How Usno will deal with the Sabah issues
Published on: Tuesday, September 22, 2020
By:
Sherell Jeffrey, Stefyanie Myla Micheal
Pandikar holding the Usno manifesto which shows him beside party founder Tun Mustapha during the 1980s.
Q: How do you propose to tackle the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah? A: This problem can only be tackled if you look at it from the perspective of or in the eyes of the business community. It must not be looked from the perspective of politics because whether if the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah is raised, that person who posed that question at the back of his or her mind is thinking the illegal immigrant eventually will be listed in the electoral roll and, thereafter, can vote and that will determine the result of the election, that is one.
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Secondly, must be looked at why in the first place it happened. Maybe our enforcement officers at entry points are not doing their job properly.
Thirdly, because the rakyat of Sabah themselves contributed to the influx of illegal immigrants such as the coastal area in Semporna, Sandakan and those places near to islands which belong to another country. Then they come in and our rakyat see it as if it’s not a problem.
So to tackle this problem we must look also in the perspective of when they came, how long they have been in the state, have they been living in the state for a long time, are they married to Sabahans? If they are married to Sabahans, and you take drastic action by just rounding them up and putting them in a ship and send them to say Zamboanga or any part of Phillipines for that matter or Indonesia then, of course, our neighbouring country will say “Hey, this is not our rakyat, because they don’t have any documents”. Some of those people that have been staying here and born here they cannot even speak tagalog for instance, even if they Filipinos.
So it is impossible for us to force our neighbours to accept these people because in the first place it was the failure to control our borders.
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Q: It is possible to round up all of them over a specified period and deport them?
A: Of course it is possible to round them up and when you round them up, of course, you have to put them in special places like what we are doing now.
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You cannot just, put them on a ship and send them to the neighboring country by thinking that this is not our problem and our neighboring countries can refuse to accept them because they will say this is not our people, because they have no documents.
Q: How would you ensure top positions in the Federal Departments in Sabah are headed by qualified Sabahans and not from the peninsula.
A: As Sabahans we must remember that there are two bodies that administer this, namely the Public Service Commission (Federal) and Public Service Commission (Sabah).
In order to ensure that Sabahan should have position in whatever government agencies or government-link companies in Sabah we must use the Sabah Civil Service department criteria. Because if we, for example, use the peninsula we have then of course a problem with seniority and most of the time we will be junior. Therefore, to ensure that the Sabahan can be placed in government agencies or government departments must use state SPA and this we negotiate with Kuala Lumpur. I do not see any difference other than what was agreed when we got our independence because if this is not addressed then the seeds of hatred to Putrajaya arise and I think nothing wrong with placing Sabahans in department or government link companies as leaders. After all we are all Malaysians.
Q: Food security is a major issue. Yet there are a lot of idle lands in Sabah. What do you think should be done about it?
A: Many things were done by the Berjaya government but at the end of the day there is no success to be proud of. I think this must also require a contribution from the people themselves whether they are really involved in this food security.
Government departments involved in food security should review the policy so that the reality can be seen. For example, since a few years ago, the BN government used to chant “jelapang padi” or padi field in Kota Belud and in the area which formerly had padi planted such as Penampang, Papar, Kota Marudu. But lately in Kota Belud, the area that used to be suitable for rice cultivation is no longer suitable because of infrastructure such as new road causing the people around to build workshops, hardware shops as well as stalls to name a few.
So as a result, the impression that Kota Belud is one of the largest rice producers is not correct. This needs to be corrected first. The Agriculture Department should look holistically and not lie to the people.
They should dare to explore places which are suitable to cultivate because food security means staple food. Everyday food for us is rice.
Once when I raised the issue of paddy fields with Tun Daim (ex-Federal Finance Minister), I said in Sabah why don’t we build a large paddy field and he answered “show me any suitable land for it”. Food security wise, it is illogical for us to import rice from neighboring countries at a cheaper cost. What we should do is to make sure that the food that we have will at least last 6 months so that if something happens such as a disaster we are prepared.
So the government’s policy, for example, if the Usno Government rules, make sure that there is always food stock such as rice and we must take into account, that it is at least six months or a year enough.
In this matter, maybe the Sabah Paddy Board that once upon a time existed can be created again when the Usno government rule to ensure that we can handle food security issues.
Q: English proficiency is vital. This would allow our youngsters to secure jobs overseas if unable at home and repatriate their income back to Sabah. Would you follow Sarawak’s proposal in this regard for English medium schools while strengthening Bahasa Malaysia since Sabah has its own State Education Ministry?
