Political arrests was carried out between 1990 and 1991 to crack down on opposition leaders in

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and their alleged plans to

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a polity, political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former republics of ...

the state from Malaysia, allegedly known as Operation Talkak. Seven men were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). All seven men were leaders or prominent members the Kadazan Cultural Association (KCA), Institute for Development Studies (IDS),

Sabah Foundation The Sabah Foundation ( ms, Yayasan Sabah) or Yayasan Sabah Group (YSG) is a state sanctioned organisation that was developed to promote educational and economic opportunities for its people. It was founded by Tun Mustapha Harun and manages a di ...

, and opposition party

Parti Bersatu Sabah The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be using ...

(PBS), and were placed under two-year detention orders.

Events leading up to Operation Talkak

February 1990

Jeffrey Kitingan Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (born 22 October 1948) is Malaysian politician. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister II of Sabah from 2020 to 2023 and State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries since 2020 (also served in the same position for a ...

, 42, director of IDS, younger brother of Chief Minister of Sabah Pairin Kitingan, is charged in a high court with seven counts of corruption. The corruption charges are in regards to the export of timber. Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

denies that the Kitingan case is politically motivated.

July 1990

PBS calls for a 50-50 redistribution of revenue from Sabah's resources, particularly from

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

. At the time, the distribution is 95–5, with 95% going to the federal government and 5% to Sabah. Sabah produces a fifth of Malaysia's total crude oil output. State election was held on 16 to 17 July. Before the election, PBS left the Barisan Nasional coalition and won with a two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

October 1990

Four days before the

Malaysian general election Elections in Malaysia include elections to public office of the political entities that since 1963 have composed the federation of Malaysia. At present, elections in Malaysia exist at two levels: federal level and state level. Federal level elec ...

, PBS withdraws from

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

(BN), and joins opposition party

Semangat 46 The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' is a now defunct Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays ...

. According to Bernard Dompok, the relationship between PBS and BN had always been an uneasy one, since PBS came to power during the Sabah state elections in 1985.

Chronology of Events

May 1990

Damit Undikai, 54, PBS member and former

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

officer, is arrested by

police forces on 18 May, for allegedly heading plans to secede Sabah from the Malaysian federation. Albinus Yudah, 41, chief of security at Borneo Rest House, member of PBS and KCA, and former police constable, is arrested on 25 May. Benedict Topin, 37, PBS member, Executive Secretary of KCA, is arrested on 25 May. The

Malaysian police The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) ( ms, Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM)), is a (primarily) uniformed national and federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation. Its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman ...

claims to have been monitoring him since 1987.

July 1990

Abdul Rahman Ahmad, 51, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Sabah, is arrested on 7 July.

January 1991

Maximus Ongkili Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili (born 26 October 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Chairman of the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECOS) since February 2023. He served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department f ...

, senior researcher and deputy chief director of IDS, nephew of

and Chief Minister of Sabah

Joseph Pairin Kitingan Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan (born 17 August 1940) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Sabah from April 1985 to March 1994 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Keningau from August 1986 to May 2 ...

, electoral press consultant to Pairin Kitingan during the 1990 Sabah state and national elections, is arrested on 3 January. Vincent Chung, manager of administration and personnel,

, is arrested on 19 January.

Chief Minister of Sabah The Ketua Menteri Sabah or Chief Minister of Sabah is the head of government of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Since September 2020, the position has been held by Hajiji Noor from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Perikatan Nasiona ...

Huguan Siou Huguan County () is a county in the southeast of Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan ...

(Paramount Leder) of the

Kadazandusun Cultural Association Kadazan-Dusun (also written as Kadazandusun or Mamasok Kadazan-Dusun) also less-known as "Mamasok Sabah" are two indigenous peoples of Sabah, Malaysia—the ethnic groups Kadazan people, Kadazan and Dusun people, Dusun. The Kadazandusun is the ...

(KDCA), president of

(PBS), is pressed with corruption charges. Almost a year earlier, his brother

was pressed with similar charges.

March 1991

Maximus Ongkili is released unconditionally on 2 March.

May 1991

Jeffrey Kitingan is arrested on 13 May.

Present day

Present-day political conditions in Sabah and Malaysia have taken a surprising turn, in comparison with the conditions during Operation Talkak. Several of the previously detained figures have gone on to assume prominent positions in the current Malaysian government. These political conditions, and political choices of the previously detained figures, have been met with mixed receptions by the public. *

, under the leadership of Pairin Kitingan, has been a member of the

coalition since 2002. *

was appointed a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in 2004, by

's successor

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...

. Ongkili was placed in charge of National Unity, and headed the initiation of the

Khidmat Negara The National Service Training Programme, or Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN), known locally as the ''Khidmat Negara'' ("National Service") was Malaysia's national service program under the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. The programme was ...

conscription program. As of 2008, he is Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation. * ''

Berita Sabah Gugulethu Khumalo (born 27 June 1991), best known by her stage name Berita, is a Zimbabwean-born singer, songwriter and music producer. Her music is a combination of soul music containing elements from Afro Jazz, contemporary pop influences as we ...

'' (Sabah News), a weekly

compact newspaper A compact newspaper is a broadsheet-quality newspaper printed in a Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format, especially one in the United Kingdom. The term as used for this size came into use after ''The Independent'' began producing a smalle ...

partly owned by

, has its publication license suspended by the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

in August 1997. The newspaper published news from the opposition and various pro-PBS news. The licence was revoked on the grounds of "spreading ''fitnah'' (lies)".''"KDN diminta batal permit Berita Sabah."'' (English: "MOHA requested to cancel Berita Sabah's permit.") ''

Berita Harian ''BH'' (renamed on 2 July 2012; formerly known as ''Berita Harian'') is a Malay-language daily newspaper published in Malaysia owned by the New Straits Times Press. It was first published on 1 July 1957 as the first mainstream newspaper in M ...

'', 20 August 1997.

Notes

References

* Lim, Kit Siang. ''Battle for Democracy in Malaysia''. Democratic Action Party, pp. 203–214. 1992

"Chronology for Kadazans in Malaysia"
Minorities at Risk Project,

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, 10 January 2007.
"Abdication of Responsibility: The Commonwealth and Human Rights"

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, pp. 33–38. .
"Human Rights Developments: Malaysia"

. Accessed 13 June 2008. {{History of East Malaysia Sabah History of Sabah Politics of Sabah Human rights abuses in Malaysia Political repression in Malaysia Protests in Malaysia 1990 in Malaysia Sabah Political Arrests, 1991 History of Malaysia since Independence

Events leading up to Operation Talkak

February 1990

July 1990

October 1990

Chronology of Events

May 1990

July 1990

January 1991

March 1991

May 1991

Present day

See also

Notes

References