TAMPARULI: Malaysians should uphold the Malaysia’s Proclamation as the bedrock for unity in the country, said United Kinabalu Progressive Organisation (UPKO) president Datuk Ewon Benedick.
In this respect, he said UPKO defended Malaysia’s Proclamation, asserting that there should not be another proclamation.
Therefore, Ewon said the party rejects any move that wants to make a racist proclamation.
“I’ve read several people and parties who want to get support for what they call the Proclamation of the Malays.
“In my view, this should not happen because in UPKO, we only have one proclamation which is the Malaysia’s Proclamation and this proclamation is an important document for the declaration of the establishment of Malaysia,” he said.
He said this when met by reporters after launching the UPKO Kaamatan Celebration and the Closing of the Carnival of Entrepreneurs and Civil Cooperatives, at the Tun Hamdan Community Hall, here, today.
Ewon, who is also Minister of Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development, said that if all races wished to make a proclamation, it would certainly affect the racial unity of this country with a multi-ethnic and religious society.
“If all races want to make a proclamation, what impact will it have on the unity we have been striving for? Managing racial and religious diversity in this country is not easy.
“As a region that has long been an example of racial and religious harmony, Sabah needs to defend Malaysia’s Proclamation,” he said.
Ewon also said that as a partner of Sabah’s leadership, he would work to ensure that the people in the state were not involved in efforts to make proclamations based solely on the interests of a particular race.
“What we want is for Sabah to uphold the Malaysia Agreement signed by Sabah leaders in 1963, and after the Malaysia Agreement came the declaration of the formation of Malaysia,” he said.
