ST. MARTIN MERDANG GAYAM
The painted building is the new administrative block that was built recently and the only building that looked good on the whole land where the school was.
Teachers' Car Park at the School
The shed and football field of the school
Badminton Court and Grandstand where the students gathered together whenever there were assemblies held
A multi-purpose building
This building housed the classrooms
Why the government didn't spend some money for better buildings and better facilities when they were occupying aunty Millah's land? Very simple! Government could not expend money because the land belonged to someone else. Had it been government land definitely the government would have spent more money on uplifting the facilities of the school. When the school was still on the land, it was attended by mostly dayaks children nearby.
Note: This press statement was prepared by a nephew of Millah anak Kitat on instruction of Millah anak Kitat. It has also been translated into Mandarin and been published in the local news, but, not in full as what could be read here.
I regret that politicians in the government and in opposition had failed to uphold true to their oath of office to protect the law and the Constitution for fear that issues could affect their popularity. They only chose issues that could only enhance their image. Under the Federal Constitution, rights to property is protected under Article 13 while under Article 12 there should not be any discrimination in the provision of funds for maintenance of educational institutions and education of which is the sole responsibility of the authorities while Article 11 protect our religion and religious practices. These had been twisted over the years and had caused much uneasiness among our multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-racial society.
Aunty Millah's case is an example of the abuses of the government and also the failure of our politicians to fight for the rights of the poor and helpless people.
Please put your comments.
PRESS STATEMENT OF AUNTY MILLAH ANAK KITAT
I hold title to the land and the land together with its problem with the authorities were inherited by me from my late father since 1978. I felt that it was not right for the government to run a school on my land without my permission. Neither my late father had granted any consent for the land to be used for the school. The land was originally used to spread our Christian religion. My late father, who was a staunch Christian and a catechist, had only wanted the land for the propagation of our Christian faith and had never intended the land be used for any school.
When my late father retired as a catechist, a school was run on the land. My late father later on came to know about it and told them either to vacate the land or pay some compensation to us, but, all negotiations failed. When I inherited the land, I also pursued the matter, but, I regret that government servants and community leaders including ministers of the present government whom I approached personally or through my close relatives had failed to amicably solve the matter. They made a lot of promises and their talk were sweet, but, nothing positive were done. They were supposed to help the weak and to protect the law, but, they failed.
Later on, I was told by many people including some lawyers that I could no more pursue the matter against the government in court as I was told my action was time barred. It shocked me, I felt sick and I felt cheated.
They all told me not to see opposition politicians for reasons known to themselves, but, I am already too old to wait and I had waited for too long. I am already 73 years old, without any income and a family of my own and I had no choice, but, to approach YB Voon Lee Shan to be my counsel, through my nephew. We are all Christians from the same church and I just prayed YB Voon Lee Shan could help.
I am thankful that he did helped, but, I also regret that like me, YB Voon who acted for me also faced lots of problems with the authorities. I also regret that during the last March 8 Election, the matter was made a political issue by those in the BN government and also by an opposition party against me and YB Voon Lee Shan. They showed no respect to me as old, poor and helpless person who was out there to seek justice to protect my own property. They also showed no respect for the court and my privacy and had also failed to take into consideration that I am a poor elderly lady, but, instead went all out to politicize the matter which also affected my health very badly and until now I am still not feeling very well.
To these politicians who were against me taking back my land they all seemed very charitable persons and good in heart, but, they were only charitable and good in heart during election time. If they were so charitable with the heart to help people, in particular to the people in Merdang Gayam and surrounding areas, then, as an old and elderly person who have no family of my own and also who have no income, instead of seeking my property be alienated without compensation to the government for school purposes, I hereby urge them to donate their property to buy land and build a school for the school children of the people of Merdang Gayam.
Those who harp on the issue during the recently concluded March 8 Election included, Dominique Ng Kim Ho, Datuk Alfred Yap, See Chee How, George Chan, Yong Khoon Seng and Agun Anak Bujang. These politicians had talked so much and they should donate their own land or go and build a school there with their own money and should not have politicized the matter. After all, they are people who are richer than me and are also people in power.
I also could not understand why these so called charitable and kind hearted politicians also did not protect my religion, in which, they should have protected. My father’s dream was gone and All Saints had been demolished and nobody wanted to tell me why it was demolished. In West Malaysia, Hindraf protected the Hindu temples from being demolished and here I am glad YB Voon Lee Shan had gone all out to voice the grievances of our Christian religion being disturbed by unseen hands.
