http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/6094/84/
The recent decision by the Sabah State Government to scrap the proposed 300MW coal-fired power plant project in Silam, Lahad Datu has once again put the spotlight on the perennial power shortages which the people in this state have long suffered.
For many, these disruptions to daily economic and social activities can only be suffered in silence as it seems to be the norm.
The sole power utility in Sabah is the Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB), 80% owned by national utility giant Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), with the remaining 20% being owned by the Sabah State Government.
The manner in which the Silam IPP project was awarded last year leaves much to be desired in the way of transparency and fair evaluation on the part of the Federal Government, and corporate governance on the part of TNB. For the first time, the Federal Government decided to undertake a tender exercise with a supposed view to obtain the best possible technical and commercial proposals. When the tender closed, sometime in June 2006, a total of 13 bids were received, including one from a TNB subsidiary i.e. TNB REMACO.
The chronology of events subsequent to tender closing gives substance to my earlier comments regarding transparency and corporate governance, as shown below:
* The evaluation committee, though comprising independent technical and financial experts, was headed by TNB, even though a TNB subsidiary was one of the bidders;
* The evaluation committee then proceeded with a detailed evaluation of EACH of the 13 bids received, such bids being evaluated against their individual and specific merits and demerits;
* The bidders were bidding for only 60% of the project’s equity as the bid documents clearly stated that the remaining 40% had been reserved for “Sabah bumiputera” interests;
* When the Federal Government finally announced the award of the project almost a year after bids had closed, it awarded 80% of the equity of the project to a consortium comprising three of the original 13 bidders i.e. TNB REMACO, Eden- Nova Nusantara and Maser. How could evaluation of 13 unique, specific and individual bids lead to an award to a group of 3 of them? Was this group ever asked to submit a fresh proposal as a consortium? Why weren’t other bidders encouraged to team up as consortia and submit fresh proposals on the basis of consortia and not individual bidders? Why was the portion reserved for Sabah bumiputera interests inexplicably reduced from 40% to 20%?
Now that the Sabah State Government has scrapped the project on environmental grounds, what will happen to this consortium? Will the same consortium be asked to propose a more environmentally-friendly power project and site? Wasn’t there any coordination between Federal and State governments prior to the implementation of this project?
The sad saga of how the Federal Government continues to mismanage the award of power projects does not end here.
In the mid-1990’s, the Federal Government awarded a 120MW open-cycle gas-fired IPP project in Kota Kinabalu to a consortium comprising Time Engineering, EPE, Sabah Energy Corporation and Aras Setia (an unheard of, local Sabahan political crony outfit). The consortium called itself Powertron Resources Sdn. Bhd. A few years down the road, Ranhill Berhad bought over the equity holdings of Time and EPE, thereby becoming the major shareholder in Powertron, subsequently re-naming it Ranhill Powertron.
Towards the end of 2005, the Federal Government approved the conversion of Ranhill Powertron’s 120MW open-cycle plant to a 190MW combined-cycle plant to benefit from the efficiencies of such a conversion. The completion date stated in the revised PPA which Ranhill Powertron signed with SESB was March 2007. As of April 2008, this project is yet to be fully completed. Word has it that when Ranhill became slow in payments to the Japanese sub-contractor, they left site. Ranhill brought in a bunch of retired power engineers from India to complete the project, and whilst in the process of pre-commissioning tests, one of the new steam turbines suffered major damage. Even without such an event, Ranhill would not have been able to complete the project by the required date of March 2007.
In parallel with obtaining Federal Government approval to convert its Powertron plant to a combined-cycle plant, Ranhill submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Federal Government for a new 190MW combined cycle IPP plant, to be located adjacent to its Powertron plant. The supposed benefits of this project were that it would enjoy economies of scale with the Powertron project and as such Ranhill would be able to offer the lowest IPP tariffs in Sabah. Yet again, the Federal Government gave its approval to the new Ranhill Tuaran IPP project. The completion date stipulated in Ranhill Tuaran’s PPA with SESB is July 2008.
Ranhill Tuaran ran into problems right from the start, facing problems with the private owners of its proposed power plant site, eventually leading to these landowners filing court action. Why did the Government approve this project when Ranhill could not even show proof of ownership of the proposed project site? As of today, nothing much has been done physically at the proposed site, apart from some initial piling works.
The protracted delays in all of the above projects will lead SESB to facing acute generation adequacy shortfalls in the short term. Whilst the lobbyists and UMNO/BN cronies play out their own power games within the corridors of Putrajaya, the ordinary, tax-paying rakyat of Sabah will be left facing more dark nights and hot, sweaty days and incalculable economic loss.
By treeman
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Of Corruption & The Corrupted
Yesterday's newspapers reported that a senior Education Dept. official in Sabah was being charged for alleged corrupt practices involving RM92,800. Today, the guy's been charged with a another involving RM6,800. By doing simple maths, this guy would have accumulated a total of about RM100,000. Of course, this is just the money they found out about. Perhaps he managed to stash nearly RM1million before he got caught no-one will know.
Anyway, RM100,000 is relatively a small amount for a government official to 'eat'. I don't look down on money and if someone gives me that amount for free I'd gladly take it. But the money can at most be used to send your kids for one year of education in Australia and that's it.
