#Asian

Posted: 17 Sep 2015 12:52 AM PDT

So the reason we wore yellow was because we wanted to show loyalty to the Agong. And it was the Agong who we wanted to meet to hand over the memorandum. And the Agong had consented to receiving our memorandum. I don't know why yellow is still Bersih's colour when it no longer has anything to do with the Agong.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There are various estimates of crowd turnout at yesterday's Red Shirt rally on Malaysia Day. The estimates range from 35,000 to 250,000, depending on who is making that estimate.

The same thing happened for the Bersih 4.0 or 'Yellow Shirt' rally on the eve of Merdeka Day just over two weeks ago. The estimates range from 50,000 to 500,000 with one Blogger even mentioning 'satu juta'.

There are even those who are comparing the two rallies from the point of which is dirtier and smellier and which of the two rallies had a more pungent urine smell.

This is just like discussing the colour of the dog collar of a sick dog instead of discussing the health of the dog. Malaysians love doing this. We prefer discussing the colour of the dog collar rather than discuss the dog and what should be done to improve its health.

I suppose when success is equated to crowd size then this is how we would compare the success or otherwise of the two rallies. The larger the crowd then the more successful your rally is. And if my crowd is larger than yours than I am more successful than you.

The opposition crowd at the Sanggang by-election in Pahang was overwhelming. Even the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was worried enough to mention it. But then Umno beat PAS hands down.

The opposition crowd at the Indera Kayangan by-election in Perlis was also overwhelming. The crowd (or lack of it) at Menteri Besar Shahidan Kassim's house was so pathetic that they had to cancel the ceramah while there were 70,000 people at Mat Sabu's ceramah not too far away.

The next day the MCA candidate beat the PKR candidate, Khoo Yang Chong, in spite of PKR already celebrating its victory even before the results came in. That is what happens when you use crowd size to measure your success or win. You might end up being very disappointed.

"What did the Red Shirt rally achieve?" asked Dr Mahathir. I am surprised the Old Man of Malaysian politics would ask this question when he, too, 30 years ago back in the 1980s, mobilised his own 'Red Shirt' crowd during his road show all over Malaysia during what is known as the Constitutional Crisis.

Dr Mahathir had declared war on the rulers and he wanted to demonstrate to the nine rulers that the Malays are with him and not with the monarchy. So he organised rallies all over Malaysia and got Umno to mobilise crowds of supporters. Then he got the mainstream media and TV stations to 'expose' the transgressions and wrongdoings of the rulers to show the rakyat how the rulers are abusing their position and are wasting the rakyat's money. Most of these allegations, however, were fabricated although some were definitely true.

Of course, the rulers could not respond. So they took the attacks quietly without saying a word. And at the end of the campaign the majority of Malaysians hated the monarchy and even started talking about turning Malaysia into a republic.

It became so bad that the then Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba, had to issue a statement that while it is not wrong to criticise the rulers, we must not talk about abolishing the monarchy to turn Malaysia into a republic because that would tantamount to sedition.

So what did yesterday's rally achieve? I would say that one thing it achieved is it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Many Malays were upset with the Bersih rally two weeks ago, which they perceived as a Chinese anti-Malay rally. And the insults that were made at the rally — the stepping on photographs included — upset some Malays even further.

So yesterday's rally allowed some of these angry Malays to let off steam. As the Malays would say, they geram and dendam, and unless they were allowed an avenue to release this frustration and anger then it would build up and eventually explode.

So yesterday's rally was a sort of release valve that allowed the excess pressure to escape. Now that 'we have shown them' these Malays can all go home satisfied. They no longer keep the geram and dendam in them. It has all been spent yesterday.

It is just like some Japanese companies that have a gym where the frustrated employees can go there to punch and scream. Once all the steam has been released they can go back to their desks quite satisfied that they have 'got even' with their boss. If not they might one day bring a gun to work and shoot the boss dead, like what happens in the US.

The second achievement of yesterday's Red Shirt rally is it has proven what I have been saying for a long time. What I said is that Malaysia's race relations is very dicey and things are not as honky-dory as some say. But when I said that I was accused of being a racist.

