‘Poorest’ sultan sent Sulu followers to Sabah for better life

By Ida Lim
The Malaysian Insider

File photo of Jamalul with his wife Celia at their home in Manila. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — The self-styled Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III has declared himself as the “poorest” Ruler in the world, saying that he had consented to his brother leading a group of armed followers to move to Sabah in search of work and a better life.

“I’m the poorest sultan in the world,” Jamalul told newswire Associated Press (AP) when interviewed in his tumble-down two-storey residence in a poor section of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

File photo of Jamalul with his wife Celia at their home in Manila. — Reuters picThe 74-year-old, who is one of nine claimants to the Sulu Sultanate, reportedly said that his sultanate’s lack of power to help his followers had sparked off their move into Sabah’s east coast over three weeks ago in what is seen as an intrusion by Malaysia and has resulted in deadly clashes with 52 Sulu militants and eight Malaysian policemen dead.

His wife Fatima Celia said that Jamalul’s family is now in debt due to the costly expenses incurred when he campaigned to be a senator in 2007. He was supported by former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but did not win the position.

Jamalul was last year found to have kidney failure and had to go for dialysis, another costly burden which then caused his family to miss monthly payments for their house and almost had to give up the place if their friends had not assisted, Jamalul’s wife reportedly said.

Jamalul, who also has a heart condition, now spends most of his time in his bedroom — where there are two oxygen tanks — which also doubles up as an office.

Yesterday, The Philippine Star reported that the Kiram clan had not intended to reclaim Sabah but wanted more money than the current RM5,300 in annual stipend paid to the Sulu Sultanate, arguing that the sum was not “even enough to pay rental for an apartment” in Manila.

The news portal quoted Acting Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman, saying the message was relayed by “Princess” Jacel, the oldest daughter of Jamalul, in one of the backroom negotiations between the clan and Manila for a peaceful solution to the Lahad Datu standoff.

“Hataman also emphasised that Princess Jacel told them they did not have plans to reclaim Sabah, and that they were only asking for a bigger payment because the current rate was not even enough to pay rental for an apartment,” the report said.

The honorarium and ownership over the state was reported to be among the three issues raised by the sultanate with the Aquino administration before the Sabah standoff. The annual payment to the Kirams is distributed to all members of the family.

Jamalul had insisted that Sabah belongs to the Sulu sultanate and that it had merely leased North Borneo in 1878 to the British North Borneo Company for an annual payment of 5,000 Malayan dollars then, which was increased to 5,300 Malayan dollars in 1903.

Sabah, however, joined Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia in 1963, after which Malaysia continued paying an annual stipend of RM5,300 to the Sulu sultanate on the basis of the sultanate ceding the Borneo state.