My main point is this. Why is the ACA catching all these small fries? Why is ACA wasting tax-payers money going after all these poor scapegoats? I mean it is a good thing to see corrupt officials getting charged but what about the big guns eating millions and billions of ringgits?! And the first person to charge in court isn't all these low-level officials eating RM100,000. The first person to be charged for corruption is Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. With undisclosed wealth amouting to tens of billions of ringgits courtesy of Petronas (i.e. Malaysian citizen money), this guy could be one of the richest former leaders in the world! He's the best friend of Robert Mugabe going to the extend of urging Malaysia's government to offer the latter a place in Malaysia should he decide to go into exile. Absolutely ridiculous.
When it comes to politicians, the ACA will always say 'oh yea..we're investigating him' but charges are never made. There are so many obvious candidates to be investigated and charged too! If ACA has any legitimate reasons not to charge Dr.M, they could easily charge Rafidah Aziz for her part in the AP scandal, Najib for receiving millions for defense contracts, Daim Zainuddin for siphoning out billions of ringgit to buy African and Eastern European banks, and the guy who started Project IC giving illegals MyKads, bla bla bla..there's too many! Now these people will say 'PROVE IT' because they are so confident that they will be let off the hook. Even if there is evidence, they will say 'this case is closed' or 'It looks like me, sounds like me but nobody can 100% say it's me'. In the totally impossible scenario where the ACA does eventually want to charge a big croc, the AG will say 'nope, the evidence isn't enough'. Who does the ACA work for? Who does the AG work for? Barisan? UMNO? Or the people?
The ACA will say 'hey, we've charged somebody before, just look at Kasitah Gaddam'. So what happened to the case now? Isn't he a free man? And what about the rich businessman who got charged at the same time? Isn't he still walking around free?
The scenario gets worse. I got this article from The Star Online today.
A bribe no less, state ACA probes RM9 pay-off
KOTA BARU: The amount may be small but a bribe is still a bribe.
That was what Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Deputy Director-General Datuk Zakaria Jaffar emphasised when he revealed that the lowest bribe amount the agency investigated in Kelantan was RM9, in 2004.
“The measure of culpability is not in the amount ... the amount may be small, but it’s still an offence under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 ... for giving a bribe,” he told reporters here.
Earlier, he attended the handing over of duties by state ACA director Md Yusof Md Zain, who will assume the post of Johor ACA director, to Mohd Jaafar Hussin.
Zakaria said the highest bribe amount the agency investigated in Kelantan in the last five years was RM1,500.
He also said that during that period the Kelantan ACA received 1,931 tip-offs and investigation papers were opened on 218 cases.
“A total of 60 people were arrested and charged with corruption in those five years.” – Bernama
So they're investigating and charging people guilty of bribes of RM9 (roughly USD2.80) to RM100,000 but the big crocodiles gobbling up millions and billions are still running loose.
I say chop off the head first. Go for the top. Then again I'm not ACA. I'm just the boss of ACA who can't do anything as UMNO rapes the country over and over again.
God save Malaysia.
Anyway, RM100,000 is relatively a small amount for a government official to 'eat'. I don't look down on money and if someone gives me that amount for free I'd gladly take it. But the money can at most be used to send your kids for one year of education in Australia and that's it.
My main point is this. Why is the ACA catching all these small fries? Why is ACA wasting tax-payers money going after all these poor scapegoats? I mean it is a good thing to see corrupt officials getting charged but what about the big guns eating millions and billions of ringgits?! And the first person to charge in court isn't all these low-level officials eating RM100,000. The first person to be charged for corruption is Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. With undisclosed wealth amouting to tens of billions of ringgits courtesy of Petronas (i.e. Malaysian citizen money), this guy could be one of the richest former leaders in the world! He's the best friend of Robert Mugabe going to the extend of urging Malaysia's government to offer the latter a place in Malaysia should he decide to go into exile. Absolutely ridiculous.
When it comes to politicians, the ACA will always say 'oh yea..we're investigating him' but charges are never made. There are so many obvious candidates to be investigated and charged too! If ACA has any legitimate reasons not to charge Dr.M, they could easily charge Rafidah Aziz for her part in the AP scandal, Najib for receiving millions for defense contracts, Daim Zainuddin for siphoning out billions of ringgit to buy African and Eastern European banks, and the guy who started Project IC giving illegals MyKads, bla bla bla..there's too many! Now these people will say 'PROVE IT' because they are so confident that they will be let off the hook. Even if there is evidence, they will say 'this case is closed' or 'It looks like me, sounds like me but nobody can 100% say it's me'. In the totally impossible scenario where the ACA does eventually want to charge a big croc, the AG will say 'nope, the evidence isn't enough'. Who does the ACA work for? Who does the AG work for? Barisan? UMNO? Or the people?
The ACA will say 'hey, we've charged somebody before, just look at Kasitah Gaddam'. So what happened to the case now? Isn't he a free man? And what about the rich businessman who got charged at the same time? Isn't he still walking around free?
The scenario gets worse. I got this article from The Star Online today.
A bribe no less, state ACA probes RM9 pay-off
KOTA BARU: The amount may be small but a bribe is still a bribe.
That was what Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Deputy Director-General Datuk Zakaria Jaffar emphasised when he revealed that the lowest bribe amount the agency investigated in Kelantan was RM9, in 2004.
“The measure of culpability is not in the amount ... the amount may be small, but it’s still an offence under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 ... for giving a bribe,” he told reporters here.
Earlier, he attended the handing over of duties by state ACA director Md Yusof Md Zain, who will assume the post of Johor ACA director, to Mohd Jaafar Hussin.
Zakaria said the highest bribe amount the agency investigated in Kelantan in the last five years was RM1,500.
He also said that during that period the Kelantan ACA received 1,931 tip-offs and investigation papers were opened on 218 cases.