But that is the truth of the matter. Even Dr Mahathir used to say that Malaysia cannot afford to allow absolute freedom and street demonstrations because of the very delicate racial composition of the country. Anything can spark a race war. And that is why certain freedoms cannot be allowed, argued Dr Mahathir.

So both the Yellow Shirts and the Red Shirts need to take note of this. What you say and do can affect race relations. It is not what you do and say that matters. It is how others perceive what you do and say that counts. And the Yellow Shirt rally is being perceived by some as an anti-Malay rally while the Red Shirt rally is being perceived by some as an anti-Chinese rally. You cannot deny this fact.

Anyway, do you know why the Bersih colour is yellow? Well, it started out like this.

In the first Bersih rally that we planned in 2007, we wanted to hand a memorandum to His Majesty the Agong. To demonstrate our loyalty to the Agong we decided to wear yellow since yellow is a royal colour.

Some disagreed. These, of course, were the republicans who did not accept the monarchy as Malaysia's symbol. So they did not want to join the rally if they had to wear yellow. We then compromised and agreed that they need not use yellow. They can use red, the colour of their choice. But they had to agree that we would hand the memorandum to the Agong since Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy, which they reluctantly did so.

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‘Country not heading towards crisis’

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:42 PM PDT

(NST) – Acknowledging that "we can't always have good times", Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the country must adjust to the slowing global economy, but stressed that the nation is not facing a financial crisis.

In an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times, she said the economy was now on a much stronger footing than during the 1997/98 Asian crisis, and the country was entering the global slowdown from a point of strength, not weakness.

Addressing some of the concerns of the man on the street, the veteran central bank chief said the ringgit's sharp fall against the United States dollar was because of three major factors, including "domestic issues".

But, she said some 120 other currencies also dropped against the dollar, not just the ringgit. "Most of it is beyond our control.

This is evident from the fact that the dollar has strengthened against more than 120 currencies." She said some US$28 billion (RM118 billion) had flowed out of the country since September last year, but added that before this, US$60 billion in foreign funds had flowed into the country between 2009 and last year.

Fundamentally, the Malaysian economy remained good, she said.

"Our country is not heading towards a crisis.

"Why do we say our fundamentals are strong?

"We have a surplus in our current account, a low level of unemployment, we have a high level of savings and our level of foreign debt is relatively low."

So, there is no doom and gloom? "No, it isn't doom and gloom, but we are not portraying a picture that everything is fine.

"We are picturing a very challenging period that we have been able to manage so far.

"And therefore, the private sector and consumers must also learn to manage this kind of difficult and challenging environment.

"If we had not done all the things we did to strengthen our banking sector, to develop our financial markets and to diversify our economy, we would have been so much worse now.

"We have not seen a widespread closure of businesses. "Businesses may be scaling back; this is the reality of the environment.

"We should accept these realities and not be in the phase of denial. "But to say that we don't have strong fundamentals is also not correct.

"We have strong fundamentals, and these are the fundamentals that will allow us to ride out this rough period and bounce back to a better economic performance."

She said the nation, businesses and people must make adjustments. "Everyone has to adjust. Individuals need to learn how to conserve and economise.

"If they are facing financial stress, then they need to take advantage of the facilities we have."

This means people may have to forego their overseas holidays or educate their children in local universities or foreign campuses in Malaysia.

Zeti said the country's household debts, at 87 per cent of gross domestic product, had stabilised, and non-performing loans remained low at 1.5 per cent.

Non-collateral debt has moderated, while the growth of personal loans and credit cards is now growing at between three and four per cent from more than 15 per cent.

Zeti said lending rules for housing and other loans were necessary.

"Bank Negara has guidelines that we refer to as responsible lending guidelines, which have a requirement for institutions to make an affordability assessment.

"This means that the borrower must demonstrate that they have the capability to service the loan because we don't want the house to be repossessed when they fail, or for it to result in bankruptcies.

"The global financial crisis started in the sub-prime market, giving loans to people who later could not service and repay the loans, and it eventually brought the whole financial system in the US and other developed countries down.

"If we are not careful, the future of our economy would be affected. "Such prudential guidelines are to sustain the performance of our economy," she said.

