Talk on Sarawak rights and MA63 draws huge crowd

MIRI: A three-hour talk on the autonomous rights of Sarawak and the finer points of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 here on Sunday (Sept 23) drew a big crowd.

For three hours more than a thousand people from all races and age cramped into the Pustaka Miri library hall to listen to several historians, politicians and social rights activist presenting their talks.

Among the guest-speakers in the talk that lasted until evening were historian and author Zainal Ajamain, social activist Lina Soo, Sarawak rights advocators Datuk Idris Buang, Datuk David Teng and Datuk Sebastian Ting.

Ting is secretary-general of Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP), which organised the public forum.

The crowd was made up of ordinary folks, students, teachers, civil servants, business circles and politicians from different political parties.

Also on show were books with copies of the original documents and wordings of the Malaysia Agreement and also the inter-government report on the formation of Malaysia.

These documents spelled out the rights of Sarawak, Sabah, Malaya and Singapore as the four sovereign partners that formed one country Malaysia.

Outside the hall, crowds of people were seen signing on a banner demanding Putrajaya return the rights to Sarawak and Sabah.