet Muhammad, Gautama

Buddha and Lao Tze because we were taught about not only the lives they lived, but also their

values.
In the same breath, the same few who take anti-colonial stands and preach
about nationalism have no qualms about sending their children to the
headquarters of the colonialism where everything is taught in English.
Unable to communicate, they form cliques, become reclusive and then claim that "the English

students refuse to mix with us."
Why do you need the colonialists which you detested or were taught to
detest? A parody? No, it's much more than that.
We are at a crossroads and the debate on the medium of instruction in our
schools continues to rage on. Both sides of the divide have their own
reasons, some of which are justified. The debate is not going to end any
time soon. The crux of the matter is that you can't please all the people
all the time.
But what we can hope for is while the debate ensues, the people tasked with moulding the

minds and hearts of the younger generation do not abdicate
from their responsibilities by adopting slipshod methods. Yes, change will come about in 2014,

but in the interim period, can they make education fun by not making all these inexcusable

silly mistakes?
R. Nadeswaran went through the old school where students had to write
perfect sentences. A mistake or two would end up with an earful from the
teacher or in worse case scenarios, errant students would get two of the
best on the buttocks.

He is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. He can be reached at:

citizen-nades@thesundaily.com

Cooling Period.....

The termination of service of OKK Christpoher Mojungkim and appointment of Sylvester Disimon to replace him as Penampang District Chief now seems to move on to an unexpected and a surprise `destination.'

"Now is cooling time (period), " says a high ranking government officer on the issue that had blown into a big controversy as the incumbent and his supporters are reluctant to give ways with the in-coming one having accepted the appointment and all set to report duty on Sept 1, 2009.

And for the time being, I, too, will go on cooling time, awaiting for the `unexpected and surprise.'

OKK Surprise, Surprise OKK

I wish to refer again to the controversy of the appointment of Sylvester Disimon as Penampang District replacing incumbent OKK Christopher Mojungkim.

On the recommendation by the Moyog Assemblyman Donald Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Disimon was appointed and had been issued with the appointment letter which he duly accepted and submitted to the Penampang District Officer William Sampil. He is due to report duty on Sept 1, 2009.

Disimon's appointment was made after Mojungkim's service was terminated on July 23, 2009. An association of leaders from the Penampang District protested and had appealed to the Assemblyman for Mojungkim to continue on as OKK.

And the SURPRISE is that a very reliable source personally told me this evening that Disimon will not be an OKK after all. There has been a new turn of event late afternoon whereby, Mojungkim's termination letter has or will be revoke and the same will be made to Disimon's appointment.

As I had stated in my early posting, the appointment of OKK is initiated by the Assemblyman. He has the power/right to recommend to appoint a new OKK and power for the same to terminate incumbent service.

Surprise I shall say. This is politics in the real meaning of the word.

Orang Kaya Kaya (OKK)

I refer to the controversy in the appointment of Penampang District Chief.

The appointment of District Chief (OKK), Native Chief (KAN), Native Chief Representative (WKAN), Chinese Community Leader (Kapitan Cina) and Village Chief (Ketua Kampung) is upon recommendation of a State Assemblyman of the constituency in which the District is situated.

The application, upon signed by the Assemblyman, will be certified and commented by Municipal Council Deputy President or District Officer. These officers had to certified whether the applicant is applying to replace someone whose services had been terminated or had passed away.

The next step will be vetting by the Sabah Native Affairs Council director and agreed by the Council's president before being submitted to the Local Government and Housing Minister for approval.

The letter of appointment is, however, signed by the Council's director.

In the case of a District Chief, who is traditionally known as Orang Kaya Kaya (OKK), if he is over the retirement age (56, or 58 years), they normally will opted for the monthly fix allowance of RM2,500.

Those below that age's bracket can be absorbed in the government's salary scale with a monthly basic salary starting from RM2,500. They will be paid more those those under fixed monthly allowance as they will be paid housing allowance and enjoy other perks as of the other government officers.

As it is the Assemblyman's right to recommend the appointment of a District Chief and those under the OKK, it can be safely said that their position is a political appointment. The Assemblyman has the right to recommend for appointment and also have the same right to recommend termination of services.

