Category: Sabah

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. Continue reading “Challenge to Sabah DCM for night-tour of Sandakan ghost-town (his 3-term constituency)”

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced yesterday that a high-powered Cabinet sub-committee will be set up to carry out the government’s efforts to eradicate hardcore poverty among all races by 2010.

When Abdullah comes to Sabah next Tuesday (January 29) to launch the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), he should explain to Sabahans what this high-powered committee means to Sabah.

This is because 14 years ago, in its manifesto to capture Sabah state power from PBS, the Barisan Nasional pledged to create a “New Sabah” and promised, among other things, to reduce the poverty level in Sabah from 33 per cent in 1994 to zero in the year 2000.

However, this promise of zero poverty in Sabah by the year 2,000 was never fulfilled. According to the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the incidence of poverty in Sabah in 2004 was the highest of all states in Malaysia at 23 per cent, nowhere near zero incidence and higher than Terengganu (15.4%) and Kelantan (10.6%).

Sabah had also the worst incidence of hard-core poverty in 2004 at 6.5% as compared the next three states with high incidence, i.e. Terengganu 4.4% and Kedah and Kelantan 1.3%.

Now, eight years after its failure to honour its pledge to reduce poverty in Sabah to zero in 2000, the Prime Minister is talking about eradicating hard core poverty by 2010. Continue reading “Zero poverty in Sabah – “Sabah Baru”, “Sabah Development Corridor” and Pak Lah’s high-powered committee”

THURSDAY- 17TH JANUARY 2008 – KIT SIANG TO VISIT KENINGAU TOMORROW

Kit Siang to visit Keningau tomorrow

KENINGAU:

Opposition leader and Democratic Action Party (DAP) National Adviser Lim Kit Siang will visit Keningau on Friday to hear the problems of the people, especially from this district.

Lim will be accompanied by State DAP coordinating chief Teresa Kok, Interior DAP chief Paul Kadau said on Tuesday.

He said Lim is expected to meet the people at Juta Hotel about 7pm.

Paul disclosed that all the DAP machineries in the interior are ready for the coming general election.

“I have set up nine election centres in this district to assist me in the campaigns,” he said.

Paul said DAP would not face any problem because all preparations were going smoothly and the people’s support was very encouraging.

It was only two weeks ago that the people of Sabah celebrated the 44th Malaysia Day on September 16 under protest — as the significance of the formation of Malaysia on that date had been virtually ignored in the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations resulting in a renewed call for Sept. 16 to be declared a national holiday to be an annual reminder to all Malaysians throughout the country of its meaning and importance.

However there had been no lack of somber reminders to Sabahans and Malaysians in recent months that in many important aspects, the clock of national integration and nation-building had gone backwards instead of striking boldly forward to create an united, vibrant, progressive and harmonious Bangsa Malaysia.

Only this month, it surfaced that there is not only the phenomenon of the marginalization of the Kadazandusun-Murut (KDM) community in Sabah, which I had highlighted in Parliament, but there is also the sub-marginalisation of the KDM when Sino-Kadazandusuns with Chinese surnames suffer a new discrimination when they are rejected from investing in Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) schemes.

ASNB had announced that the applications by at least 100 persons of Sino Kadazan descent to invest in ASNB were rejected as they could not produce a native certificate.

Section 2(1)(b) of the Interpretation (Definition of Native) Ordinance under the laws of Sabah cannot be clearer that a Sino Kadazandusun is a bumiputra, as it states that a Native is any person ordinarily resident in Sabah and being and living as a member of a native community, one at least of whose parents or ancestors is or was a native.

Sino Kadazandusuns are outraged at the ASNB rejection of their birth certificate officially stating the identity and status of one of their parents as a native and requiring them to get a Native Certificate when for over 23 years the Sabah State Government had imposed a freeze order on the Native Court system on the issuance of Native Certificates. Continue reading “Sub-marginalisation of KDM — rejection of bumiputra status of Sino Kadazandusuns with Chinese surnames”

by Amigo

A parallel can be drawn between the problem or problems facing the Malaysian government and that of the United States over what to do with the presence of millions of illegal aliens within its borders, working illegally and sending billions back to their home state — the only difference is that in the case of the U.S. it represents a national problem whereas in the case of Malaysia it is looked upon by some as a panacea to a “national problem”.

In the state of Sabah today, with the presence of “foreigners” more appropriately referred to as illegal aliens working illegally within its borders, outnumbering its citizens, the problem over time has been compounded many times over. Since its “inception” there is no government attempt to calculate in terms of costs how much it is costing the country and Malaysian taxpayers in terms of jobs lost, medical costs, education and the strain on its existing infrastructure — and the crime rate in the country.

In the U.S. even if you are an illegal alien, you are entitled to the protection afforded by the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment; the children of illegal aliens have the right to educate their children by sending them to public schools like any of its citizens, and when they get sick they cannot be refused medical treatment at hospitals. These costs are borne by its citizens when they pay their taxes.

One cannot even begin to compare less still fathom the depth of the problem posed by illegal immigrants in Malaysia, and in the state of Sabah in particular.

Where do these “foreigners’ send their children to be educated unless they have red ICs? Are we not condemning them to a life of criminals? How do they get driving licenses to drive without documents to prove their presence? Never mind the lives lost in motor accidents because the driver is not insured. Never mind the hospitals since even its citizens are not entitled to medical treatment they could not afford to pay.

No official studies has been made to study the impact the presence these “foreigners” better referred to as illegal aliens or “undocumented’ workers, has on the local economy e.g. the impact it has on the demographic landscape of the state of Sabah, their implications on the planning and development of not only physical infrastructure but also socio-economic, all essential indicators for a meaningful economic planning under the country’s Five Year Development Plans. Continue reading “If Prime Ministers do not know, then who does?”