As for Agun anak Bujang, who is the Head of the Parent Teachers Association of St. Martin Merdang Gayam, who has a lot of land in the area, should himself donate part of his land to government to build a school for school children in Merdang Gayam. I also want to ask Agun Anak Bujang why the community hall built that was built on his land was not put for good use of the community and constantly be placed under lock? He is charitable. He can allow the community hall be used as St. Martin Merdang Gayam.
We tried to settle the matter without bringing the matter to court, but, the authorities paid very cold shoulders. I just wanted the authorities to leave the land peacefully and despite the first suit filed in High Court for possession, the government also refused to vacate the land. It was only after the second suit filed to court for compensation, that the government responded, but not immediately.
Although I am poor and had filed for compensation and damages, I never intended to make money out of the unlawful occupation of my land by the government. Had I not filed for damages and compensation, I doubt I could take back my land now. I just want justice and I just want my property be returned back to me as I am already very old and not feeling very well. I also wanted the land back because I was also not happy that the wish of my late father to use the land to propagate our Christian religion was defeated. With my land back, I have also completed my father’s task and justice is now done. With that, I have given instructions to my counsel, YB Voon Lee Shan, to withdraw the two suits against the government and in fact one of the suits had been withdrawn and the other one will be withdrawn soon at the next court sitting. The government was supposed to protect the property of its citizen, but, here the government and those in authority were not keen to protect a weak person like me.
I also was aware that students were involved and over the years, I also tried to convince the government servants and those in power that there was a government secondary school, just beside the roadside of Jalan Dato Mohamad Musa, and that this school could accommodate the students of St. Martin Merdang Gayam, built on my land. The school which was at the said roadside of Jalan Dato Mohamad Musa was a new school with better facilities. This new school was also equipped with computers and was also not far from my land and the students also need not walk very far from the roadside of Jalan Dato Mohamad Musa, unlike to St. Martin Merdang Gayam.
I also don’t know how the school was named as St. Martin Merdang Gayam and no people could tell me. It seemed funny to me as its name, “St. Martin” gave an impression that Christian activities were still alive there, when it was not. What I later on discovered also was that, it was a national school with Bahasa Melayu being the medium of instruction and all teachers were fully paid by the government and the school was fully run by the government.
If not for YB Voon Lee Shan, I doubt I could get back my land. I have no money to pay him and no money to file the suits in court. YB Voon Lee Shan had done all these without charging me fees. YB Voon Lee Shan also paid the court filing fees for me. For all that YB Voon Lee Shan had done and all sufferings and unjustified criticisms leveled at YB Voon Lee Shan during his campaign, I can say, “Thousand Thank You!” YB Voon Lee Shan is my hero and a good Christian, who was daring all out to fight for justice.
I was also told by YB Voon Lee Shan many of his friends and his party members did not give much support to him to fight for justice and this had made YB Voon Lee Shan a very lonely person. I pitied YB Voon Lee Shan for the problems faced by him and I hereby say “Sorry to YB Voon Lee Shan”. My late father and I had fought this case for more than thirty years and had given the government much time and if not for YB Voon Lee Shan I may still not be able to get my land back.
I also have to thank the court to allow the matter to be settled by us amicably because myself, being old and not feeling well could not allowed the matter to drag on for too long.
When my late father retired as a catechist, a school was run on the land. My late father later on came to know about it and told them either to vacate the land or pay some compensation to us, but, all negotiations failed. When I inherited the land, I also pursued the matter, but, I regret that government servants and community leaders including ministers of the present government whom I approached personally or through my close relatives had failed to amicably solve the matter. They made a lot of promises and their talk were sweet, but, nothing positive were done. They were supposed to help the weak and to protect the law, but, they failed.
Later on, I was told by many people including some lawyers that I could no more pursue the matter against the government in court as I was told my action was time barred. It shocked me, I felt sick and I felt cheated.
They all told me not to see opposition politicians for reasons known to themselves, but, I am already too old to wait and I had waited for too long. I am already 73 years old, without any income and a family of my own and I had no choice, but, to approach YB Voon Lee Shan to be my counsel, through my nephew. We are all Christians from the same church and I just prayed YB Voon Lee Shan could help.
I am thankful that he did helped, but, I also regret that like me, YB Voon who acted for me also faced lots of problems with the authorities. I also regret that during the last March 8 Election, the matter was made a political issue by those in the BN government and also by an opposition party against me and YB Voon Lee Shan. They showed no respect to me as old, poor and helpless person who was out there to seek justice to protect my own property. They also showed no respect for the court and my privacy and had also failed to take into consideration that I am a poor elderly lady, but, instead went all out to politicize the matter which also affected my health very badly and until now I am still not feeling very well.