“A total of 60 people were arrested and charged with corruption in those five years.” – Bernama
So they're investigating and charging people guilty of bribes of RM9 (roughly USD2.80) to RM100,000 but the big crocodiles gobbling up millions and billions are still running loose.
I say chop off the head first. Go for the top. Then again I'm not ACA. I'm just the boss of ACA who can't do anything as UMNO rapes the country over and over again.
God save Malaysia.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
If I Was The Prime Minister Of Sabah
Be warned, this post is just going to be my personal ramblings and complains. I will just type as I feel and will not even attempt to structure it properly.
Even before they read this post, some may already ask 'Huh? Prime Minister? Wouldn't Chief Minister be the correct term?'.
This was exactly what Malaysia under Tunku Abdul Rahman faced. An aggressive Lee Kuan Yew proclaiming to be the Prime Minister of Singapore at a time when Singapore was still a partner in the Federation of Malaysia. How could Malaysia have two Prime Ministers? In fact, it could very well have been FOUR Prime Ministers.
In 1963, four separate governments decided to join together as one nation. The already independent Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak. Of course we all know what happened to Singapore in 1965 and although Minister Mentor Lee was pretty much saddened, he decided to move on and today Singapore is many steps ahead of Malaysia. Anyway, let's focus back to Sabah. Today, Sabah and Sarawak is just treated as 'another' Malaysian state.
Lesson no. 1: Not many people know that Sabah and Sarawak DID NOT join Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak, together with Singapore and Malaya, are equal partners in the formation of Malaysia.
What? Does this mean that Sabah and Sarawak isn't just a state in Malaysia? That's correct. In fact, Sabah and Sarawak are equals to Malaya. THey are not equals to Selangor, Perak and definitely not Malacca. Many Sabahans and Sarawakians don't know this because the history books in Malaysia try to water-down the significance of this. Why not? The Feds i.e. UMNOputras need to control Sabah and Sarawak. They control the Education Ministry. Education falls under the Federal Govt. And thus, the Federal Government, through the Education Ministry wipes out the political and historical strength of Malaysian Borneo. Only recently when Malaysian Borneo delivered the backbone of Barisan Nasional parliamentary seats have they realized the need to take our views and opinions in regard.
So if I were to be sitting in Musa Aman's seat presumably with Sabahan support, then I would push for my position to be termed 'Prime Minister' instead of 'Chief Minister'. Okay I was kidding, but seriously, I would ensure Sabahan MPs fight for recognition of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian history books instead of just trying to drum up pride on things like Ketuanan Melayu-related issues. Perhaps if pushed to the extreme by UMNOputras in the Parliament, I will also push for history books and all relevant textbooks to include the full 20 points agreement which was promised to Sabah. This includes the point that the constitutional clause stating Islam as the official religion in Malaya does not apply to Sabah. In short, Ketuanan Melayu DOES NOT EXIST IN SABAH.
Personally, I don't see it as a big problem in Sabah either since Malays are not the majority in Sabah. Yes, the Muslim Bumiputera population in Sabah is pretty huge but a lot of them are not Melayu. They are Bajaus, Suluks, etc etc. And if you really want to play up the ketuanan issue, then I think the Kadazan-Dusun-Muruts have the most rights to that. But of course Sabahans are all friendly and nice people. We don't really care about racial and religious problems. Orang kita orang Sabah is truly multi-racial so ketuanan doesn't really come up that much. It only happens in West Malaysia where UMNOputras just LOVE to play it up to ignite sentiments. Wave the keris, protesting pig farms although it was the UMNO-led govt which approved, you know those sort of things. Now UMNO has come into Sabah for about roughly more than a decade. Sabahans are worried. We are now subjected to the divide and rule policy as espoused by UMNO so that UMNOputeras can continue to suck our petroleum dry. And now our palm oil too (through FELDA)!
So moving on from fighting for the education of ALL MALAYSIANS on the 20 point agreement, I will also fight to ensure that ketuanan Melayu and other UMNO-related cancers does not creep into the State. To start that of, I will fight to strike off the 'Bangsa' section of ALL forms except for crucial ones such as those related to land.
Okay wait, I havent finished with the 'education' part. Secular and unbiased education shall be available to all Sabahans free up to secondary school if possible. Funds from Yayasan Sabah shall be used to buy milk and provide basic school equipment and stationery to all Sabahans just like in the good ol' days. Education will be my utmost worry for Sabah. Because it is with education that we equip future Sabahans to protect themselves from Malayan colonialism.
Our leaders have done enough to prostitute the State for the benefits of their pockets and have done nothing to improve the education system here. It is now time to fight for our rights. For that to occur, education shall be the key and this will require greater autonomy to be demanded for Sabah education. All Malayan propaganda shall be removed and history books shall include a significant amount of Sabah history. There shall be no bias towards any race or religion and students in Sabah will not be forced to learn in detail a certain civilisation only. Other major civilisations shall be included as well. Pendidikan Moral will be removed and replaced with a more practical civics (only recently did the Malaysian Education MInistry decided to do this). Sabahans will be taught proper manners e.g. not spitting everywhere, keeping toilets clean and dry, charity, basic good and bad. It is only with this kind of education can we produce Sabahan ladies and gentlemen who are respected. It is also with these kind of practical moral education can we start to even think of eradicating corruption.
