This morning I was in Sandakan where I had issued a challenge to the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah to a night-tour of Sandakan as he had disputed my statement that Sandakan is a ghost town after dusk.
I had given Tan 48 hours to respond to my challenge and if he dares to accept, we can then fix a date for a joint night-tour of Sandakan to establish whether Sandakan becomes a ghost town as soon as the sun goes down, with the local people of Sandakan deserting the town centre for the safety of their homes or to the outskirts of Sandakan from the third mile.
I am very shocked that Tan, who is a three-term State Assemblyman for Sandakan, representing Tanjung Papat, should challenge my statement that Sandakan is a ghost town after dusk – as this is not a recent phenomenon but is the sad fact about Sandakan for over two decades, covering the entire period that Tan had been elected representative for Tanjong Papat.
What did Tan do in his 15 years as Sabah State Assemblyman for the area, with two terms as Cabinet Minister and now as Deputy Chief Minister, to revive Sandakan to its past vibrant and flourishing glory as “Little Hong Kong”?
Instead of restoring the night-life of Sandakan so that it does not become a ghost town after dusk, the “ghost town” problem has spread its tentacles outwards to cover an increasing stretch of real property which is now some three miles from the town centre.
Tan should have thanked me for highlighting the problem of Sandakan and used his present position as Deputy Chief Minister to get the Federal and Sabah State governments to launch a programme to revive Sandakan after dusk and give Sandakan as “Little Hong Kong” a second life – and not try to deny the undeniable of Sandakan as a ghost-town after dusk for over two decades.
I await Tan’s response to my challenge for a joint night tour of the ghost-town of Sandakan after dusk.
(Speech 3 at DAP ceramah in Tawau on Monday, 21st January 2008 at 9 pm)