KUCHING: The Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) movement, which is running its three-month petition drive for the state government to enact a Referendum Act aimed at safeguarding the rights of Sarawak, has cautioned the general public from signing the petitions with the wrong group.

According to its spokesperson KC Tan, other groups were also carrying out their own self-motivated petitions – a situation that had been creating confusion among the public.

“When they (other groups) go out to collect petitions, the public will be confused as to who they are and what their signatures are for,” Tan told a press conference yesterday.

He said S4S volunteers who were collecting signatures from the public would show the official S4S petition identification card and provide all the information with regard to the petition.

The volunteers would also be carrying the official petition booklets and flyers to explain the need for Sarawak to have the Referendum Act in three languages – Bahasa Melayu, English and Iban.

“The volunteers have to make sure that the person who signs fully understands what is being petitioned,” he said.

Since Sept 16, S4S volunteers have managed to collect around 66,000 signatures from the targeted 300,000 needed by Dec 31.

“We need 300,000 signatures as it will make about 10 per cent of our state’s 2.6 million-population, in making the petition valid. Once the petitions have been compiled, it will be submitted to the state government,” Tan added.

Another S4S member Peter John Jaban said the movement had also received complaints from volunteers in Serian, saying that they were harassed by the men in blue while conducting the drive.

“It is sad to learn that police are abusing their powers by scaring our volunteers,” said Peter, a human rights activist.

He also said their volunteers were working day and night to collect the signatures across the state and had been receiving good response from those in the urban and sub-urban areas. The S4S movement, he added, would also be expanding the petition to rural Sarawak sometime next week.-Borneo Post

KUCHING: A petition conducted by Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) proposing for full autonomy has so far received 30,000 signatures from across the state.

Person-in-charge of the S4S south, central and north zones, KC Tan, told a press conference yesterday that the response towards the petition was very encouraging since it was launched on Sept 16.

“Honestly, the response is very positive and we collected over 300 signatures on the launch day itself.

“Bumiputeras account for 55 per cent of the supporters and the rest are Chinese,” he added.

The statewide three-month long petition drive targets to collect 300,000 signatures by Dec 31.

The objective of the petition is to seek an enactment of a Referendum Ordinance to protect the rights of Sarawak and wants the Federal Government to honour the Malaysia Agreement signed on Feb 23, 1963.

Tan said numerous changes had been made to the many safeguards of the state’s rights since it signed the Malaysia Agreement in 1963, affecting issues such as religious freedom, immigration control, the special position of Sarawak natives, state ownership over natural resources, the use of English as the official language of the state and education.

Tan also made clear that an online petition, in which many have claimed to have supported, was not opened by them.

“Many came and told us they have signed online. But we have yet to create an online petition site. If we did, we would have publicised it widely through various channels to inform the public.”

Tan thus urged members of the public to personally come forward to pen their signatures at various booths set up across Kuching, Serian and Samarahan.

“Go to the official booths to pen your signatures. The public can recognise us with our petition working ID card.

“We will create an online petition site in due time to allow Sarawakians living outside Sarawak and Malaysia to support the referendum,” he said.

Two weeks from now, he added, the group was planning to go into the rural areas and villages to promote their mission and collect more signatures.

At the end of the campaign, Tan said the petition would be handed over to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem for further action.

“We will continue to pursue our mission in other ways even if we fail to gather 300,000 signatures by end of the year,” he said.

The various signature collection points are at the mooncake festivals sites at Batu Kawah old bazaar and Carpenter Street, Hui Sing (weekend only from 10am to 5pm), Premier 101 (daily from 7.30pm to 11pm), eMart in Matang, Ang Cheng Ho (QZ Cafe on Sunday 9am to 5pm only), the big food court at Samarindah in Muara Tuang (daily from 7pm to 10pm) as well as Serian, Mile 17 and Sri Aman.-Borneo Post

MIRI: Jawatankuasa Sarawak for Sarawakian (S4S) Miri melancarkan kempen menandatangani petisyen menggubal satu akta referendum atau ordinan bagi melindungi hak-hak Sarawak.

Jurucakap S4S Miri, Ngieng Chew Seng berkata kempen itu akan dilancar pada 16 September, jam 2 petang di Bintang Megamall di sini.

“Kempen ini diteruskan sehingga 31 Disember akan datang. Sehubungan itu, kami berharap dapat mengumpul sebanyak mungkin tandatangan daripada warga Miri,” katanya pada sidang media di sini semalam.

Antara perkara yang dituntut petisyen itu ialah melindungi hak dan kepentingan Sarawak seperti termaktub dalam Perjanjian Malaysia iaitu merintis dan menggubal perundangan baharu referendum supaya rakyat Sarawak berkuasa mengundi dalam menentukan hal ehwal awam yang penting.

Selain itu, memperkenan peruntukan tambahan dalam Perlembagaan Sarawak supaya mana-mana cadangan meminda atau menghapuskan peruntukan itu hendaklah terlebih dahulu mendapatkan kelulusan rakyat Sarawak melalui referendum sebelum Parlimen dan Kabinet Sarawak bersetuju.

Antaranya pindaan atau penghapusan mesti mendapat kelulusan rakyat melalui referendum ialah kebebasan beragama, kawalan imigresen, kedudukan istimewa Bumiputera Sarawak, pendidikan bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa rasmi dan bahasa pengantar.

Petisyen ini juga menggesa kerajaan negeri dan kerajaan persekutuan menyemak serta memperbetul status seperti termaktub dalam Perlindungan Khas supaya hak-hak Sarawak lebih terjamin dan adil.-Utusan Borneo