SEVEN Sarawak rights activists today claimed trial to charges of disrespecting the national anthem at an event in Kuching on September 27. 

The seven Sarawak For Sarawakians (S4S) activists – Leong Shaow Tung, 43; Kon Tai Keong, 37; Bong Sak Sin, 44; Andrew Chong, 33; Tan Kok Chiang, 46; Pui Ping Ping, 46; and, Phang Ngin Pen, 64 – all pleaded not guilty to the charges concerning their failure to stand up when the Negara Ku national anthem was played at a fundraiser for a civil society body.

The seven, charged under Section 8 (3) of the rarely invoked National Anthem Act 1968, were released on RM1,000 bail in one surety. 

If convicted, they would be the first individuals to run afoul of the 1968 law.

A conviction carries a maximum fine of RM100 or a jail term not exceeding one month.

Magistrate Zubaidah Sharkawi set trial for November 11. 

Their act, caught on video and subsequently posted on Facebook by one of the accused, led to them being hauled up by the police.

Leong Shaow Tung, known to his friends as Alex, had on September 30 told reporters that their act was a silent protest against the federal government’s trampling of Sarawak’s rights.

“It was a silent protest against Putrajaya for its unfair policies towards Sarawak,” Leong had said after giving his statement to the police at the one-stop centre in Simpang Tiga.

The video, posted to his Shaow Tung Leong Facebook account, had gone viral, leading to a police report being lodged against it.

The video was also shared on other social media platforms.

Leong said as long as Putrajaya’s unfair treatment continued, people will continue to protest against it.

“We are disappointed and angry,” Leong said, saying this stemmed from, among others, the federal government’s failure to recognise the Malaysia Agreement 1963 in the recent attempt to amend the federal constitution, to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s alleged failure to protect Sarawak’s territorial waters from Chinese intrusions. – October 11, 2019.