In a statement here today, KDCA deputy president Maximus Ongkili said as a matter of fact, the natives are proud to call themselves as such and have always been referred to as natives of Malaysia.

Malanjum had proposed the new term yesterday as part of an effort to change public perception of the community because he believed the term “natives” gives a negative connotation and most people still think the community is behind time and not developed yet.

Ongkili said he was thankful for his native roots, stressing life’s experiences had shaped the person he is today.

He said like most natives his age who grew up in the interior of Sabah, there was no denial that given the rustic environment and poverty of households, they were always thankful to have decent food on the table.

“It was normal to be fed a regular diet of tapioca, frogs, grasshoppers, bosing (squirrel) and other edible wildlife those days. Those were then the standard diet of the natives.”

Yet, despite the scarcity of food, countless natives went to universities across the world, with many holding respectable posts today, some as the chief justice, High Court judges, medical specialists, petroleum engineers, architects and accountants.

“Some of them are in Hong Kong, UAE, Australia, United Kingdom, America and Africa, practising their skills and professions.”

‘Natives’ in Ivy League universities

He noted that many natives went on to top Commonwealth and Ivy League universities worldwide.

“When we walked to the convocation stage to receive our professional degree scrolls, Master’s or PhDs, after competing among the best in those countries, we whispered to our hearts and to the spirits of our tribal parents at home: I am proud to be a native.

“And I, personally, do not see anything wrong with being described as a ‘native’.

“I believe most of us do not feel ashamed when other communities refer to us as descendants of headhunters or that our parents used to wear ‘cawat’ (loincloth),” said Ongkili.

He said there is nothing culturally or intellectually wrong with the term “natives” to describe the tribal people of Sabah or Sarawak.

“We are proud to call ourselves natives of Malaysia. We have always been referred to as natives. It is part of our history.”

He said like other communities, even in Europe, natives had progressed over time.

He said there is no need for Sabah to use the international generic term “indigenous”, as is seen in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Chairing the KDCA coordinating meeting in Matunggong here today, Ongkili said in the context of Sabah and Sarawak, the word “natives” carries with it special rights and privileges for the tribal groups as citizens of the new Federation of Malaysia.

Specifically, he said the natives in the Bornean states were specifically singled out and awarded unique rights and privileges at the formation of the Malaysian Federation in 1963 (MA63).

Ongkili noted that the word “natives” is used in the Cobbold and Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) Reports, as well as the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the first version of the Malaysian Constitution in 1963.

He said care must be taken not to interfere or downgrade the original rights and legal meaning assigned to natives of Sabah and Sarawak in the Malaysian Federation.

“As a KDCA leader, let’s value our origins and be proud that we are the original Sabahans,” he said.