A:Yes, yes, I support and I agree with that.
In my experience, when I was a Speaker when I went anywhere, Commonwealth countries for example, all speak in English. Only Indonesians when they speak they must have an interpreter because they speak in Indonesian.
a proposal was made in parliament why we not just speak in bahasa accompanied by an interpreter when we go abroad. I asked the question to Rais Yatim at that time he was the Foreign Minister. Now he is the speaker of the Senate. He said, Tan Sri it has become our tradition that when you go abroad we speak english, that is a tradition.
And from what I understand, there will be a meeting followed later by a joint communique, a committee that makes a conclusion to what was discussed. At one time I understood that the delegates from Malaysia will sit in front because those from Malaysia were fluent in English. Indonesia at the back as well as Thailand. But when the policy was made by Anwar Ibrahim regarding the standard language now Malaysians sit at the back. Their English is not as professional.
again, being bilingual is good. But some of those days ‘fighters’ used to say, ‘Oi why don’t we use our own Malay language, the standard language because we are also rich with this ..’
But when computers were introduced, there was no terminology that can really be used, now you just imagine that mouse, which is ‘tetikus’, it is already awkward. Now Facebook is ‘muka buku’ in bahasa... we are left behind because the industry all these technological developments are from other languages. We must follow that language.
Apart from English, our children must also learn Chinese because now the closest to us is China. We have to do that, once upon a time our policy was eastern so our people were encouraged to speak Japanese and some could speak, now whether you want to or not, you must be good at speaking English and Chinese.
When I visited Africa a few years ago..from south Africa to Nigeria, Tanzania all other development from China is given free because China wants to build a mentality that these countries should be dealing with China and that is the reason why America now cannot oppose China.
If Apple used to be the most sophisticated mobile phone, I am not good at using apple, I use Hua Wei, more sophisticated than Apple.
So English should be returned because we were formerly colonised by the British and we are members of the Commonwealth and we deal with many countries. For China, when they go to any forum, they will speak in Chinese whether he can speak English or not because it is his tradition, same goes to China.
Like India, it is a big country and they speak English. When their Prime Minister go anywhere, he will speak in english and the representative has to speak English too. Pakistan also speaks English so we must also speak English. We have to return that and must start from now because otherwise, like what happened when it comes to issuing a joint communique, Malaysian are forced to sit behind.
In my experience when I brought someone from DAP, if Asean conference for example, if that person from DAP came along, he will be placed in front during every joint communique.
Now the ambassadors are the same. The former ambassadors from Malaysia were all English educated and could speak English fluently. When the new ambassadors who graduated from the local university get there, you see the quality. That’s why I support this.
Q: Would you introduce a racial quota in filing state civil service jobs for sake of fairness and ethnicity since Sabah has many ethnic groups?
A: No, if you were to introduce that meaning you are ignoring meritocracy. Such a position we should place any individual regardless of background whether he is Bumiputera, Muslim or not or Chinese because of important positions we should not impose a quota. Because when we impose a quota for the sake of placing others, we will encourage people even those who are not efficient or competent we will put there and that will harm the civil service. If the Usno Government ruled we will not do so.
Q: Would your government focus on PR for Malaysians as there are hundreds of cases of Peninsular Malaysians waiting for their PR.
A: This should also be seen in good angle. For example, I had experience, those days when I was young I was married to a West Malaysian Chinese from Perak. Can you imagine it took years for her to be a Permanent Resident and this is the power of the chief minister. So it is not wrong to consider the case where people from Peninsular Malaysia have settled and married Sabah people who have already had children and grandchildren. If I am the Chief Minister such things I will consider. It is different if the Malaysians from the peninsula come a few months and after that apply for consideration. It will be unfair.
Q: Sabah’s strategic position vis-à-vis China, Japan and South Korea puts if at greater advantage for international shipping than peninsula Malaysia. This will improve our economy without relying on Malaya too much as well as ensure more jobs for locals. Would this be a priority for your government?
A: Yes, that will be the priority of the government and this we will ask for consideration or cooperation from Putrajaya, the cabotage issue has been discussed for a long time when if there is anything that could bring benefit to Sabah should be agreed by Putrajaya.
Because when it is not agreed that is why the people of Sabah start to have dissatisfaction. A few years ago the Sabahan’s voice was not loud and we could only hear it from several parties. But now the voice has become louder. This is such a simple thing but it takes decades to implement.
