It is still proper to call Sarawak as a state - Karim

July 11, 2016

Abdul Karim (third left) in a group photo with See (fourth left), national PKR Women vice president Voon Shiak Ni (left), state PKR Women chief Nurhanim Hanna Mokhsen (second left) and other guests.

KUCHING: Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah opined a call by the SUPP president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian for Sarawak to be referred as a region in Malaysia and not as a state as ‘very subjective.’

He  believed it was still proper to call Sarawak a state because it was a part of Malaysia.

“Sarawak can still be considered a state, but it is a state within a union … within a confederation. So, whether we should call ourselves just Sarawak or a state, to me that is minor,” he told reporters when met at his Hari Raya open house at his residence here yesterday.

“What is more important here is when we signed the (Malaysia) Agreement, there were certain rights that we agreed upon, and these are the rights that have diminished for the last 53 years. We are trying to get them back.”

Stating that the matter was quite sensitive, he opined it was now more important to focus on the rights of the state as Sarawak was one of the signatories to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

“Unlike the federated and unfederated Malay states that are Peninsular Malaysia, they came in as signatory to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 as one entity. We (Sarawak) came in as another entity, Sabah came in as another, and Singapore, too.

“The way I see it, strictly from a legal aspect, it should be called a federation of states.”

Abdul Karim: Public against politicising fuel price increase

October 1, 2013

KUCHING: The lacklustre response to the ‘Walk Against 20 Sen Petrol Price Hike’ here last Saturday is not because Sarawakians are not concerned about the matter.

Assistant Minister of Social Development (Youth) Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who said this, reasoned that the failure of the demonstration was because the public did not agree with certain Opposition leaders politicising the issue.

“I fully believe that everyone is concerned with the price hike, whether they support Barisan Nasional (BN) or the Opposition.

“The failure of the demonstration is not because the public is not concerned, but more because the public do not agree with Opposition parties and leaders politicising the matter,” he said when contacted yesterday.

An Internet news portal, in a recent report, had suggested that the poor response was because Sarawakians supported the 20 sen price hike for RON95 petrol and diesel, which took effect early this month.

Based on previous news reports, the demonstration organisers had expected more than 200 people to show up for the peaceful walk, which started from Wisma Hopoh area to Padang Merdeka.

However, only about 30 people marched under the scorching heat and carrying banners demanding lower petrol price. They also voiced their dissatisfaction over the effects of the fuel price hike on rural Sarawakians.

Assistant minister calls for review of statutory rape law

Thursday August 30, 2012

KUCHING: Assistant Youth Development Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah feels the law on statutory rape should be reviewed, saying many such cases involved consensual sex.

He said statutory rape was defined as a sexual act committed against a minor below the age of 16, notwithstanding whether the victim consented to it or not.

“Why I say there should be a review of this law is because in many of the cases, the ‘victims’ are consenting partners.

“Their partners got charged because the parents of the girls lodged police reports of rape against them,” he told The Star yesterday.

A lawyer by training, Abdul Karim also pointed out that children nowadays matured physically and mentally at a much younger age, including in their understanding of sex.

“Whether in the west or east, the ages of kids experimenting or indulging in sexual acts are getting lower. Thus it’s not fair to crucify the boy for statutory rape in cases where the partner is a willing partner,” he said.

However, he added that if the victim was not a consenting or willing partner, he fully agreed that the perpetrator should be charged for rape.