Teachers are to be well-paid with benefits at the expense of tax-payers. If there are not enough competent teachers, the Government of Sabah under my watch will not hesitate to bring in foreign educators while at the same time establish a good and reliable Teachers' College to replace the ones we have in Sabah because those have been indoctrinated with Malayan propaganda. We will ensure that the stigma of relying on foreign help is removed because only with an open mind can we learn from other people. We must ignore all UMNO propaganda saying the West is evil and that if we seek help from them we are selling ourselves. The Japanese opened up to the West but did not sell themselves. They ended up stronger.
We will send all bright and young students overseas without discriminating them based on race and/or religion. Neither will they be sent overseas on scholarships just because their parents know someone up there. As long as they deserve it, and that they worked hard for it, then they will be on their way to higher education in good and reputable universities. Sabah's education system needs to be rebuilt from the very core. Hopefully with all these new and open education system, the level will improve to that of Singapore, Hong Kong and the likes.
Education is the key to a stronger Sabah in all aspects such as politically, economically etc etc.
In terms of infrastructure, I will spend a lot of money to provide the basics to all Sabahans. Basics meaning clean water, uninterrupted electricity, good roads, and efficient sewerage system. The rest I will leave it to the population of Sabah.
I can go on and on and on dreaming actually. But all these will need a will strong enough to move a nation. And actually all it requires is common sense.
Unfortunately, common sense comes short in this part of the world. Leaders are blinded with greed and corruption. Common sense will tell you that the ACA needs to be independent and not controlled by the PM. Common sense which is from a sincere love for the nation that is. However, our Tun Dr. M obviously doesn't care. All he cares about his power and how to multiply his wealth so he uses the ACA not to weed out corruption but to strengthen his position as PM. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. Okay let's just focus on Sabah first.
For common sense to prevail over greed, Sabah will have it's own ACA which is independent and answerable to the people of Sabah. It will be something like the ICAC in Hong Kong and will have full powers to weed out corruption in the whole government system.
Lastly before I end this post, I would also say that as the Prime Minister or Chief Minister of Sabah, I will try to lobby for Sabahans such as the AG and Mr. Bocor to step down from their federal positions before they make Sabahans look like uneducated, corrupt and uncivilized barbarians. It is because we have all these people in the Federal Government representing Sabah, the Feds love to play us around because they think Sabahans are stupid like them.
And one final thing. Musa Aman was not chosen by Sabahans to lead Sabah. Musa Aman was chosen by Dr. M who sat quite comfortably in the PM's office at that time. One day, with all the education and political and economical strength, Sabah will finally be able to choose their own leaders again without interference from the Feds and the likes of Dr. M.
Even before they read this post, some may already ask 'Huh? Prime Minister? Wouldn't Chief Minister be the correct term?'.
This was exactly what Malaysia under Tunku Abdul Rahman faced. An aggressive Lee Kuan Yew proclaiming to be the Prime Minister of Singapore at a time when Singapore was still a partner in the Federation of Malaysia. How could Malaysia have two Prime Ministers? In fact, it could very well have been FOUR Prime Ministers.
In 1963, four separate governments decided to join together as one nation. The already independent Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak. Of course we all know what happened to Singapore in 1965 and although Minister Mentor Lee was pretty much saddened, he decided to move on and today Singapore is many steps ahead of Malaysia. Anyway, let's focus back to Sabah. Today, Sabah and Sarawak is just treated as 'another' Malaysian state.
Lesson no. 1: Not many people know that Sabah and Sarawak DID NOT join Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak, together with Singapore and Malaya, are equal partners in the formation of Malaysia.
What? Does this mean that Sabah and Sarawak isn't just a state in Malaysia? That's correct. In fact, Sabah and Sarawak are equals to Malaya. THey are not equals to Selangor, Perak and definitely not Malacca. Many Sabahans and Sarawakians don't know this because the history books in Malaysia try to water-down the significance of this. Why not? The Feds i.e. UMNOputras need to control Sabah and Sarawak. They control the Education Ministry. Education falls under the Federal Govt. And thus, the Federal Government, through the Education Ministry wipes out the political and historical strength of Malaysian Borneo. Only recently when Malaysian Borneo delivered the backbone of Barisan Nasional parliamentary seats have they realized the need to take our views and opinions in regard.
So if I were to be sitting in Musa Aman's seat presumably with Sabahan support, then I would push for my position to be termed 'Prime Minister' instead of 'Chief Minister'. Okay I was kidding, but seriously, I would ensure Sabahan MPs fight for recognition of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian history books instead of just trying to drum up pride on things like Ketuanan Melayu-related issues. Perhaps if pushed to the extreme by UMNOputras in the Parliament, I will also push for history books and all relevant textbooks to include the full 20 points agreement which was promised to Sabah. This includes the point that the constitutional clause stating Islam as the official religion in Malaya does not apply to Sabah. In short, Ketuanan Melayu DOES NOT EXIST IN SABAH.
Personally, I don't see it as a big problem in Sabah either since Malays are not the majority in Sabah. Yes, the Muslim Bumiputera population in Sabah is pretty huge but a lot of them are not Melayu. They are Bajaus, Suluks, etc etc. And if you really want to play up the ketuanan issue, then I think the Kadazan-Dusun-Muruts have the most rights to that. But of course Sabahans are all friendly and nice people. We don't really care about racial and religious problems. Orang kita orang Sabah is truly multi-racial so ketuanan doesn't really come up that much. It only happens in West Malaysia where UMNOputras just LOVE to play it up to ignite sentiments. Wave the keris, protesting pig farms although it was the UMNO-led govt which approved, you know those sort of things. Now UMNO has come into Sabah for about roughly more than a decade. Sabahans are worried. We are now subjected to the divide and rule policy as espoused by UMNO so that UMNOputeras can continue to suck our petroleum dry. And now our palm oil too (through FELDA)!
