(Seated, from left) Sharifah Hasidah, Fatimah and others at the press conference.
KUCHING (Sept 29): The Women’s wing of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) fully supports the state government’s proposal to update the definition of ‘natives’ of Sarawak in the Federal Constitution.
Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali opined that the amendment should be done soon so that it can give a better picture of the 27 ethnic races in Sarawak.
“It is time to specifically place the ethnic names in the Federal Constitution. Anything stipulated in the Federal Constitution is a law that cannot be questioned and it is not easy for us to change.
“That is why we opine that we must update the definition of ‘natives’ in Sarawak,” she told a press conference after the PBB Women supreme council meeting yesterday chaired by PBB Women chief Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
Sharifah Hasidah said updating the definition of natives should result in a much better understanding of the numerous races that comprise the natives of Sarawak, who have distinct culture, tradition and language of their own.
She added that the updating of the definition with the guidance of Majlis Adat Istiadat will go some way towards making the Constitution a more inclusive document.
Sharifah Hasidah had on Sept 21 said that the state had proposed that the definition of ‘natives’ be updated in the Federal Constitution to reflect the numerous different races of Sarawak’s natives.
She said apart from the Malays, Chinese and Dayaks, the rest of the natives in the state would often be conveniently categorised as ‘Others’ or ‘Lain-lain’.
She hoped the issue would be addressed during the current Parliament session and that other amendments should also be considered, including to Article 1(2) and Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution, to reflect the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
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