BLOOMBERG has an article about Malaysia becoming a “failed state” on 8 July 2021. I don’t believe this to be the case. Unfair to compare Malaysia with some failed African states. However, we should look at our own country objectively. The fact of the matter is Malaysia has failed to perform on par with other Asian Tigers, of which Malaysia was one, equal or even better than them, some years ago. Malaysia has fallen behind badly.

MANY PTI (Pendatang Tanpa Izin or illegal immigrants) in Sabah are deported from time to time throughout the year. It’s a campaign that goes on relentlessly, driven by local politics, only slowed down by the movement control order restrictions and lockdown imposed by the pandemic.

FEW people fully appreciate the immense contributions by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the foremost leader of Malaya from August 1951, and the principal architect, founder and builder of Malaysia.

THE feedback since my article “Sabah Falling Behind in Durian Potential” 1 August 2021 has been very encouraging. The Ministry of Agriculture or the Department of Agriculture may have the total acreage and species of durians already and/or will be planted in the near future. So far as I can ascertain, there are already some major planters like Tan Sri Harris and son Datuk Razak have, between them, several hundred acres, Bornion Timber has already got a substantial acreage of first-class MSK [Mau Sang King] fruiting, a few tycoons in Keningau and Tawau have also gone into durians a big way.

Although Sabah eventually recovered after five months fighting against the Covid-19 third wave following the Sabah snap election on Sep 26 last year, the Covid-19 daily infection figures rose back to four-digit again during the past few weeks.

THANKS for the calls and discussions/suggestions on my last Sunday’s article “Why A Sabahan First Policy Matters”. I append below some of the points that will and can be relevant for the success of this policy.

THE IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is about to publish what are called “landmark” report findings on climate change very soon. According to The Guardian, the report states that “the greenhouse gas emissions spewed out by fossil fuel burning, forest destruction and other human activities are now clearly destabilising the mild climate in which civilisation began.” The environment, global warming and climate change have become one of the most important political issues over the last decade. There is a prevailing attitude that the science of climate change is complete, the majority of those within the scientific community agree with the science, and that anyone who questions this, is a climate denier.

THREE committees have been formed to discuss MA63 rights.

MANY well-wishers and friends have asked me for reasons of my incessant promotion of “SABAHANS FIRST POLICY”. The best analogy is this.

I HAVE the privilege of meeting Datuk Bung Moktar recently. Not surprisingly, our conversation should turn to Sabah’s run-down and/or lack of infrastructures. What surprised me were [a] his in-depth knowledge of Sabah’s serious problems in infrastructures, [b] his heightened awareness/concern of their acute/adverse economic impacts on Sabah’s economy and [c] his sense of urgency in seeking solutions. [d] Most comforting is Bung Moktar’s view that the solutions to our perennial infrastructural headaches are not to be found in politics, rather in leadership, management, finance and implementation strategy. His view is refreshing. The sort of politics in Sabah in the past has not been conducive as is evidenced by the 30 years plus of very poor and inadequate infrastructures.