By Daniel John Jambun, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) expresses strong support for the views raised by former Momogun National Congress (MNC) President Datuk Henrynus Amin regarding the dangerous and intellectually shallow obsession with reducing Sabah’s indigenous identity into endless political acronyms. (jesseltontimes.com)
We state clearly:
Sabah’s native communities are not corporate brands.
They are not political marketing products.
They are not alphabet experiments.
And frankly, it is embarrassing that some indigenous leaders themselves continue pushing this reductionist mentality while other communities in Sabah maintain dignity through proper civilisational identities.
1. THE REAL TRAGEDY IS THAT SABAH’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE HELPING ERASE THEMSELVES
Let us be brutally honest.
No one forced Sabah’s native communities to reduce themselves into bureaucratic letter combinations.
This mentality was embraced internally.
While Malays remain Malays, Bajaus remain Bajaus, Chinese remain Chinese, and Dayaks remain Dayaks, some indigenous leaders in Sabah continue behaving as though identity requires constant political rebranding.
Today KDMR. Tomorrow KDMRS. Next perhaps another letter. Then another like KDMRSTUVWXYZ.
At this rate, Sabah’s indigenous identity will eventually resemble a vehicle registration code rather than a civilisation.
This is not progress. This is cultural insecurity disguised as inclusivity.
2. IT IS ILLOGICAL AND UNDIGNIFIED TO PLACE ONE ETHNIC GROUP AS AN “UMBRELLA” OVER OTHER ETHNIC COMMUNITIES
BoPiMaFo also stresses an important principle often ignored in these debates:
It is both illogical and undignified to use the name of one ethnic group as a political umbrella over other distinct ethnic communities.
Every indigenous community in Sabah possesses:
its own history
its own heritage
its own language
its own ancestral identity
No ethnic group should be politically “absorbed” under another ethnic label merely for branding convenience.
That approach does not create unity.
It creates quiet resentment, discomfort, and eventual fragmentation.
True unity is built through mutual respect and shared civilisational understanding — not by expecting one indigenous community to surrender its identity beneath another community’s ethnic banner.
3. A PEOPLE WITHOUT CONFIDENCE IN THEIR OWN CIVILISATIONAL IDENTITY BECOME EASY TO CONTROL
This is the deeper issue.
A community that cannot confidently define itself will forever depend on politicians to define it for them.
That is precisely why Sabah’s indigenous politics has remained fragmented for decades.
Too much energy is spent arguing about labels. Too little energy is spent defending:
native land rights
demographic security
constitutional protections
economic ownership
political autonomy
cultural survival
While indigenous communities argue over abbreviations, others quietly consolidate economic and political power.
And the harsh reality is this:
Many indigenous Sabahans still fail to realise how politically weak they have become despite being natives of this land.
4. “MOMOGUN” IS CULTURALLY ROOTED — NOT A POLITICAL MARKETING TOOL
BoPiMaFo agrees that culturally rooted umbrella terms carry far greater dignity and historical legitimacy than artificial acronym engineering. (jesseltontimes.com)
The proposal surrounding “Momogun” reflects a civilisational identity.
It reflects heritage. It reflects historical continuity. It reflects cultural rootedness.
An acronym does not.
An acronym is administrative shorthand.
There is a massive difference between: a people with a civilisation and a people reduced into administrative coding.
5. INDIGENOUS SABAHANS MUST WAKE UP BEFORE THEIR IDENTITY IS POLITICALLY DIGESTED
The uncomfortable truth is this:
Sabah’s indigenous communities are facing demographic, political, and structural pressures far more serious than acronym debates.
Yet instead of building long-term indigenous unity based on shared constitutional interests and historical identity, some leaders continue promoting shallow symbolic exercises.
This is why Sabah’s indigenous communities repeatedly lose political leverage.
Because emotional symbolism replaced strategic thinking.
Because optics replaced substance.
Because many still cannot distinguish between: real empowerment and performative identity politics.
CONCLUSION
Sabah’s indigenous peoples must stop thinking like politically managed minorities inside their own homeland.
A people that constantly fragments itself into smaller political labels will eventually become weaker, easier to divide, and easier to control.
The future of Sabah’s native communities will not be secured through acronym expansion.
It will be secured through:
cultural confidence
constitutional awareness
demographic protection
economic empowerment
political unity
civilisational consciousness
Enough with the alphabet politics.
Sabah’s indigenous peoples deserve dignity — not reduction into political lettering systems.