Zeti said the loan rejection rate was at below 20 per cent and the approval rate, about 74 per cent. Referring to the ringgit, she stressed that Malaysia was not alone.

Commodity and oil producers, like Malaysia, have depreciated much more than other non-oil and commodity countries. "Then, in Malaysia's case, we have some domestic issues that have affected sentiment and confidence.

"These are the things that need to be resolved. "It would then contribute to a recovery in our currency." She said Malaysia took 18 months to recover from the devastating 1997/98 financial crisis.

"Our track record has shown us that every time we have been set back, time and again, we have been able to bounce back. "It is more than once. We bounced back, and we bounced back quickly."

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Can Amanah break away from the common dominant race-based politics?

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:38 PM PDT

Zubaidah Abu Bakar, The Rakyat Post

THE scene at the swanky IDCC Convention Centre in Shah Alam where the official launching of Parti Amanah Negara or Amanah was taking place on Wednesday was in stark contrast to the Red Shirt Rally participated by Malay groups in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Here, the crowd was multi-racial although the Malays were still the dominating group. Amanah is the new kid of the block, it is a multi-racial party which will end up like all other political parties in Malaysia whose membership is multi-ethnic —- but with one single race dominating them.

For Amanah, it will be the Malays solely because the party is committed to its Islamic agenda. It is hard to fathom the idea of the non-Muslims, with choices in abundance from the list of multi-ethnic parties available, easily hopping onto a vehicle that is taking the Islamic route in chasing for an electoral mandate.

Not that this cannot happen; we had seen non-Malays latching themselves to Islamist party Pas, which is 100% Malay-centric.

Even so, the non-Malays are only accepted as associate members and they do not have voting power nor able to hold key positions in the party.

Non-Malays may have equal rights in Amanah but then again, when the majority of members are of one ethnic group, it is unlikely the ones who are not with the majority group would stand a good chance of being elected.

Even Parti Keadilan Rakyat that was formed to introduce non-race-based politics has a long way to go to truly reflect a multi-race entity.

In every internal election, PKR retained the Malay flavour for the simple reason that the Malays make up the most number of voting delegates.

The same goes to DAP, the Chinese dominated party which is still struggling to open up to more non-Chinese.

DAP failed to get its mostly Chinese delegates to vote in more Malay leaders for key party positions while the number of its Indian members and leaders remains small.

On the Barisan Nasional side, there are several parties with a multi-racial composition, but in
reality Gerakan and SUPP, for instance, are Chinese-based while the People's Progressive Party (PPP) has Indians as a majority of its members.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak(PRS) and United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) — are also ethnic-based and who gets to hold senior party positions also depended to the dominant race in each party.

Amanah as announced by its secretary-general, Anuar Tahir has 30,000 members, mostly from Kelantan followed by Johor and Selangor.

Anuar did not give a proper breakdown based on ethnicity at the Amanah launching but it is clear as daylight that the majority of the party's members are former Pas members and supporters, a result of Amanah being spearheaded by progressive leaders, who had left Pas after they were defeated in the latter's internal polls.

As Amanah strives to increase its membership to 100,000 by the end of the year, more focus perhaps should be on wooing the non-Malays to reflect its multi-race image.

A country with a multi-racial population like Malaysia, ideally, should do away with race-based political parties, which over the years are glaringly becoming a setback to the country's unity, a situation that Amanah says it is out to correct.

It will be interesting to watch how Amanah will manoeuvre between upholding Islam and at the same time remain inclusive.

The party leaders know this will not be easy.

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Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:35 PM PDT

(The Star) – Parti Amanah Negara said it was a 'co-incidence' that their logo is similar to Barisan Sosialis, a former local political coalition in the 60s.

The party's secretary-general Mohd Anuar Tahir (pic) said they are aware of the issue and will discuss with certain quarters to address it.

"The decision for the logo went through a certain process. One committee was formed to do the logo and they gave some suggestions to the party's central committee and in the end, the 'A' logo, which was launched yesterday, was chosen and presented to the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

"On the issue that the logo is similar to another political movement, it might have been a co-incidence and we are aware of it. We truly appreciate the views and comments from the people and will discuss with those involved in it," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Amanah's logo is green in colour. The design of the logo has a chain and in the middle of the chain, there is a hoe overlapping it.

