Maximus Ongkili chairing the online meeting with BHESS, SLS and IDS in Kota Kinabalu Monday.
KOTA KINABALU: A steering committee was formed to expedite the collection of data on the historical contents and legal aspects of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said this steering committee, consisting of members from the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division (BHESS), Sabah Law Society (SLS) and Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah will be compiling all historical facts that led up to the formation of Malaysia 58 years ago.
“The steering committee will develop a syllabus on MA63 and formation of Malaysia for schools, tertiary students, and public references.
“It will be coordinated by BHESS, and the drawing team led by SLS, with inputs from IDS and the Ministry of Education (MoE), as well as members of academia, will develop the syllabus for the target groups,” Ongkili said.
Speaking after chairing an online meeting with senior lawyers from SLS, led by its president Roger Chin, and IDS board members, headed by its chairman Dr Mohd Yaakub Johari, on Monday, he said they aim to produce an output that would be legally and academically acceptable, hence help to eliminate wrong or inaccurate factual interpretation, and instead provide a true reflection of events and agreements.
“There have been a lot of interpretations on MA63 out there, and we hope this syllabus will set the records right. We want to prevent the public from being misled from the true reflection of the historical agreement,” he said.