To these politicians who were against me taking back my land they all seemed very charitable persons and good in heart, but, they were only charitable and good in heart during election time. If they were so charitable with the heart to help people, in particular to the people in Merdang Gayam and surrounding areas, then, as an old and elderly person who have no family of my own and also who have no income, instead of seeking my property be alienated without compensation to the government for school purposes, I hereby urge them to donate their property to buy land and build a school for the school children of the people of Merdang Gayam.
Those who harp on the issue during the recently concluded March 8 Election included, Dominique Ng Kim Ho, Datuk Alfred Yap, See Chee How, George Chan, Yong Khoon Seng and Agun Anak Bujang. These politicians had talked so much and they should donate their own land or go and build a school there with their own money and should not have politicized the matter. After all, they are people who are richer than me and are also people in power.
I also could not understand why these so called charitable and kind hearted politicians also did not protect my religion, in which, they should have protected. My father’s dream was gone and All Saints had been demolished and nobody wanted to tell me why it was demolished. In West Malaysia, Hindraf protected the Hindu temples from being demolished and here I am glad YB Voon Lee Shan had gone all out to voice the grievances of our Christian religion being disturbed by unseen hands.
As for Agun anak Bujang, who is the Head of the Parent Teachers Association of St. Martin Merdang Gayam, who has a lot of land in the area, should himself donate part of his land to government to build a school for school children in Merdang Gayam. I also want to ask Agun Anak Bujang why the community hall built that was built on his land was not put for good use of the community and constantly be placed under lock? He is charitable. He can allow the community hall be used as St. Martin Merdang Gayam.
We tried to settle the matter without bringing the matter to court, but, the authorities paid very cold shoulders. I just wanted the authorities to leave the land peacefully and despite the first suit filed in High Court for possession, the government also refused to vacate the land. It was only after the second suit filed to court for compensation, that the government responded, but not immediately.
Although I am poor and had filed for compensation and damages, I never intended to make money out of the unlawful occupation of my land by the government. Had I not filed for damages and compensation, I doubt I could take back my land now. I just want justice and I just want my property be returned back to me as I am already very old and not feeling very well. I also wanted the land back because I was also not happy that the wish of my late father to use the land to propagate our Christian religion was defeated. With my land back, I have also completed my father’s task and justice is now done. With that, I have given instructions to my counsel, YB Voon Lee Shan, to withdraw the two suits against the government and in fact one of the suits had been withdrawn and the other one will be withdrawn soon at the next court sitting. The government was supposed to protect the property of its citizen, but, here the government and those in authority were not keen to protect a weak person like me.
I also was aware that students were involved and over the years, I also tried to convince the government servants and those in power that there was a government secondary school, just beside the roadside of Jalan Dato Mohamad Musa, and that this school could accommodate the students of St. Martin Merdang Gayam, built on my land. The school which was at the said roadside of Jalan Dato Mohamad Musa was a new school with better facilities. This new school was also equipped with computers and was also not far from my land and the students also need not walk very far from the roadside of Jalan Dato Mohamad Musa, unlike to St. Martin Merdang Gayam.
I also don’t know how the school was named as St. Martin Merdang Gayam and no people could tell me. It seemed funny to me as its name, “St. Martin” gave an impression that Christian activities were still alive there, when it was not. What I later on discovered also was that, it was a national school with Bahasa Melayu being the medium of instruction and all teachers were fully paid by the government and the school was fully run by the government.
If not for YB Voon Lee Shan, I doubt I could get back my land. I have no money to pay him and no money to file the suits in court. YB Voon Lee Shan had done all these without charging me fees. YB Voon Lee Shan also paid the court filing fees for me. For all that YB Voon Lee Shan had done and all sufferings and unjustified criticisms leveled at YB Voon Lee Shan during his campaign, I can say, “Thousand Thank You!” YB Voon Lee Shan is my hero and a good Christian, who was daring all out to fight for justice.
I was also told by YB Voon Lee Shan many of his friends and his party members did not give much support to him to fight for justice and this had made YB Voon Lee Shan a very lonely person. I pitied YB Voon Lee Shan for the problems faced by him and I hereby say “Sorry to YB Voon Lee Shan”. My late father and I had fought this case for more than thirty years and had given the government much time and if not for YB Voon Lee Shan I may still not be able to get my land back.
I also have to thank the court to allow the matter to be settled by us amicably because myself, being old and not feeling well could not allowed the matter to drag on for too long.
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