Parti Buruh Malaya and Parti Rakyat Malaysia were part of the Barisan Sosialis coalition. Parti Buruh Malaya's logo also has a chain and in the middle of it, a hoe and a pen forms a cross.

Parti Rakyat Malaysia also has a chain but a bull is in the middle of it. The Barisan Sosialis logo had a combination similar to Amanah's logo.

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Why Bersih 4 is about the noise and not the results

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:30 PM PDT

Khoo Kay Peng, The Ant Daily

The Bersih 4 rally has satisfied the appetite of both its supporters and detractors. What has Bersih 4 achieved? At most it was a bragging right for its organisers who claimed a success of attracting more than 500,000 participants to their 36-hour rally. It's main demand, the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak, was ignored.

Surely, some street stalls and hotels around the area did make a killing from roaring business and bookings. But Bersih's follow-up has been meek and fractious. It is obvious that the committee does not have any follow-up plan if Najib chooses to ignore rather than to respond.

Usually, the opposition parties would have followed up with post-rally talks and road shows but this time round they are faced with their own mess. PKR and DAP are trading barbs over whether PAS should be included in the new coalition.

Their detractors refuted the number and accused the rally of being Chinese-led to challenge the Malay leadership. Now, they are forming their own red shirt movement to counter the yellow (Bersih) movement and race relations are about to take another downturn.

Hence, what's the chance of pushing for reforms in Malaysia? Under current circumstances, it does not look that promising for reforms to work although the majority of Malaysians who had attended the Bersih agreed that we need to weed out corruption and abuse of power in the government.

However, how many of the participants really understand what needed to be done or achieved before any form of reform can be successfully introduced to the people? Most of them are naïve to think that by removing Najib as the prime minister the malaise and problems will be resolved by themselves.

If it is all about Najib, have the participants ever wondered how he could stifle his own deputy, a few ministers, the PAC, the MACC, a special task force to investigate the 1MDB, the AG and Bank Negara without risking his own removal?

What's at fault is the system. It is the system that centralises too much power in the Prime Minister's Office and the Executive. It is the system that clouded the need to be transparent and accountable. It has allowed political largesse to be categorised as "assistance" from the government. By design, it does not have any control over money politics. Decisions made by political parties cannot be challenged in courts.

The system has removed an independent check-and-balance mechanism that allows dissatisfied citizens to take the government to task if they are unhappy with certain policy decisions. The anti-corruption agency, the judiciary and the enforcers cannot act on their own because they risk interventions or sackings from the Executive.

If Najib is part of the system that allows and condones such blatant abuse of power and mismanagement, can we expect the beneficiaries of the same system to replace him? Najib is not the main problem. The system is the culprit. Najib merely manipulates and uses the levers of power accessible to him for his own and his party's benefit.

Hence, what can Bersih and concerned stakeholders do to be more effective?

First, the yardstick to measure Bersih's success should not be how many people it was able to attract to join the rally at Dataran Merdeka. Naturally, most who can attend or afford to attend are the converted urban folk. Coincidentally, most of them would come from a particular ethnic background.

Unfortunately, Bersih is an urban movement. Most of its committee members are politically linked activists who are urbanites. The impact would be the same if Bersih 5, 6 or 7 were to be held at the same location and supported by the same participants.

On the other hand, Bersih should focus on spreading its messages to the rest of the country – the suburbs, semi-urban, semi-rural and rural areas. It does not need to show that it is able to muster 500,000 participants but it needs to show that it has enough committed activists to carry its messages and demands to the whole country.

The key to reforms in the country does not lie in the hands of Bersih committee members or the opposition parties. It has been proven that the opposition parties are reacting to the responses of the people. They are not the enlightened political reformers that we can depend on. After being given more mandate than they could have ever imagined of in the last two general elections, they are back to their bickering ways.

It is more important for movements or groups which are serious about reforms to engage the people. The key to reforms lies in the hands of the Malay-Muslim majority. If the messages could encourage them to consider how good governance, quality leadership and a clean and transparent government could help benefit them and also the rest of other Malaysians they could be persuaded to give change a chance.

