YOURSAY 'There is a sense of the surreal about this whole incident - ghosts of the past want to come back to seize the future.'
Lahad Datu attack may escalate into 'civil war'
Starr:
"According to the
Philippine Star
, there are more than 8,500 Filipinos - mostly Tausugs (Sulu people) - in Sabah whom Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) political chief Gapul Hajiru claims are potential supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu...".
This is an entirely possible scenario, which the federal government should have taken cognisance of all this while. No one should be surprised that not only many of these Suluk have been granted citizenship under former PM Mahathir Mohamad's Project IC, they have also been recruited as Umno members.
Such is the complexity of the issue. Project IC was conceived by Mahathir and his cohorts as a scheme to change the demographic of Sabah and topple the then opposition PBS government, but little did they realise that this will spur the Sulu sultanate's territorial claims over Sabah.
Should there be an armed rebellion in Sabah, it can easily be launched from within the state, with or without military incursions from the Philippines. Nullification of MyKads and repatriation of these people are the only logical steps.
Borg Kinaulu: It is amusing to see these rebels from a neighbouring country talk as if they are equals of the Malaysian government, like buddies almost.
Looking at the kiddy gloves used to treat these "guests", doesn't that make you wonder why. It's amusing and at the same time sad. Will MNLF leader Nur Misuari become our Osama bin Laden?
Green Penang: I salute our brave police officers who faced off the intruders and offer my condolences to the families of the two who were killed.
We see before us now the risks created by letting Filipinos who owe no loyalty to Malaysia into our country. The politicians who did this must be held accountable.
At the same time, there is a sense of the surreal about this whole incident - ghosts of the past want to come back to seize the future.
Anonymous #19098644: The Najib Razak government has failed the people of Malaysia by allowing, tolerating and closing a blind eye to illegal Tausugs (Sulu people).
Armed foreign invaders have shot dead two Malaysian police officers and after almost three weeks, the BN government is still unable to remove this blight on our sovereignty.
Lover Boy: Civil war? Bangsamoro residing in Sabah? This shows that the Bangsamoro are not loyal to Malaysia but the Sulu sultanate. If that is the case, then there is a need to do a nationwide operation by the army to purge all Tausugs from Malaysian soil.
The first operation is to close down Pulau Gaya, off Kota Kinabalu. We cannot have foreigners who are given citizenship who are not loyal to Malaysia. They are better off going back to Tawi Tawi and the Sulu Islands where they originally come from.
Mahashitla: This is the beginning of the curse of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Project IC and he lives long enough to see the consequences of his greed for power.
Instead of respecting the will of the natives of Sabah and its sovereignty as a state, Mahathir carried out what no PM in the democratic world has ever done - giving citizenship to unqualified illegal immigrants just to put Umno-BN in power.
And today, due to an indecisive PM and incompetent home and defence ministers, we lost two men and several were injured. The future stability of Sabah is now uncertain.
Ahmed: Should it escalate into a civil war, Mahathir should be held responsible. He had legalised the illegals Suluk in Sabah through Project IC.
While I am deeply saddened with the loss of Malaysian lives in the shootout, the root cause of the problem is created by Mahathir in legalising them in the first place.
Geronimo: Mahathir accused our beloved Tunku Abdul Rahman of having done worse by granting one million non-Malays citizenship.
Well at least, these citizens did not go around claiming Malaya was their country, they did not bear arms but money to develop the country, they were not a menace to the society but instead became useful citizens by way of paying taxes and creating jobs for fellow Malaysians.
So Mahathir, what you have done is tantamount to high treason and I hope you are ready for the gallows. Don't worry, being a former prime minister, we will have the finest rope for you.
Doc: In the Philippines, if insurgents were to occupy their land, their army will shoot first and talk later. In Thailand, if insurgents were to occupy their land, their army will shoot first and talk later.
In Indonesia, if insurgents were to occupy their land, their army will shoot first and talk later. In Singapore, if insurgents were to occupy their land, their army will shoot first and talk later.
But if insurgents should invade and occupy Malaysia territory, the government policy is talk first and wait for the insurgents to kill a few of our men, and perhaps we shoot.
Headhunter: The chicken is coming home to roost. The result of granting ICs to hundreds of thousands of illegals is now putting the country at risk of being attacked from within.
Joe Fernandez: If the situation along the east coast in Sabah escalates, the government would have to declare a state of emergency there and delay the 13th GE by six months dating from April 28.
Sabahans always said that one day these illegal immigrants in Sabah would rise up and fight the Malaysian government. Now, it's happening.
Ramesh Rajaratnam: In any other country in the world, if 150 armed intruders were making their way into the territorial waters, the Navy would have stopped the said vessel(s) and arrested the intruders on the spot - or at least have them turned away.
Here, we are negotiating with these intruders for over two weeks. The chief of armed forces should take responsibility for this badly managed fiasco.
Swipenter: These Sulu invaders of our country are claiming to be victims of our aggression and threatening civil war. Civil war and unrest can only mean that many of them are already Malaysian citizens courtesy of Project IC, Umno and Mahathir.
The Umno government naturalised these enemies within our borders and those responsible for this clear and present danger to our country must be charged for high treason.
MNLF has taken their conflict with the Philippine government to our country now. Now Sabah is more than just a safe haven for these militants. Even Kuala Lumpur can be their target if they want to.
Irrespective of our political differences and otherwise, we must unite to face this external and internal threat to our national security and sovereignty.
Anon: Dr M, what have you done? You use them to win Sabah and now they want Sabah for themselves.
CiViC: This means BN will lose thousands of votes. And that, my fellow Malaysians, is why armed men can just take a boat ride into Malaysia, claim its shore, build a village, kill our men, and yet be given "grace" period to leave.
If this is not act of treason, I do not know what is.
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