Q: Sabah is doing much better in tourism but infrastructure-wise, we are not comparable to Sarawak the past 10 years. What would you do to ensure our fullest potentials are not wasted?
A: We will focus on places where it brings revenue or increases the economy of Sabah, for example, if on the coast, in Kota Belud on the coast from Karambunai to Simpang Mengayau there are very interesting places and islands nearby.
So it is the responsibility of the government and if the Usno Government rules we will focus on improving, intensifying the existing infrastructure. Where if we find this industry to be poor, that is because this tourism industry is an industry that have an expensive layout course from the beginning and those involved in tourism not only encourages large companies that can build big hotels but we should also encourage participation from local businessmen. For example from chalets that are not so expensive but if the place is so interesting where we can utilise its ecotourism then we will focus on that.
Q: Sabah is the second biggest state in Malaysia and can accommodate 10 peninsula states in land area. But these 10 states have their own State Governments compared to one State Government resulting in allocations and resources having to be shared by all these districts. In the light of this is it not better to administratively separate Sabah in terms of East, North West and South (as in Kalimantan) for better development efficiency?
A: This is an interesting view because in the time before our independence, the state of Sabah was also divided into districts, namely Sandakan, Tawau, Kota Kinabalu, Kudat and so on.
To be fair I think the Usno government will look positively into this proposal because usually in the past when the chief minister came from Kudat then Kudat will be developed. When the chief minister maybe from Sandakan, then Sandakan will be developed. If the chief minister from Tambunan, Tambunan will be developed.
So, to be fair, I think it is appropriate for us to see the development through the districts.
Q: The unemployment rate in Sabah is one of the highest in the country. This was made worse with the Covid-19 pandemic. What steps would you take as Chief Minister to reduce it in the next four years?
A: Very difficult question to answer.
When the Covid pandemic occurred in Malaysia we see the unemployment rate increased because workers in the construction industry, tourism industry, and other industries suffered huge losses
Due to that, for example in the tourism industry, there were no foreign tourists’ arrivals, in Sabah for example the biggest are tourists from China who no longer arrive.
And the hotels where our children work, have been closed because there are no more tourists.
For me in Sabah, to reduce the high unemployment rate, to reduce the children of Sabah migrating to the Peninsula, the government should, if the Usno government rules, we should see which industry is most popular in Sabah that can reduce unemployment rate among youths.
One of them is tourism. If our tourism can be intensified, then many tourists from China will come. For example my own village in Rampayan Laut, every day before Covid, because there are fireflies, and there is also the proboscis monkey, eco -tourism and beautiful sandy beaches, and sunsets, there is no less than 800 to 1,200 Chinese tourists every day.
Chalets are built, jetties, big boats and small boats will be used every night for river cruises and seeing fireflies and as a result the local boys no longer need to go to Kota Kinabalu to work
Similar for housewives and other people in the village who do not like the city, they got jobs. Some as cooks, some maintaining cleanliness and some maintaining safety, security
But it was very noticeable when Covid hit, then all the chalets were closed and no more tourists came, it was very noticeable and felt
So, I conclude, if what happened in Kampung Rampayan in Kota Belud we can also do in other places where eco-tourism is there, I think the Usno government, we will intensify the tourism industry because that is what I see we can do to reduce the unemployment rate
If we do other industries like manufacturing and so on I think it is a little complicated because that will involve what industry we do, for example the construction industry, if we build big buildings and so many shops, the question is who will be the buyer later
If even the modest price of housing he cannot afford, if for example he says he does not have a job, so we create jobs
For me, what should be done is that the tourism industry should be intensified
Secondly, security should also be intensified. We see many beautiful islands in Semporna but when incidents occur where outsiders come to Sabah kidnapping workers and so on, it also affects the tourism industry.
For that reason, the state government with the help of the federal government should intensify and double the security in these places so that the tourists feel that they are safe and they will not be afraid to come to Sabah
Q: Why should the people vote for your party in this election? What would you say are the special qualities or what does it have that the rival parties cannot offer?
A: Usno has a different agenda or idea from other parties. The Barisan Nasional or the Perikatan Nasional now are the same leaders, they have the same background. We have already seen their method of developing Sabah.
Leaders in Usno are mostly new faces who have extensive experience as well.
The manifesto that we serve to the community, they will probably be able to understand that the other parties, such as the PCS led by Datuk Anifah Aman who is mentioned as a fighter for the Malaysia Agreement 1963 during his tenure as Foreign Minister, he dared to hold forums in Sabah to discuss the MA63.
