Former chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee has revived the long-standing call for a Sabah identity card (Sabah IC), arguing that the current MyKad system has failed to safeguard the state from illegal immigrants obtaining citizenship and even political power.
Yong, a nominated assemblyman and president of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), called the Sabah IC the only viable solution to what he described as a “lingering” and “nonsensical” problem — one where undocumented migrants have been granted MyKads by federal agencies, some of whom ended up holding government-linked company (GLC) positions and even political office.
He cited the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah, including a witness who admitted to being born overseas but was issued a MyKad with the “-12-” code, typically reserved for those born in Sabah.
“That individual later led the Sabah chapter of a Peninsula-based political party and was appointed to a GLC board,” said Yong. “This kind of nonsense must stop.”
Federal agencies have long been accused of facilitating such cases, with several officers previously convicted for involvement in fake documentation. Yong pointed to arrests made under the now-abolished Internal Security Act in the 1990s, when fake IC syndicates were more aggressively pursued.
He stressed that nothing in the Federal Constitution, National Registration Act, or Immigration Act prohibits Sabah from issuing its own state-level identification card.
“The Sabah IC would not confer citizenship — that remains a federal jurisdiction. It would simply identify genuine Sabahans, which is critical in a state still grappling with complex identity politics and porous borders.”
Yong also criticised those who insist on revisiting old debates without offering solutions.
“What are we waiting for? Another Black Sunday protest?” he asked.
He added that the federal MyKad system has blurred the line between native Sabahans and naturalised Malaysians who were neither born nor historically rooted in the state.
“To be clear, those granted Malaysian citizenship remain Malaysians — but that doesn’t make them Sabahans.”
He said long-term residents from Peninsular Malaysia or Sarawak could still be considered for the Sabah IC, but only at the discretion of the state government. – April 9, 2025