So moving on from fighting for the education of ALL MALAYSIANS on the 20 point agreement, I will also fight to ensure that ketuanan Melayu and other UMNO-related cancers does not creep into the State. To start that of, I will fight to strike off the 'Bangsa' section of ALL forms except for crucial ones such as those related to land.
Okay wait, I havent finished with the 'education' part. Secular and unbiased education shall be available to all Sabahans free up to secondary school if possible. Funds from Yayasan Sabah shall be used to buy milk and provide basic school equipment and stationery to all Sabahans just like in the good ol' days. Education will be my utmost worry for Sabah. Because it is with education that we equip future Sabahans to protect themselves from Malayan colonialism.
Our leaders have done enough to prostitute the State for the benefits of their pockets and have done nothing to improve the education system here. It is now time to fight for our rights. For that to occur, education shall be the key and this will require greater autonomy to be demanded for Sabah education. All Malayan propaganda shall be removed and history books shall include a significant amount of Sabah history. There shall be no bias towards any race or religion and students in Sabah will not be forced to learn in detail a certain civilisation only. Other major civilisations shall be included as well. Pendidikan Moral will be removed and replaced with a more practical civics (only recently did the Malaysian Education MInistry decided to do this). Sabahans will be taught proper manners e.g. not spitting everywhere, keeping toilets clean and dry, charity, basic good and bad. It is only with this kind of education can we produce Sabahan ladies and gentlemen who are respected. It is also with these kind of practical moral education can we start to even think of eradicating corruption.
Teachers are to be well-paid with benefits at the expense of tax-payers. If there are not enough competent teachers, the Government of Sabah under my watch will not hesitate to bring in foreign educators while at the same time establish a good and reliable Teachers' College to replace the ones we have in Sabah because those have been indoctrinated with Malayan propaganda. We will ensure that the stigma of relying on foreign help is removed because only with an open mind can we learn from other people. We must ignore all UMNO propaganda saying the West is evil and that if we seek help from them we are selling ourselves. The Japanese opened up to the West but did not sell themselves. They ended up stronger.
We will send all bright and young students overseas without discriminating them based on race and/or religion. Neither will they be sent overseas on scholarships just because their parents know someone up there. As long as they deserve it, and that they worked hard for it, then they will be on their way to higher education in good and reputable universities. Sabah's education system needs to be rebuilt from the very core. Hopefully with all these new and open education system, the level will improve to that of Singapore, Hong Kong and the likes.
Education is the key to a stronger Sabah in all aspects such as politically, economically etc etc.
In terms of infrastructure, I will spend a lot of money to provide the basics to all Sabahans. Basics meaning clean water, uninterrupted electricity, good roads, and efficient sewerage system. The rest I will leave it to the population of Sabah.
I can go on and on and on dreaming actually. But all these will need a will strong enough to move a nation. And actually all it requires is common sense.
Unfortunately, common sense comes short in this part of the world. Leaders are blinded with greed and corruption. Common sense will tell you that the ACA needs to be independent and not controlled by the PM. Common sense which is from a sincere love for the nation that is. However, our Tun Dr. M obviously doesn't care. All he cares about his power and how to multiply his wealth so he uses the ACA not to weed out corruption but to strengthen his position as PM. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. Okay let's just focus on Sabah first.
For common sense to prevail over greed, Sabah will have it's own ACA which is independent and answerable to the people of Sabah. It will be something like the ICAC in Hong Kong and will have full powers to weed out corruption in the whole government system.
Lastly before I end this post, I would also say that as the Prime Minister or Chief Minister of Sabah, I will try to lobby for Sabahans such as the AG and Mr. Bocor to step down from their federal positions before they make Sabahans look like uneducated, corrupt and uncivilized barbarians. It is because we have all these people in the Federal Government representing Sabah, the Feds love to play us around because they think Sabahans are stupid like them.
And one final thing. Musa Aman was not chosen by Sabahans to lead Sabah. Musa Aman was chosen by Dr. M who sat quite comfortably in the PM's office at that time. One day, with all the education and political and economical strength, Sabah will finally be able to choose their own leaders again without interference from the Feds and the likes of Dr. M.
Keep Ketuanan Melayu Out Of East Malaysia
ONCE HARMONIOUS SOCIAL FABRIC OF SABAH TORN TO PIECES BY BARISAN NASIONAL
http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/5987/84/
Dear Pakatan Rakyat and all concerned citizens,
I would like to convey my deep frustration with what is going in the state of Sabah, my home.
I was born and raised in Kota Kinabalu. I am a half KDM guy, but I mainly identify myself as a Malaysian and a Sabahan, however I still am a very proud of both halves of my ethnicity. My dissatisfaction arose beginning 1994 when Sabah fell to BN in the most dirtiest disgusting manner: when BN bought over elected MPs from PBS to cross over to BN following their loss in the election. Thus began the UMNO chapter in the political history of Sabah. Or if you like, the Sabah chapter of UMNO.
At that time, the BN coalition consisted a number of parties. I do not recall all the parties or the number of seats they obtained in the election. Then came the rotation system. Every 2 years a representative from 3 communities, namely, the non-Muslim Bumis, Muslim Bumis and the Chinese take turn to govern the state. Soon, UMNO began taking most seats in the states. Finally, it was decided that the rotation system would end, with Musa Aman conveniently at the helm of the government. He has been the CM for 5 years already, with unbelievably, no apparent dissent at all. Even ex-CM Chong Kah Kiat seem to have endorsed this idea.