As I explained earlier, the struggle of Usno 2020 is a New Deal, the people of Sabah should understand, the understanding is that Sabah cannot be developed rapidly because the allocation from Kuala Lumpur is either slow or not much allocation.
Usno’s struggle is to urge the Federal Government to change, amend the relevant constitutions such as the 40 per cent tax collection that needs to be returned to Sabah.
This should be raised to a new level or a calculation that may be 60 per cent and tax collected to avoid confusion where when collected Kuala Lumpur does not send back.
Secondly, to develop Sabah more rapidly, we do not depend on the budget or funds from Kuala Lumpur alone. We also need to be given freedom by the Federal Government to borrow funds from abroad and this is not wrong as stated in the Constitution that Sabah and Sarawak can borrow unlike other states in Malaysia but it is conditional that Bank Negara must guarantee
So our application here is that the Federal Government, especially Putrajaya, should look from a positive angle, must believe in the people of Sabah, Malaysians who coincidentally are Sabahans.
So that we are allowed to govern the state from our point of view that we want to build Sabah rapidly as required by Sabahans and we are allowed to borrow from abroad and mandated to Bank Negara to guarantee.
The money that we borrow from abroad and the money by Kuala Lumpur to Sabah will be a lot and we can develop Sabah more rapidly than it is now.
Currently we only want allocation from the peninsular. Now there are also Sabahans who have begun to question why the Warisan Government chose not to cooperate with the current government.
And that supposedly has put Sabah in a spot where we cannot develop because Perikatan Nasional where Warisan isn’t part of its component will delay allocations from Putrajaya.
Q: Sabah having so many political parties is a very bad example for the new generation. Why is it not possible to have a minimum number of parties?
A: I do not agree with the view that Sabah or Malaysia for example should have only a few parties.
Because when we do that it is as if we are restricting the freedom of individual groups, factions or ethnicities to express their respective aspirations or political agendas.
As I mentioned, the concept of Barisan Nasional needs to be studied.
Once upon a time, the concept of Barisan Nasional was praised by foreign countries because, supposedly, with that concept, we can create a stable democratic or political system.
Before the elections, seats were distributed, for example in Peninsular Malaysia, components such as MIC, MCA, Gerakan and Umno.
In areas where even though the majority are Malay voters, an MIC candidate is fielded there and the people are not forced but advised to vote for the MIC candidates because they are also components of Barisan Nasional.
At one time this concept may be good, in the peninsula for example, maybe this concept is good.
But in Sabah I see there are weaknesses in the concept because in the areas I mentioned, namely Tanjung Kapur, Karamunting, Sim-Sim, Tanjung Papat, Elopura and in Tawau, for example, where the bumiputra residents who have lived in the city for decades until now still live in water villages, and the status of the site where their houses are is still government land, no TOL (Temporray Occupation License) and so on, they are only allowed to stay there.
So for generations, some for as long as three generations have lived there, and their lives are just like that, maybe their children have gained education and moved and so on
If for example Usno forms an alliance such as the Perikatan Nasional or becomes a component of Barisan Nasional, of course Usno will not be able to contest in the areas we compete such as in Tanjung Papat, Karamunting, Elopura, Tanjung Kapor, Tanjung Aru.
Because those areas are conventional, traditional distributed to the Barisan Nasional component now the Perikatan Nasional is distributed to the component whose party represents the majority are the Chinese.
That limits the participation of a political party and since the welfare of the bumiputra people, especially Muslims living in the suburbs, has been neglected all this time because I dare say that maybe the people’s representatives concerned do not give priority to the interests and welfare of the people there because the votes, from bumiputras especially Islam were taken for granted in every election.
So I do not agree with the suggestion that only the big parties exist in Sabah as we saw recently how dominant parties were allowed to dominate politics in Sabah, the same leaders from previous parties migrate to other parties and when it was time for them to negotiate, they were comrades-in-arms at one point. Then came the political turmoil which resulted in the Chief Minister as Warisan President to advise the Head of State to dissolve the Sabah State Legislative Assembly.
Its for examples like this, when politics in Sabah is dominated by only a few big parties, then the political situation also does not become stable.
Secondly, when there is a change of government, as happened in Peninsular Malaysia, Pakatan Harapan replaced by the Perikatan Nasional, it is an act that ignores the will of the people, because the people have decided that the Pakatan Harapan government should rule for one term.
But there was a shift on political opinion between the leaders in one party left their party and conspired with leaders from other parties who at that time were not in conflict with them then a new government existed and for me this is an action that ignores the mandate of the people. Not healthy in a democratic country like Malaysia .
