Malaysian Suluks threaten to cut ties with Filipino brethren

A group claiming to represent the Suluk community in Malaysia has threatened to cut ties with their brethren in the Phillipines if the confrontation between the Sulu 'sultanate' militants and Malaysian security forces continues.

The United National Suluk Association (PSBS) this afternoon gathered around 30 of its 8,000 members at the Philippines embassy to hand over a memorandum.

PSBS acting president Faizal Fisar said the memorandum demanded the Philippines government to bring back the intruders and allow Malaysia to extradite the leader of the militant group 'Sultan' Jamalul Kiram III.

He also said that the intruders must surrender and return to their home country immediately.

"If they continue with this, the Suluk community in Malaysia will no longer want to be related to those Suluk in the Philippines," he told reporters here.

Another PSBS leader Yusop Abdua demanded that the intruders "stop this stupidity at once".

"Because of the actions of these few so-called terrorists, people think that Suluks are all like that," said Yusop.

Meanwhile, a handful of Malaysians turned up to place flowers in front of the Philippines embassy in a gesture for peace in Sabah.

Since 2.15pm, more than a dozen men and women slowly streamed in one by one to silently put down the flowers in the action, called "Ops Bunga".

A Sabahan woman teared up when talking about the Lahad Datu situation. "This is our gesture for peace. For Sabah to get back to normal, this is our final plea," Vivian Sarjuni, 38, from Tambunan.

"We are all 1Malaysia, don't differentiate between all of us," Sarjuni said.

Another participant, film producer Mohd Sufian Farouk, 20, said that the violence should stop.

"We are all muslims. Stop all this," he said.

Local actor Remy Ishak also turned up but only said a few words. "This is for world peace. My younger brother is also fighting in Sabah," he said before walking away with a pained expression.

Joe Lee, a social media entrepreneur and former journalist who inititiated "Ops Bunga" on Twitter, said he was doing this to the Malaysian public's appreciation of the fallen heroes.

He said this was also to show gratitude to the Philippine government for recognising the intrusion as wrong.

Lee also assured the Filipinos and Suluk people in Malaysia that the country is safe, and that they are not “looked upon differently just because of the actions of a small group of intruders”.

"This is our way to voice out. I am no longer a journalist to cover. I'm not a soldier and I can't go and fight. So this is a way for us regular citizen to show support."