A handwritten note from 2019 is making fresh rounds in Sabah’s political circles, and with elections looming, it’s clear the same old script is being dusted off again.

At the centre of it is a two-word phrase — “gladly approved” — scribbled by Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal on a document relating to a Sabahan’s identity status. 

It carries no legal force, as confirmed by the National Registration Department. But the timing of its resurgence, and how it’s being spun, says a lot about the political climate ahead of the state election.

For those who remember the 2020 campaign season, this feels familiar. Because it is.

A recycled strategy from 2020

Back then, Warisan came under heavy fire over the proposed Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) — a federal initiative aimed at cleaning up messy documentation records of long-time residents in Sabah. 

The pass was meant to replace three existing documents and was announced by then Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Warisan, then the state government, helped implement it — but didn’t start it.

That didn’t stop Perikatan Nasional aligned parties from seizing on the issue then. PBS, STAR, Sabah Bersatu and others framed the PSS as a backdoor to citizenship for undocumented migrants.

These parties are now in the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah.  

The backlash was immediate and intense, especially in Kadazandusun strongholds. Warisan lost the Kimanis by-election, and within days, Shafie pulled the plug on the PSS.

Back in 2025: A memo, a message, and a familiar mood

Now, with another state election expected this year, a 2019 note is being used to re-ignite the same sentiment.

Former UMNO figure Jamain Sarudin recently described the note as a “political signal” and went as far as claiming there is an agenda of “systematic social engineering.” 

That phrase may sound technical, but to many Sabahans, it hits an old nerve — a reference to the long-feared “Project IC”, where identity cards were allegedly issued to foreigners to change the state’s voter demographics.

No one’s saying “Project IC” outright. But they don’t have to. The suggestion is clear: Warisan cannot be trusted on issues of citizenship and identity.

Pairin, Muhyiddin, and the disappearing origins of PSS

For the record, PSS was not Warisan’s idea. In 2020, Muhyiddin openly said the policy was born under the Barisan Nasional government. 

It was first proposed in 2015, known then as the Pas Residen Sabah (PRESS), and discussed in committees chaired by none other than Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Musa Aman.

Even Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who led one of the RCI technical committees, clarified he never proposed the PSS itself — though a Resident Pass was presented by immigration officials at the time.

But when public anger surged in 2020, most of the figures involved in the early discussions quickly distanced themselves from the policy. The backlash had made it politically radioactive.

A note becomes a new campaign weapon

The “gladly approved” phrase is now being presented as proof that Warisan is still playing with fire when it comes to identity matters. 

And while the memo itself has no power to grant citizenship or legal documents, the symbolism is politically useful — especially for parties eager to reclaim or hold interior seats.

Even the KDCA Youth wing has entered the fray, demanding clarity. Whether intentional or not, their involvement adds cultural weight to the backlash, reinforcing the idea that native institutions are concerned — and that concern gives the narrative traction.

What gets lost: the real stateless Sabahans

While the political fight over PSS and identity raged on, the Warisan-led state government quietly launched mobile court programmes with the help of the then Chief Justice Richard Malanjum. 

These courts helped rural and poor Sabahans, including those living along the islands — many of them indigenous — finally register their children and get documentation after years of being stateless. 

People like Ivy Sherly, a Sabahan girl born to local parents but left in limbo due to a missed registration deadline, were finally being seen and heard. 

But their stories were overshadowed by the louder, more racialised headlines used in politics. 

Familiar playbook, different cover

What’s happening now isn’t new. It’s the same fear-driven messaging, just with a new headline.

Warisan is once again being portrayed as siding with “outsiders,” while GRS-aligned parties cast themselves as defenders of Sabah’s native identity. The racial undertones may be more subtle this time — packaged in words like “signal” and “social engineering” — but the effect is the same.

The state election hasn’t officially started. But the identity war has. – April 8, 2025