There are actually many issues bugging me right now, but shall only express one that has been bugging me the most. We all know the central ideology of UMNO is 'Ketuanan Melayu', the racialist belief that the Malays are the boss in this land. Historically, this idea seemed to apply only in Peninsula Malaysia in tandem with the Social Contract. However it seems this idealogy has appeared to have reached our shores in East Malaysia. As you might know, there are not many ethnic Malays in East Malaysia, and they are not normally regarded as being indigenous to Borneo. However pockets of so called Malay communities does appear in southern Sarawak, who are often linked to, or associated with the Melanaus, and also in Sabah, who typically identify themselves as Brunei Malays.
Before I carry on, I strongly believe that Ketuanan Melayu (KM) is an egotistical propaganda created to further the agenda of UMNO to suppress the non-Bumis, in many aspect of life. This is the UMNO version of KM. However, I do also believe in the existence of an alternative and milder definition of "Ketuanan Melayu", whereby the special rights of the Malays, such as having a Malay Agong and sultans in Malay states, the supremacy of Bahasa Malaysia, and perhaps also having a Malay PM, are protected. The UMNO version of this ideology is more extreme, in that, it seeks to extend Malay supremacy in almost every arena of governance and even social life. For example, that the head of judiciary, head of police, head of military, head of major corporate companies, even principals of secondary schools, et al, has to be Malay. I can subscribe to the milder version of KM (at a national level, not state level) but I cannot subscribe to UMNO's version of it.
Going back to Sabah, I have actually witnessed that many Muslim Sabahans are beginning to identify themselves as Malays. These Sabahans could either be Bajaus, Bugis, Suluk, Malay, even Kadazan Muslims, etc. How it all started I'm not sure, whether certain Malays from Peninsula wanted to extend their sphere of influence by proposing that they are also Malays and that they should begin seeing themselves as Malays, or whether the Muslim community themselves who thought it is the next logical thing to do. I think it is the former which is the more plausible explanation. My question is WHY? They already have so many 'identities' to hold for themselves: a Sabahan, a Bajau, a Muslim, a Malaysian, a Human. Why must they also be a Malay? Its not really a big problem for me if they want to call themselves "Malays", by all means go ahead. But when they begin to shout 'Ketuanan Melayu' here, then it shows an ulterior motive in the adoption of this new identity, which I am against.
As if this is not enough, they have also begun acknowledging immigrants from Indonesia and perhaps also Philippines as "Malays". I have heard a lot about this 'conspiracy' called "Project IC" a.k.a "Project M", but I never brought myself to 100% believe in its truth since most of the things I heard about it is just hearsay. But attitudes of UMNO members of late made me believed more in the existence of Project M. But a statement floated in by one Malay forummer in an online forum recently, where he suggested we embrace these immigrants as our brothers provided they adopt Islam and Malay, is the one that confirmed my suspicion on both counts. That is, that Project M exists, and Ketuanan Melayu is a racist propaganda that has reached Sabah and has been entrenched in the minds of some Sabahans here. (for more information please read "When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigration into Malaysia" written by Professor Kamal Sadiq of University of California - Irvine)
Malay is clearly defined in the constitution as a person who habitually speaks Malay, practices Malay customs and professes Islam. Clearly as a KDM, I am not a Malay. Though UMNO sometimes insists that we are also Malays which is plain bullshit. Seriously, who are they trying to bluff. So what is the result of this? Soon, the Muslims in Sabah may unite under the Malay banner and we are no longer seen as brothers in this land of ours. KM is slowly turning the Muslim against the non-Muslims. A clear example of this is the 1986 riots around Sabah. The rioters were seeking to oust the appointment of Pairin Kitingan. Why? Did he cheat in the elections? No. The only reason this riot happened in my opinion is that because Pairin is a Christian. Of course, upon being provoked by certain leaders.
We have always been multiracial yet united society in Sabah. That is why since our independence we have had KDMs, Bajaus, Chinese, Suluks, Malays, etc. (or Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian) as Chief Minister in this state. Compare this to, say, Johor, Terengganu, or Penang, which only had a CM from one particular race only. But ideologies such as KM is destroying our unique open social mentality. We could have been a role model on how racial relations should work in Malaysia. Sadly, communal mentality has seeped into the mainstream society of Sabah. We never cared much about race, but now it seems we must bow down only to Malays. We are also told to fear the Chinese as they are only interested in stealing our money and exploiting us. Is it a coincidence that both Sabah and Sarawak have Muslims and somewhat "Malay" person as the CM? When in fact there is a significant population of non-Muslims (mainly Dayaks) here? I seriously don't care if Malays (from Sabah) get to be the CM of Sabah, but when they are impliedly telling us that from now on only "Malays" can be the CM, then you are no longer welcomed in Sabah. Sabahans should not bow to anyone. If one day a KDM leader should declare that from now only a KDM can be a CM, and that central ideology of the state is "Ketuanan KDM", I would strongly oppose this as well, even though I am a KDM, because this is bullshit.
The recent election is strongly influenced by money politics, desperate need for development, poverty, lack of education, lack of exposure to the alternative media, loss of hope, weak opposition, and phantom voters. Sabahans also easily fall for superficial developments which does not even bring in much benefits. Intangible developments in the form of education, moral, and ethics, are often overlooked. I do not believe that the true people of Sabah have freely sanctioned Barisan Nasional to govern this state.
