Don't fall for 'Sabah for Sabahans' may backfire
Published on: Wednesday, October 19, 2016
NABAWAN: Sabahans should not be easily swayed by the various opposition parties that keep harping the "Sabah for Sabahans" slogan which is unbecoming for a citizen of this country.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said politicians who are using these slogans have their own agenda to push."But the Barisan Nasional government has proved that we work for the people as evidenced by all the progress you can see everywhere in Sabah, including in the rural areas," he said after launching the Mesej Labang Sapulut, here, Tuesday.ADVERTISEMENT "The slogan, especially from new opposition parties, is going to affect development in Sabah as most allocations for the people are from the federal government. "The state will be left behind when there is no cooperation with the Federal Government," he said.Other than that, he said, the Government is always ready to listen to the people's needs but the Federal Government's contributions in helping to develop Sabah should not be ignored.The Federal Government, he said, should always work together with the State Government to ensure that whatever projects they carry out in the State would reach the target groups.ADVERTISEMENT "More importantly, both governments should work together for the benefit of the people and the people must have solidarity with one another."Besides, there are many areas which we are depending on the Federal Government that we cannot do ourselves.
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For example, security. If we insist on 'Sabah for Sabahans', then the police and army must be Sabahans only? We'll be in trouble," he said."Many police and army personnel from peninsular Malaysia have also been posted here," he said, adding it was more important to focus on being Malaysians in Sabah. Musa, who is also State Finance Minister, said the central government had implemented many developments and paid attention to the needs of Sabah. Musa also said that other critical areas that are controlled by Federal include medical and education which means that the construction of hospitals and schools fall directly under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.He lamented that the slogan had raised unnecessary suspicions and even hatred towards the Federal Government, and by extension, its agencies in the State.The slogans "Sabah for Sabahans" and "Sabahans for Sabah" have been a familiar rallying cry by local-based opposition parties to drum up support. Similar slogans have been used in Sarawak.Earlier in his speech, Musa cautioned the people against voting for the opposition as it had been proven that most of the constituencies represented by opposition would not experience any development.On the contrary, he said, BN constituencies have progressed rapidly over the years because of the good relationship between the representatives and the State government."These BN assemblymen will come and see me and tell me what they need. However, the opposition assemblymen never even bothered to see me and tell me their problems.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"I don't know why they won't see me. Maybe they're scared of me or they think they don't need the Government's help."But because of that, their constituencies remain stagnant in terms of development and this only harmed the people," he said.