For now, neither Bersih nor the opposition is successful or capable of convincing the Malay-Muslim majority that a change is necessary. The reasons are several; the movement lacks credibility, the ruling regime has successfully played up the race card or simply the messages did not get to them.

Until and unless Bersih drops its own fixation with its bragging rights and focus on the effectiveness of its movement, little is ever going to change and they would have to accept it as a reality. It must work on gaining its own credibility by distancing itself from manipulative politicians. Otherwise, Bersih 4.0 is all about the noise and not the results.

Khoo Kay Peng is a political analyst and management consultant.

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Azmin Ali malu dan jijik dengan Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:24 PM PDT

Rakyat negara ini seharusnya menyambut Hari Malaysia dengan penuh kegembiraan bagi meraikan perpaduan pelbagai kaum yang telah terbina.

(Free Malaysia Today) – Menteri Besar Selangor, Mohamed Azmin Ali malu dan jijik dengan Himpunan Baju Merah yang melaungkan sorakan berbaur perkauman dan meluahkan tidak puas hati terhadap bangsa lain.

Katanya, sepatutnya sambutan Hari Malaysia disambut dengan penuh kegembiraan bagi meraikan perpaduan masyarakat majmuk yang telah lama terbina.

Sehubungan itu, beliau mempersoalkan adakah Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu itu sebagai suatu langkah terbaik untuk mengembalikan maruah Melayu.

"Adakah ini idea terbaik UMNO untuk menunjukkan sokongan terhadap Perdana Menteri dengan menggunakan sentimen anti-Cina dan anti-DAP serta bertindak melakukan provokasi seperti berarak di Plaza Low Yat dan Petaling Street," katanya dalam kenyataan media.

READ MORE HERE

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Putrajaya to intervene in hudud case in Court

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:20 PM PDT

Three Kelantanese expressed no objections as Putrajaya has the right to intervene under the Federal Constitution in the constitutionality of the case.

(Free Malaysia Today) – The Federal Court allowed Putrajaya to intervene in a suit challenging the constitutionality of the hudud enactment, Islamic criminal law, passed by the Kelantan Government, after the applicants expressed no objections.

Justice Ahmad Maarop, chairing a panel of five judges, granted leave to the Attorney-General's Chambers to intervene in the suit. Lawyer Harpal Singh for the three Kelantan applicants – Tuan Mat Tuan Wil, Soh Hoon Lee and Chung Mon Sie – and Raja Ahmad Mohzainuddin Raja Mohzan, the lawyer for the Kelantan Government, both expressed no objections.

Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan represented the Federal Government.

The decision by the Federal Court, pointed out Shamsul, will have an impact on the public especially Muslims and the implementation of Federal laws and state Islamic laws.

In his submission, he noted that the three Kelantanese are seeking a declaration from the Court on the constitutionality of Syariah Criminal Code Enactment (II) (1963) Amendment 2015. "The applicants have said that the Kelantan Government has no jurisdiction to amend sections 4 to 34 of the state enactment," noted Shamsul. "They said that only Parliament has the power under Article 74 of the Federal Constitution to amend criminal enactments."

Lawyer Andy Yong, who is acting together with Harpal, told reporters outside the Court that the Federal Court has the right to intervene. "We did not object to the Federal Government intervening in the constitutionality hearing as they have the right to do so under Articles 4(4) and 128 of the Federal Constitution."

READ MORE HERE

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Cops to question Nurul Izzah in probe on 1MDB stolen data offer claim

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 11:00 PM PDT

(Malay Mail Online) – PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar will be investigated by the police over her purported involvement in the purchase of stolen data on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), as alleged by several local dailies, her lawyer said today.

Latheefa Koya said the police had sought to question Nurul Izzah today under Section 124B of the Penal Code, but will have to delay it as the Lembah Pantai MP is currently abroad.

"Yes, the police came requesting for Nurul Izzah to give a statement but they haven't actually done so yet because she's not around so we will only confirm a date next week.

"They didn't specify in what context. It has something to do with some offer and with an NST story. In other words, the defamatory remarks has led to a police investigation," the lawyer told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

She also said Nurul Izzah will fully cooperate with the police in the investigation.