Absent Members of Parliament

Sabah has 25 members of Parliament but only three attended the launching of the Friends of the Environment (FOE) by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman in Kota Kinabalu Friday. The MPs who attended the government's official functions were Tan Sri Joseph Kurup (Pensiangan), Datuk Mojilip Bumburing (Tuaran) and Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh (Putatan).

Musa was not amused in the other 22 who did not attend the function as they had been invited. The government had appointed MPs in the country to be FOEs and are given allocation RM30,000 each to carry out their duties to finance activities to preserve the environment.

"We had asked the MPs to postponed their other appointments to attend this function. Its is certainly disappointing that not many MPs turned up for this function," the Chief Minister said.

New book on Kadazandusun

Indigenous Ethnic Communities of Sabah
THE KADAZANDUSUN

A book that tells us about the Kadazandusun, Malaysia's major indigenous community in Sabah, whose culture and social fabric go beyond our present mundane understanding was launched in a traditional ceremony in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

I was one of the hundreds of invited guests to this ceremony graced by Federal Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim.

The 226-pages book authored by Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Herman J Luping comprising of 10 chapters that tells the folds and chapters of life itself. This book is about the Kadazandusun written not to show the differences amongst the diverse ethnic indigenous communities in Sabah but rather to show unity and harmony amongst them.

A senior aide of Luping, Elizabeth Sikayun said this book was not for sale. It is published by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture Malaysia.

Luping, a Kadazan Tangaah from Penampang, was former Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and ex-State Attorney General. He holds a Master's degree in Political Science from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand and a PhD from the same university.

He is also a Barrister-at-Law from the Inner Temple, Inns of Courts, London. Among the other books that he had authored is Sabah Delima, a historical account of the development of politics in Sabah.

He is married to Puan Sri Datin Seri Margaret Tutin and they had three daughters and three grand-daughters.

Cash de-registered

Consumers Association of Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan (Cash) is never a legal organisation. It was riding on Sabah Consumers Association (SCA) which was registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in 1978.

The was confirmed by SCA secretary general Hasimah Hasbullah Yahya today. SCA's registration was revoked on July 3, 2009. She disclosd that SCA had applied to change its name to Cash in 1991 but was rejected by the ROS.

Association's president Datuk Patrick Sindu said de-registered Cash's activities would be carried out by a new movement called Consumers Movement Sabah and Federal Federal Territory of Labuan, also with the acroynm Cash.

He said this new cash would be carrying out its activities under a trading license issued by City Hall on Feb 17, 2009. Cash will also be forwarding its application for registration with the Registrar of Companies.

Many wants to register new political parties in Sabah

Following my posting on Berjaya Baru, I received lots of comments and one of them is from Jen Ken and Abang Arjuna.

Jen Ken said he, too, have all the documents ready to register a new political party in Sabah which he said would be known as Parti Perpaduan Sabah/Unity Parti/Paati Pisompuuvan Sabah.

But he does not trust the Registrar of Societies or the Home Ministry so he is waiting for a clear signal from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to allow it to happen (to register new parties.

"When Najib gives the signal, I shall forward my application," Jen Ken said.

PBS: Dr Jeffrey's group sidelined

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice-president Herbert Timbon Lagadan said the State Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) line-up announced by the party's Sabah chief Azmin Ali clearly indicated that former deputy liaision chief Datuk Dr Jeffery Kitingan's fiction had been sidelined.

He said most of the newly appointed leaders were from former head's Haji Ansari Abdullah group.

Timbon, who is Kadamaian assemblyman and Community Development and Consumer Affairs Assistant Minister, claimed that Jeffrey's trusted aide who was in charge of the Kadazan Dusun Murut affairs Danial John Jambun was dropped from the party State line-up.

"I am renewing my invitation to Dr Jeffery's and group to re-join Barisan Nasional," he said.

Sabah PKR leaders Dr Jeffrey, Ansari and Liew replaced

KOTA KINABALU: Former Tawau Municipal Council president Datuk Hamzah Amir as well as former Kuala Penyu assemblymen Datuk John Ghani and Datuk Kong Hong Ming have been appointed as the three deputy chairmen of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Sabah following the party’s latest reshuffle of office bearers.

