good point there lailuen :) malaysia can now have sulu, tawi tawi, basilan and all the problems that come with the package.
the people of the areas, specifically the tausug people, in the philippines that were previously part of the ancient sultanate of sulu have been freely traveling to sabah and the nearby areas of malaysia by sea for ages, even in recent times, without passports and other documents. those who belong to this ethnic group have populations in both sulu and sabah.
sabah was a legitimate part of the sultanate of sulu until the brits messed it up when they were setting up shop in south east asia. even previous presidents in philippine history have been trying to reclaim it but were very careful about it because of the close diplomatic relations with malaysia, among other things.
the current philippine president's father, then a congressman and now hailed a hero, had to open his loud mouth and tactlessly publicized some ugly things about certain military operations to reclaim sabah decades ago and messed up the whole thing (this eventually led to the rise of filipino muslim discontent and created the separatist movements). which is probably what his son is also doing now.
we were taught that sabah should belong to us historically, but of course it was never thought realistic. the claim of the sultan may be futile but he has every right to do so. unfortunately it's at the cost of many lives.
good point there lailuen :) malaysia can now have sulu, tawi tawi, basilan and all the problems that come with the package.
the people of the areas, specifically the tausug people, in the philippines that were previously part of the ancient sultanate of sulu have been freely traveling to sabah and the nearby areas of malaysia by sea for ages, even in recent times, without passports and other documents. those who belong to this ethnic group have populations in both sulu and sabah.
sabah was a legitimate part of the sultanate of sulu until the brits messed it up when they were setting up shop in south east asia. even previous presidents in philippine history have been trying to reclaim it but were very careful about it because of the close diplomatic relations with malaysia, among other things.
the current philippine president's father, then a congressman and now hailed a hero, had to open his loud mouth and tactlessly publicized some ugly things about certain military operations to reclaim sabah decades ago and messed up the whole thing (this eventually led to the rise of filipino muslim discontent and created the separatist movements). which is probably what his son is also doing now.
we were taught that sabah should belong to us historically, but of course it was never thought realistic. the claim of the sultan may be futile but he has every right to do so. unfortunately it's at the cost of many lives.