TWO Sarawak DAP MPs who staunchly defended the constitutional amendment bill tabled in Parliament yesterday have been vilified, with a minister even branding them “traitors to the state”.

State Tourism, Arts, Culture and Youth Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, ripping into Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Chong Chieng Jen and his protege, Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii, said the duo “do not belong to the state” if they defended the bill to amend Article 1(2) of the federal constitution to restore Sarawak and Sabah rights as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia yesterday.

Chong, who is also Stampin MP, yesterday urged Sarawakians to support the bill, saying “it is the significance of the amendment (being) put in that matters” when reacting to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) MPs’ objection to wording in the bill.

“Now that the Pakatan Harapan government has taken the first step to revert to the original position, GPS turns around to object,” he had said.

Yii, in a Facebook post, said criticism of the bill was “too superficial and does not reflect the proper status, as well as our lost rights over the years”.

Karim, a lawyer by training, said the bill was so full of legal jargon that “if you are not a lawyer, you will not understand it”.

Speaking to reporters after launching the state’s “3 Festivals, 1 Destination” month of music launch in Kuching this afternoon, Karim said he did not understand why Chong, also a lawyer by training, and Yii, whom he said “had some legal training”, were supporting the bill “like crazy” when so many have objected to the wording of the bill.

Karim urged the two Sarawakian ministers in the federal cabinet – Chong and Works Minister Baru Bian – to “be brave enough to speak out”.

“Don’t chicken out when you are in the cabinet. Say it out (loud).

“There’s nothing to lose. If you get dropped from the cabinet, you will be a hero for fighting for your state.”

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing, meanwhile, accused Chong and Yii of “selling out the interests of the state just to please their Putrajaya Malaya masters”.

“CCJ (Chong) and Kelvin Yii have no choice but to follow their bosses’ opinion. Poor thing!” Masing said.

“They can’t stand on their own two feet. Its a case of Putrajaya control.”

Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Youth Central chairman Michael Tiang also slammed Chong for trying to “persuade us (Sarawakians) to compromise on our demands”.

SUPP is a GPS component party.

“He (Chong) is asking Sarawakians to accept this amendment and continue to be one of the 13 states (in the federation) first before the eroded rights will be given back to us.”

Tiang said the state’s status and rights could not be compromised on, urging Chong to rethink his stand.

He said the Hansard will show evidence of those “who are defending Sarawak and those who are actually selling off Sarawak”.

Sarawak Star president and state rights activist Lina Soon joined in the chorus of condemnation as well, saying lawmakers who supported the “disgraceful and insulting” amendment “should hang their heads in shame for consenting to be accomplices in the continued bullying, domination and exploitation of Sarawak and Sabah”.

“The amendment is a disgrace and insult to all patriotic Sarawakians and Sabahans.”

She called on all Sarawak and Sabah MPs to boycott the vote on the amendment and to “let it just die”.

In defending his stance, Chong said in a statement released this afternoon, that the amendment was “to set the legal framework right, putting Sabah and Sarawak as a separate categories from the other 11 states in West Malaysia”.

“It is also in line with the original structure in the federal constitution. It puts Sabah and Sarawak in the correct platform envisaged by our forefathers when Malaysia was formed.”

He said from Sarawak’s perspective, the present amendment was an improvement on the 1976 version of Article 1(2) of the federal constitution.

“As such, if GPS sincerely has the interest of Sarawak in mind, there is no reason to oppose (it).” – April 5, 2019.