Mohamed Azmin Ali, the Liaison Chairman of Sabah PKR announced the new line-up during his speech at a meet-the-people session in Mile 3, Sandakan on Saturday.

He clarify that leaders like Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, Ansari Abdullah and Christina Liew had not been dropped from the State Liaison Committee but were given more prominent roles to play as the joint heads of the Political Bureau.

Dr Jeffrey is still the Vice President of the party and he has been given a more prominent role to focus on the land issues affecting the people of Sabah. He will be liaising with our Deputy President, Dr Syed Husin Ali who is in charge of land issues at the national level..

Christina has also been retained as the Public Complaint Bureau Chief while Ahmad Thamrin Hj Jaini retained as Secretary.

Three persons, Abdul Razak Jamil, Jeffrey Yap and Adris Taripin were appointed as deputies to Thamrin.

Jonathan Yasin was appointed as the new Information Chief, while dentist Dr Roland Chia as Treasurer.

Two seasoned politicians, former Tuaran MP Yunuf Maringking and Awang Ahmad Sha Datuk Hj Awang Sahari were appointed as Advisers.

The most interesting appointment was probably that of blogger, Ronnie Klassen as Communication Director.

Describing the new line-up as a “winning team” for PKR Sabah, Azmin reiterated that the newly formed State Liaison Committee would from now on conducting their meetings more regularly to formulate policies and strategies to better deal with issues affecting the people in the state.

When delivering his speech in Sandakan, the MP for Gombak mooted the idea to get some Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) Members of Parliament (MP) to adopt certain constituencies in Sabah that currently have no representation from PR.

He promised to raise the matter soon with the MPs and pledged to visit Sabah at least once a month with his next trip scheduled for Tawau.

Let us hope this will not happen in Sabah

This posting from here speaks for itself and let us, the native of Sabah, hope this will never happen in this Land Below The Wind.


It is not only the Dayaks’ NCR lands that have been leased to companies, but native customary right land belonging to our present beloved Governor (TYT) has also been leased to a company for prawn farming, said Baru Bian (pic below), a prominent NCR land lawyer.

“It is not only the Dayaks NCR lands are affected; in fact all the natives of Sarawak NCR lands are affected.

“I wish to state that even a NCR land belonging to our present beloved Governor was affected by the issuance of a Provisional Lease to a company for prawn farming, as revealed in one of the cases I handled, a decision, which is still pending in the High Court at Kuching, Sarawak,” he said in a statement.

“Such is the unbridled power of the present State BN Government of which these Dayak leaders are proudly part of. If the top civil servant’s NCR land can be affected, none of the ordinary Sarawakians NCR lands is protected and safe from such an abuse of power today.

Picture Credit: http://www.malaysianmirror.com

“How I hope that these Dayak leaders spent more of their political energies addressing pertinent issue like the deprivation and encroachment of NCR over land rather than a political rhetoric,” he said when commenting on remarks made by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Hadi was reported to have said that the voters of Batang Ai did not know how to vote as they were still wearing loin clothes.

Bian who is a PKR leader in Sarawak said: “Some Dayak leaders who appear to have been angered and offended by such disparaging remarks should equally, if not be more moved with fervour and zeal in defending a more fundamental issue or rights affecting our Dayak community today, that is, the deprivation and encroachment of Dayak NCR lands and forests all over Sarawak by various companies.”

“This is more pertinent and crucial issue as the deprivation and encroachment of NCR lands threatens the very life and our existence as Dayaks and other natives of Sarawak, as land and the forests are the very source of their livelihood.

“To this day, none of the present Dayak leaders in the State BN Government dares to speak out on this very issue. Instead they have been found to echo the voices of their political master, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud that the State Government does not grab or take any NCR lands belonging to the natives of Sarawak.

“I respectfully ask these so-called Dayak leaders to go to the ground and see for themselves how hectares and hectares of NCR lands had been given out to big investors and companies for oil palm plantations, tree plantations, timber licences, quarry licences and replanting licences from Lundu to Lawas,” he said.-
Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com