Dear queen

LETTER TO QUEEN ELIZABETH II
14 February 2016
Her Majesty the Queen
Buckingham Palace

London SW1A 1AA
United Kingdom.

Your Majesty,


THE “UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF DECOLONIZATION” OF SARAWAK AND SABAH

(NORTH BORNEO) UNDER UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS (GAR):

GAR 1514 (1960), GAR 1541 (1960) AND GAR 217A (1948)


1. May we humbly refer to the above-mentioned ‘Unfinished Business of Decolonization’ and seek Your Majesty’s kindest consideration to redress the plight of the peoples in the former British Borneo colonies from the subjugation, domination and exploitation over the territories of Sarawak and Sabah since the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

2. It is within our desired interest to respectfully and peacefully pursue our Sarawak and Sabah peoples’ inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the Principle of Self-Determination under UN GAR: 1514 (1960), 1541 (1960) and 217A (1948).

My Sabah roots

I spent a week recently in Sabah tracing my roots. James (nga chjai) is my first cousin (our fathers were brothers, Chin Yet Onn and Chin Voo Sang). I have not seen him for more than 50 years. He was the little boy on the extreme right in this Kodak photo taken in 1958. (I am, ai-chjai, 2nd left). Rose is on my right and Steven* is behind me.

In the colour photo here, James and I are seen standing on Ah Kung's land in Kudat, last week (31st March 2010). The coconut trees behind us were planted by our grand father (Chin Yu) over 100 years ago. He was given the land

James Chin

by the British North Borneo gomen. (999 years, freehold land, undivided shares). It was planted with coconuts and some rubber trees. I can still remember following my grandma on her rounds to collect the latex every morning. Yes, grandma (Wong Siew Yin) was tapping rubber and making copra (dried coconut) in Kudat in 1951. I was 7 years old.

Alice Luke

I looked up another cousin, Alice Luke, in Penampang. (Our mothers were sisters.) We have not seen one
 another for more than 40 years. She lives in a small terrace house and she seems very happy.

Agnes Chin

I also met Agnes Chin in KK. Her father and my father were brothers.

Peter Chin

Peter is the elder brother of Steven, James and Agnes.