Kit Siang Lift Ban On Golden Son Book About Sabah Crash Victim

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Two years after the Sabah Air crash in 1976, which claimed the lives of Sabah chief minister Fuad Stephens and 10 others, the government had banned a book on one of its victims under the Internal Security Act.
Although the security law was repealed in 2012, the “Golden Son of the Kadazan”, which chronicles the life and career of former state minister Peter J Mojuntin, remains off the shelves.
Following Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that the full report on the crash would be declassified and revealed to the public next week, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang called for the ban on the book penned by the late politician and author Bernard Sta Maria to be lifted as well.
Mojuntin’s son Donald, a former MP and senator who was just 11 when his father died at the age of 37 also expressed the same.
“(This is) a book that gives us a glimpse of Peter as a revered leader in Sabah politics.
“We do not know of any reasonable justification in banning the book nor were we given any reasonable explanation for it.
“We implore our most honourable prime minister and his cabinet to continue doing the right thing,” he told The Star yesterday.
In 2015, then home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reportedly said that the book was banned because it contained “extreme criticisms of the federal government, including claims that the government made hasty decisions in the state”.
The minister also claimed that the book was “leaning towards causing friction and conflict among Malaysians, particularly the Muslims and Christians.”
Despite the ban, the book, which also touches on the plane crash, is available online and its full contents can be downloaded on the e-book and audiobook service Scribd.
In 2018, Star president Jeffrey Kittingan pointed out that since the book is available online, the government should rescind the ban.
Kit Siang to Anwar: Don’t compound Dr M’s mistake
Lim lauded the government’s decision to reveal the report on the air crash, stating that there is “simply no reason or justification to keep the report under the Official Secrets Act for 47 years.”
“It is hoped that the declassification of the investigation report will bring closure to the crash which…
“If not for the Double Six Nomad aircraft crash, the history of Sabah may have been very different,” the DAP veteran added.
On the same note, Lim reiterated his call for the government to declassify the reports of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) and the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC).
“This declassification of the CEP and IRC reports is all the more urgent and necessary, as it was never the original intention to classify both reports and keep them away from public debate and discussion.
“I had made numerous calls for the publication of the CEP and IRC reports, the first time as far back as Oct 13, 2018, when I cited the CEP chairperson Daim Zainuddin as calling on the government to make the CEP recommendations available to the public.
“I had always been mystified as to why the seventh prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had refused to ask the cabinet and the Pakatan Harapan presidential council to declassify the CEP and IRC reports in 2018 or 2019.
“The very fact that Mahathir had kept his silence on this issue is evidence that he realised he did wrong and had betrayed the NGOs and personalities who had given their views on institutional reforms to the CEP and IRC,” he added.
Lim said Anwar’s administration “should not compound Mahathir’s mistake” by continuing to keep the reports under wraps. - Mkini

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