I hope you get the message I am trying to convey, and not dismiss me as a racist. It is the KDM who are on the receiving end of racism. Even the Bajaus are feeling the heat and are fearing that their identity would soon be usurped by another "Malay" identity. The KDM are too soft and scared. The leaders are only interested in their own personal gains. UMNO is dividing and destroying Sabahans. They are flooding the state with immigrants and christening them as Malays and Bumis to distort our demography in their favor. So my appeal to Pakatan Rakyat is: PLEASE SAVE SABAH BEFORE ITS TOO LATE. Put your differences aside for the sake of the rakyat in Sabah. For now, we need a strong viable opposition which is currently non-existent in Sabah. Even though you are a Peninsular-based coalition, we are putting our faith and trust in you. We need CAPABLE and GENUINE Sabahans regardless of race to lead this state. Give us back our autonomy and other rights enshrined in the 20-point agreement. The 20% oil royalty would be a great icing on the cake. God bless Sabah. God bless Malaysia. God bless Pakatan Rakyat.
Dissatisfied Malaysian
***
The Jesseltonite Review
This dissastisfied Malaysian isn't the only one. I stand with him fully and it is high time that Sabahans remember the days when politics did not come with race and the race card was rarely played up in Sabah. And the day when Sabahans stood together without looking at the skin colour and religious background. The person who systematically destroyed Sabah with the rotation system was none other than Tun Dr. Mahathir. In fact, I wouldn't understand why people will call him Tun because he fully does NOT deserve the title. He had in his time as PM withheld federal funds to the state and even after BN came to power in Sabah he refused to return what is rightfully Sabahans blood and sweat (i.e. taxed paid). Dr. M should shut up and resign gracefully instead of criticizing his successor because his days are over and God willing, there will be no more future Dr. Ms around to destroy the entire state. At least PM AAB didn't do shit like Dr. M.
Dr. Mahathir, I detest you and your arrogance. You should be brought to trial for your interference in the drive to rid Malaysia of corruption. You should be brought to trial for destroying the lives of Sabahans. You should be brought to trial for Operasi Lalang. You should be brought to trial for swallowing up Petronas money and siphoning it off to your cronies. Take your UMNO and Ketuanan Melayu OUT OF SABAH and GIVE US BACK WHAT PETRONAS OWES US AS WELL AS THE FEDERAL FUNDS OWED TO US!
http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/5987/84/
Dear Pakatan Rakyat and all concerned citizens,
I would like to convey my deep frustration with what is going in the state of Sabah, my home.
I was born and raised in Kota Kinabalu. I am a half KDM guy, but I mainly identify myself as a Malaysian and a Sabahan, however I still am a very proud of both halves of my ethnicity. My dissatisfaction arose beginning 1994 when Sabah fell to BN in the most dirtiest disgusting manner: when BN bought over elected MPs from PBS to cross over to BN following their loss in the election. Thus began the UMNO chapter in the political history of Sabah. Or if you like, the Sabah chapter of UMNO.
At that time, the BN coalition consisted a number of parties. I do not recall all the parties or the number of seats they obtained in the election. Then came the rotation system. Every 2 years a representative from 3 communities, namely, the non-Muslim Bumis, Muslim Bumis and the Chinese take turn to govern the state. Soon, UMNO began taking most seats in the states. Finally, it was decided that the rotation system would end, with Musa Aman conveniently at the helm of the government. He has been the CM for 5 years already, with unbelievably, no apparent dissent at all. Even ex-CM Chong Kah Kiat seem to have endorsed this idea.
There are actually many issues bugging me right now, but shall only express one that has been bugging me the most. We all know the central ideology of UMNO is 'Ketuanan Melayu', the racialist belief that the Malays are the boss in this land. Historically, this idea seemed to apply only in Peninsula Malaysia in tandem with the Social Contract. However it seems this idealogy has appeared to have reached our shores in East Malaysia. As you might know, there are not many ethnic Malays in East Malaysia, and they are not normally regarded as being indigenous to Borneo. However pockets of so called Malay communities does appear in southern Sarawak, who are often linked to, or associated with the Melanaus, and also in Sabah, who typically identify themselves as Brunei Malays.
Before I carry on, I strongly believe that Ketuanan Melayu (KM) is an egotistical propaganda created to further the agenda of UMNO to suppress the non-Bumis, in many aspect of life. This is the UMNO version of KM. However, I do also believe in the existence of an alternative and milder definition of "Ketuanan Melayu", whereby the special rights of the Malays, such as having a Malay Agong and sultans in Malay states, the supremacy of Bahasa Malaysia, and perhaps also having a Malay PM, are protected. The UMNO version of this ideology is more extreme, in that, it seeks to extend Malay supremacy in almost every arena of governance and even social life. For example, that the head of judiciary, head of police, head of military, head of major corporate companies, even principals of secondary schools, et al, has to be Malay. I can subscribe to the milder version of KM (at a national level, not state level) but I cannot subscribe to UMNO's version of it.
Going back to Sabah, I have actually witnessed that many Muslim Sabahans are beginning to identify themselves as Malays. These Sabahans could either be Bajaus, Bugis, Suluk, Malay, even Kadazan Muslims, etc. How it all started I'm not sure, whether certain Malays from Peninsula wanted to extend their sphere of influence by proposing that they are also Malays and that they should begin seeing themselves as Malays, or whether the Muslim community themselves who thought it is the next logical thing to do. I think it is the former which is the more plausible explanation. My question is WHY? They already have so many 'identities' to hold for themselves: a Sabahan, a Bajau, a Muslim, a Malaysian, a Human. Why must they also be a Malay? Its not really a big problem for me if they want to call themselves "Malays", by all means go ahead. But when they begin to shout 'Ketuanan Melayu' here, then it shows an ulterior motive in the adoption of this new identity, which I am against.
