KOTA KINABALU: Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Wences Angang, President of the Momogun National Congress (MNC), issues this formal clarification in response to public discussion about the purpose and use of the Momogun collective identity.
Recent discussions have highlighted the need to reaffirm MNC’s position, particularly in relation to established ethnic identities such as Kadazan, Dusun and those of Sabah’s other Indigenous communities.
MNC respects the autonomy of all cultural organisations, including the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA), and recognises their right to organise under the Kadazandusun identity. We note, however, that KDCA’s advocacy extends beyond its institutional identity: it has formally petitioned the State and Federal Governments to gazette “Kadazandusun” as the generic ethnic category for 45 communities.
MNC advances the Momogun identity in the same spirit: as a request for recognition, not as a challenge to any community’s right to define itself.
Collective identity has direct implications for public policy. Official classifications influence how demographic data are collected and organised, which in turn affects the design and targeting of public policies and socioeconomic programmes.
When Dusunic, Murutic and Paitanic Indigenous peoples are treated as separate, relatively small communities, their demographic strength may be fragmented in official statistics and development planning. As a result, these groups may not be sufficiently visible in the data used to inform dedicated and targeted policy interventions.
In this context, MNC considers Momogun a more appropriate collective identity for two fundamental reasons.
First, Momogun offers more neutral common ground. It is not the specific ethnic identity of any one community. Kadazan and Dusun, by contrast, are ethnic identities in their own right, alongside Murut, Rungus, Sungai, Lundayeh, Tatana and others. No community should feel that it is being absorbed into another community’s identity. A collective identity should provide an inclusive umbrella, without implying ethnic dominance or hierarchy.
“We recognise that the KDCA constitution classifies Rungus, Sungai, Tatana, Lundayeh and other communities as constituent groups within Kadazandusun. Through the Momogun Declaration 2024, MNC’s members have chosen a different collective framework: one in which Kadazan and Dusun remain distinct ethnic identities alongside Murut, Rungus, Sungai, Lundayeh, Tatana and others, rather than serving as the basis under which other communities are classified,” he stated.
This is a matter of which framework communities choose for themselves, not a dispute over which classification is correct.
Second, Momogun is supported by a broad foundation of consensus. At the Konvensyen Perdana Momogun, held on 1 August 2024, 64 ethnic associations representing Dusunic, Murutic and Paitanic groups, together with several Momogun-based non-governmental organisations, signed the Momogun Declaration 2024, 77 signatories in total. This represents a significant collective mandate that deserves serious consideration.
The proposal is not an attempt to erase Kadazan or Dusun identities. Kadazan and Dusun should remain distinct ethnic identities, as should Murut, Rungus, Lundayeh, Sungai, Tatana and every other individual ethnic community. What is needed is a shared collective identity that is more neutral and inclusive.
For decades, Kadazan and Dusun have functioned in practice primarily as specific ethnic identities in academic literature, mainstream media and national statistical systems. Although earlier resolutions may have envisaged a broader umbrella role for these terms, that role has not been applied consistently in the way communities are classified and counted today. MNC believes Momogun can fill this gap more effectively.
Momogun provides a collective framework without requiring any community to recede into another’s name. It also preserves each community’s own identity at the sub-ethnic level, as reflected in the Momogun Declaration 2024, where “Momogun” serves as the collective category while signatories may record their specific ethnic or sub-ethnic identity.
MNC believes that making Momogun available as an option alongside existing classifications would strengthen, not constrain, efforts to advance the socioeconomic development of Sabah’s Indigenous communities, particularly through the formulation of public policy.
MNC offers this position in a spirit of mutual respect. We do not ask any community or association to abandon its existing identity or institutional affiliation. We ask only that Momogun be given serious consideration as an additional, neutral option, grounded in a broad and growing grassroots consensus, the President stated.-BNN