Latheefa was referring to reports by the English-language daily New Straits Times and its Malay sister publication Berita Harian earlier this month, claiming former PetroSaudi International (PSI) executive Xavier Andre Justo as saying in a written confession that he had received an offer from Nurul Izzah to buy confidential information on 1MDB for US$2 million (RM8.49 billion), but had rejected it.

In response, Nurul Izzah denied the allegations and said that she had initiated legal action against the two dailies published by The New Straits Times Press, which is owned by the Umno-linked media group, Media Prima.

Latheefa said Nurul Izzah's civil suit is a separate matter from the police investigation, adding that the two dailies have requested an extended deadline to respond to the lawmaker's lawsuit.

"The one that Nurul Izzah filed a lawsuit, the lawyers for NST and Berita Harian has requested for an extension, two weeks to respond. We sent it last week so deadline is end of this week," she said.

According to local news portal The Malaysian Insider, Nurul Izzah is currently in the US to meet with its state department officials, politicians, civil society leaders and international lawyers in hopes of getting urgent medical attention for her father and de facto opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for a shoulder injury.

Justo pled guilty last month in Thailand to a charge of attempting to blackmail Saudi-based PSI over purportedly incriminating documents and was sentenced to three years' jail.

US paper Wall Street Journal reported last July that almost US$700 million was funnelled into the personal bank accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak through several companies linked to 1MDB, two months before the tumultuous 13th general election in May 2013.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has, however, said that the money did not come from 1MDB, but from Middle Eastern donors that it did not identify.

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The rally is over – what now?

Posted: 16 Sep 2015 08:00 PM PDT

stop-the-hate

Do you know who made the 'Malaysia' you were supposed to be celebrating yesterday?

Fazar Datuk Ariff, FMT

52 years after our forefathers in Sabah and Sarawak took part in the formation of Malaysia and a day after the rally held on Malaysia Day, I find myself questioning what if anything, Malaysia Day means to me? I find myself wondering how we got here and if I am proud of where we are now.

My paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather were pure Chinese – I'm very proud to say. My dad's mother was a "Lee," my mama's was a "Thien." My father and mother were half Dusuns, who spoke fluent Dusun and Murut and converted to Islam in the 40s and 50s.

I have a question for the Red Shirts who started of wanting to spill the blood of the Chinese. Do you realise you wanted to "spill" part of me!! Islam did not change my parents' genes or blood. They are not Malays. We are not Malays. So where does that leave people like us?

So now that you have gathered and rallied in red shirts how much more do you know of the history behind the 16th of September? Do you know who made the 'Malaysia' you were supposed to be celebrating yesterday? How dare they?! How dare you!!

It is obvious now, more than ever that whatever it was that led the state leaders in the early 60s to hand Sabah to the Federation of Malaya under the pretext of equal rights as Malaysia, was carried out in much haste. Even the "famous" 20 points agreement is now irrelevant since many current state leaders, have themselves chosen to ignore it. Perhaps they have taken the lead from leaders in the 70s and 80s who handed over those "rights" to the federal government.

Indeed the "contract" has become one-sided with the federal government now having the advantage. Most of what was agreed upon by our forefathers then, have now become non-binding and non-existing e.g. Education; Official language; Freedom of religion; Immigration; Tariffs and Finance.

The leaders in the Federation of Malaya, one can only assume, had their own agendas. The leaders representing us the Borneo States, unfortunately fell into the trap set by the more "sophisticated" British leaders as well as those from Malaya who used the findings of the "Cobbold Commission" to their advantage.

Since then there has been a steady deterioration of integrity among Sabah's politicians and an over eagerness to sell the pride and the honour of Sabahans as a whole, to the Malaysian federal government. This has been a huge disappointment on many fronts.

For example, we in Sabah have been "blind" to racial and religious polarisation and bigotry. We have all been proud Sabahans first until the intrusion of a certain political party disturbing this "family."

Both the state leaders (from the past to the current ones) and the federal government are responsible for what is happening to Sabah and to Malaysia today. To you I say:

Stop insulting the people's intelligence by accusing us of being under the influence of opposition parties.