If such a precedent was to be set, then Singapore should be
returned to Johor and Penang to Kedah, he said.
“Their (Sulu Sultanate's) claims are difficult to come to terms
with as what has been accepted for such a long time cannot be
changed,” he added.
“Even if the matter is taken to the International Court, Malaysia
would have a better chance of winning as Sabah had been part of the
country for a long time.”
Prof Khoo said that although the state was originally part of Sulu,
the British North Borneo Company had taken control of North Borneo,
now known as Sabah, in 1882.
He said transmigration of Filipinos into Sabah had been ongoing as
they felt they belonged to this part of the region although the
Malaysian authorities regarded them as illegal immigrants.
“I am surprised why they resorted to arms this time around,” he
said.
Institute of Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore
Studies director Prof Kamarulnizam
Abdullah said the Sulu Sultanate should honour
previous agreements in which they ceded the territory to the
colonial powers.
“We have inherited agreements made in the past,” he said, adding
that social media users and the Opposition in both Malaysia and the
Philippines appeared to be provoking the situation in Sabah.
“They appear to be politicising the situation to discredit the
governments of the two countries,” he said, adding that the people
should reject those who put politics before national sovereignty
and security.
In JELEBU, Information, Communications
and Culture Minister Datuk Seri
Dr Rais Yatim said that based on international law,
Sabah legally belonged to Malaysia and the state and any part of it
cannot be claimed by any party.
He cited the Cobbold Commission 1963 findings that the majority of
Sabahans agreed for their state to be part of the Federation of
Malaysia.
(The commission, headed by former Bank of
England governor Lord
Cobbold, was also responsible for the drafting of the
Federal Constitution prior to the formation of Malaysia).
Speaking to reporters after attending an event with prisoners and
narcotics rehabilitation centre inmates, Rais said Sabah's entry
into Malaysia was a nation-building move and the state's territory
could not be claimed by any party after that.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/3/6/nation/12797149&sec=nation
