The note was brief. Just three words: “Sukacita dapat diluluskan.”

But in Sabah — where citizenship, identity, and power remain entangled in the trauma of Project IC — those words are once again reverberating through WhatsApp groups, press rooms, and political war rooms.

Though the letters were merely expressions of support, they’re now being portrayed as direct approvals for identification documents.

The phrase appeared in a support letter signed by then-Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal in October 2019. It’s now being cast as more than a recommendation — a political instruction in disguise.

And it wasn’t the only letter. Another, dated months earlier, directed the Chief Minister’s Department to approve a similar request.

Now both letters are out — leaked, viral, and weaponised. Just like that, the affairs of the Chief Minister’s Office are back under scrutiny, laid bare once again and poised to be used as political ammunition as Sabah inches toward another state election.

It could well be the work of misinformation peddlers — but a local indigenous youth group is demanding answers, questioning the legitimacy of the endorsements and calling for full transparency.

KDCA Youth Council chairman Steve Johnny Mositun isn’t mincing words.

“This isn’t about whether the Chief Minister can approve citizenship — we know he can’t,” he said.

“This is about why a Chief Minister is even minuting instructions on ID applications.”

Because in Sabah, perception is everything. And the perception is this: MyKAS — a temporary identification card — is just the beginning. MyPR comes next. Then the MyKad. And with it, full citizenship.

To federal officials, such notion is only theoretical at best. 

Legally, there’s no guaranteed pathway. MyKAS holders must wait years, clear vetting, and meet federal requirements that are anything but simple. Nothing is automatic. Everything is subject to approval.

But on the ground in Sabah, that legal framework is overshadowed by lived experience — and political memory.

“We’ve been here before,” Mositun says. “Sabah was burned once. We can’t let that fire be reignited through political backdoors.”

He’s talking, of course, about Project IC — the decades-old scandal that still casts a long shadow, where thousands of undocumented individuals were allegedly granted citizenship in exchange for votes.

And now, with two letters on the table — and the most infamous one containing that “sukacita dapat diluluskan” flourish — the anxiety is back or perhaps used to discredit political players in the state playing field.

Shafie hasn’t commented on the letters. But his party has.

Warisan information chief Datuk Azis Jamman, speaking in a previous BorneoVox report, dismissed the accusations outright. 

He said all citizenship matters fall under federal authority, and warned against what he called “politically motivated misinformation.”

“The Chief Minister has no power to issue ICs,” he said. “This is not something the state government controls.”

Still, the timing is impossible to ignore. The state election is looming. Identity politics is already in play. 

And two leaked letters — with three handwritten words — are now pulling a decades-old wound wide open.

Mositun is calling for full disclosure. 

How many such applications were endorsed between 2018 and 2020? Were proper checks done? Were the laws followed? 

He wants answers. He wants an investigation. He wants someone — anyone — to explain how this happened, and what happens next.

“The younger generation deserves the truth,” he says. “We need to know what those letters really meant.”

In Sabah, where the lines between document and destiny have always been blurry, that truth can’t come soon enough.

The issue is not new. Warisan had already come under heavy fire back in 2020 over its plan to introduce the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS), which was meant to consolidate three different documents issued to immigrants.

The backlash — largely driven by Kadazandusun Murut (KDM)-based political groups — painted the policy as a threat to native identity and a step toward legitimising undocumented migrants.

The public outcry ultimately forced the government to scrap the initiative at the time. – April 5, 2025