Sabah Malaysia – fact sheet for missionaries

Introduction:

Sabah is on the island of Borneo, one of the largest islands in the world.

Sabah is the 2nd largest state in Malaysia (after Sarawak) and is the poorest state in Malaysia. This is an anomaly because Sabah is rich in natural resources.

Sabah has about 2.5 million people officially and an unofficial population of between 0.5 to 1 million “undocumented aliens.” The majority of these “undocumented aliens” are from Philippines and Indonesia. We will focus this article for missionaries on this group of people. This is one of the largest unreached groups of people in the world and possibly one of the easiest to reach – logistically, economically and culturally.

Undocumented Aliens in Sabah:

Sabah is a land of abundant natural resources – timber in the recent past, palm-oil presently – and few people. Most of the population of Sabah live on the coasts and avoid the rough life of the interior. Workers are needed in the interior to work in the forest and plantations.

Sabah is a short boat’s ride from southern Philippines in the north and a hop across the border from Kalimantan, Indonesia on its east. Southern Philippines has been devastated by decades of warfare between government forces and Muslim separatists. Kalimantan has been chronically neglected by the Java-centric Indonesian government.

Since the distance is so short and the borders so porous, Filipinos and Indonesians illegally cross over to Sabah to look for work. Ethnically, culturally and linguistically they share common roots with the local Sabahans, so they have little problem adjusting to their new “home.” Most of them readily find work in the forest and plantations for approximately US $2-3 per day. Others look for work in construction sites or do odd-jobs that Sabahans shun.

After they settle into their new jobs, these migrants send for their families to join them. Like them, their families come over illegally – without passports or permits. To avoid harassment from the authorities they live in out-of-the-way villages among their own kind. They only go to town if there if there is a need to go because of the fear of “checking” by the police and subsequent deportation!

However, apart from the fact that they are illegal immigrants, their life is actually better than in their home-countries because they have jobs. With their “regular” incomes, they can have three meals a day and a roof over their heads. In a sense, they achieve their dream…. except for one thing……

The need of undocumented aliens in Sabah:

The parents have jobs. Most of them are literate because they went to school in their home-country – Philippines or Indonesia. However, their kids who came to Sabah illegally (who do not have passports or identity papers) and the kids born illegally in Sabah have no opportunity to go to school because they are illegal aliens. These children spend their time playing in the villages and getting into mischief and learning bad habits. The majority of them, even teenagers, are totally illiterate, unable to read “A,” “B” or “C.”

The majority can understand the language of their parents (eg. Filipino) but do not speak it well. The majority speak colloquial Malay (the common language of Sabah) but are unable to read. Some may even understand some English – learned from endless hours of watching English programs on satellite TV.

The great need of these thousands of young people is literacy!

Literacy centers in Sabah as the “bridge” to reach these people:

A pilot scheme was started one year ago in a village (kampong) of illegal aliens in northern Sabah.

There was some initial resistance from the local community to Christians coming to their village. It was the first time that Christians had entered their kampong.

Today, almost 200 students – almost all non-Christians – attend the literacy center. The Christian teachers are well received not only in the community but also welcomed into homes. Children from neighbouring kampongs walk, up to half an hour, to attend the classes.

No religion is taught in the classes in the little school-house. This rule is strictly enforced.

Worship, Bible studies, children’s Sunday schools and discipleship groups are held in homes of converts or sympathisers. Children must have permission from their parents before they are allowed to join the children’s Sunday School.

After one year, another literacy center was opened this month in another kampong a few kilometers away.

Hundreds of such centers are desperately needed in Sabah today.

The harvest is plentiful and the way is open! Pray the Lord of the Harvest for labourers!