As if this is not enough, they have also begun acknowledging immigrants from Indonesia and perhaps also Philippines as "Malays". I have heard a lot about this 'conspiracy' called "Project IC" a.k.a "Project M", but I never brought myself to 100% believe in its truth since most of the things I heard about it is just hearsay. But attitudes of UMNO members of late made me believed more in the existence of Project M. But a statement floated in by one Malay forummer in an online forum recently, where he suggested we embrace these immigrants as our brothers provided they adopt Islam and Malay, is the one that confirmed my suspicion on both counts. That is, that Project M exists, and Ketuanan Melayu is a racist propaganda that has reached Sabah and has been entrenched in the minds of some Sabahans here. (for more information please read "When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigration into Malaysia" written by Professor Kamal Sadiq of University of California - Irvine)
Malay is clearly defined in the constitution as a person who habitually speaks Malay, practices Malay customs and professes Islam. Clearly as a KDM, I am not a Malay. Though UMNO sometimes insists that we are also Malays which is plain bullshit. Seriously, who are they trying to bluff. So what is the result of this? Soon, the Muslims in Sabah may unite under the Malay banner and we are no longer seen as brothers in this land of ours. KM is slowly turning the Muslim against the non-Muslims. A clear example of this is the 1986 riots around Sabah. The rioters were seeking to oust the appointment of Pairin Kitingan. Why? Did he cheat in the elections? No. The only reason this riot happened in my opinion is that because Pairin is a Christian. Of course, upon being provoked by certain leaders.
We have always been multiracial yet united society in Sabah. That is why since our independence we have had KDMs, Bajaus, Chinese, Suluks, Malays, etc. (or Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian) as Chief Minister in this state. Compare this to, say, Johor, Terengganu, or Penang, which only had a CM from one particular race only. But ideologies such as KM is destroying our unique open social mentality. We could have been a role model on how racial relations should work in Malaysia. Sadly, communal mentality has seeped into the mainstream society of Sabah. We never cared much about race, but now it seems we must bow down only to Malays. We are also told to fear the Chinese as they are only interested in stealing our money and exploiting us. Is it a coincidence that both Sabah and Sarawak have Muslims and somewhat "Malay" person as the CM? When in fact there is a significant population of non-Muslims (mainly Dayaks) here? I seriously don't care if Malays (from Sabah) get to be the CM of Sabah, but when they are impliedly telling us that from now on only "Malays" can be the CM, then you are no longer welcomed in Sabah. Sabahans should not bow to anyone. If one day a KDM leader should declare that from now only a KDM can be a CM, and that central ideology of the state is "Ketuanan KDM", I would strongly oppose this as well, even though I am a KDM, because this is bullshit.
The recent election is strongly influenced by money politics, desperate need for development, poverty, lack of education, lack of exposure to the alternative media, loss of hope, weak opposition, and phantom voters. Sabahans also easily fall for superficial developments which does not even bring in much benefits. Intangible developments in the form of education, moral, and ethics, are often overlooked. I do not believe that the true people of Sabah have freely sanctioned Barisan Nasional to govern this state.
I hope you get the message I am trying to convey, and not dismiss me as a racist. It is the KDM who are on the receiving end of racism. Even the Bajaus are feeling the heat and are fearing that their identity would soon be usurped by another "Malay" identity. The KDM are too soft and scared. The leaders are only interested in their own personal gains. UMNO is dividing and destroying Sabahans. They are flooding the state with immigrants and christening them as Malays and Bumis to distort our demography in their favor. So my appeal to Pakatan Rakyat is: PLEASE SAVE SABAH BEFORE ITS TOO LATE. Put your differences aside for the sake of the rakyat in Sabah. For now, we need a strong viable opposition which is currently non-existent in Sabah. Even though you are a Peninsular-based coalition, we are putting our faith and trust in you. We need CAPABLE and GENUINE Sabahans regardless of race to lead this state. Give us back our autonomy and other rights enshrined in the 20-point agreement. The 20% oil royalty would be a great icing on the cake. God bless Sabah. God bless Malaysia. God bless Pakatan Rakyat.
Dissatisfied Malaysian
***
The Jesseltonite Review
This dissastisfied Malaysian isn't the only one. I stand with him fully and it is high time that Sabahans remember the days when politics did not come with race and the race card was rarely played up in Sabah. And the day when Sabahans stood together without looking at the skin colour and religious background. The person who systematically destroyed Sabah with the rotation system was none other than Tun Dr. Mahathir. In fact, I wouldn't understand why people will call him Tun because he fully does NOT deserve the title. He had in his time as PM withheld federal funds to the state and even after BN came to power in Sabah he refused to return what is rightfully Sabahans blood and sweat (i.e. taxed paid). Dr. M should shut up and resign gracefully instead of criticizing his successor because his days are over and God willing, there will be no more future Dr. Ms around to destroy the entire state. At least PM AAB didn't do shit like Dr. M.
Dr. Mahathir, I detest you and your arrogance. You should be brought to trial for your interference in the drive to rid Malaysia of corruption. You should be brought to trial for destroying the lives of Sabahans. You should be brought to trial for Operasi Lalang. You should be brought to trial for swallowing up Petronas money and siphoning it off to your cronies. Take your UMNO and Ketuanan Melayu OUT OF SABAH and GIVE US BACK WHAT PETRONAS OWES US AS WELL AS THE FEDERAL FUNDS OWED TO US!
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