Q: How do you plan to resolve the chronic problem of elected representatives betraying the voters by party hopping after winning their seats?
A: There was a time this happened when the people’s representatives from PBS jumped to Barisan Nasional, then court action was taken, where action was taken by PBS to ban the people’s representatives who jumped party.
But when this was arraigned in court and tried, the court decided that it violated the Constitution because when the aspirations of the elected representative is curbed, it is said to be restricting freedom of speech or freedom of association
This is the current position in Malaysia. There are no restraining acts or laws or anti-jumping acts.
In India, they have a made a law which does not allow elected representatives of any party to jump and their reason is that it is politically immoral.
The system in India is similar to the system in Malaysia only when later we make an act that amends the current Act we must emulate what is in India.
If in India they can do it, why can’t we do it too. We should have a political will to amend the Constitutions that we see are not good for democracy in Malaysia.
Whatever it is that does not bring good to a group and a party, we should not make as an excuse. What we should see is to a democratic system that from time to time we will strengthen.
So for me it is a consolidation of democracy where the rights of the people, the mandate of the people should not be violated or ignored by the elected representatives at the time of election through their respective parties.
Q: What is your party’s stand on the issue of corruption?
A: From a religious point of view it is forbidden, from a morality point of view it is forbidden, from any point of view it is forbidden.
So Usno has a stand where if possible to have zero corruption.
Corruption happens because there are those who offer bribe. Like the saying “One hand cannot clap”.
The problem now is that action is only taken against those who receive the bribe, while those who offer the bribe are not taken action against.
For me, there must be a law where action should also be taken against those who offer bribes, if not harsher, at least similar to the action taken against the receiver.
Because if nobody offers bribes then corruption will not exist.
Q: How do you plan to address the issue of fairness and equality in the civil service such as in promotions?
A: It’s very simple, it must be based on meritocracy i.e. merit.
Who is eligible to hold a position, including promotion, should be seen in terms of the abilities, expertise and skills of the person concerned.
It should not be through political action that a person is placed in a high position even if he does not have the qualifications at the will of a powerful leader at some point.
It must be based on meritocracy. So if for example we are not based on meritocracy, then the civil service will be destroyed, will be disrespected, and will be inefficientl
If we can strengthen that practice (meritocracy), for example in developed countries where although there is change in government after an election, the same people who holds position in the civil service are not transferred or changed.
So the government always has a respected civil servant government, the civil servant should not be afraid when a new government is established and the chief minister is new.
The tenure of the government civil servant is permanent, they do not hesitate anymore, and so the action taken is a really solid and good action.
Q: What assurance can you give to continue the fight for Sabah’s rights and entitlements when the going gets tough without compromising the trust that voters have placed on you?
A: Maybe they do not know what the real New Deal of Usno is.
I think Usno’s New Deal will answer this question; that we have a new demand in line with the state of society in Sabah, where the people for 57 years are capable, competitive, and skilled and so on.
So for the voters in Sabah, Usno’s struggle is greater compared to the struggles of other parties, because the struggle of other parties is only based on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and the 20-Points.
Whereas what Usno demands is more than that.
In the MA63 claims, they did not emphasise on positions, they did not emphasise on other issues not mentioned in the Malaysia Agreement.
What we have is greater than that because the authorities in Kuala Lumpur, including the Prime Minister, cannot tell us that our claim is unreasonable. For example, the claim of the 20 per cent oil royalty.
If, for example, Petronas cannot pay us 20 per cent, what we should urge Kuala Lumpur is that we want the oil wells that we acknowledge as Petronas’. We want that these oil wells be managed by us and we will borrow the funds from foreign countries in line with the provisions of Article 112B because this technology or oil industry there are countries out there that are more skilled than us such as the Arab countries, Kuwait, Iran, they are more skilled in this matter.
When we are allowed to borrow funds from outside, share with outside companies, then the 20 per cent application is no longer justified.
Although we ask that the five per cent be reviewed … the rate may not be appropriate and perhaps there should be a review on what can they afford rather than we asking for a rate we think is what we want.
So in addition to the rate given to us , the five per cent that we request to be studied, we should also be allowed to cooperate or have joint venture with any oil company in the world whose funds are borrowed by Sabah from abroad and guaranteed by Bank Negara.
Q: Would your party consider an alliance with Warisan-Plus or other stand-alone parties to form the Government?
A: That is a matured democracy in foreign countries whereby after the election when one party does not have an overall majority compared to other parties, then there is a coalition government.
A coalition government in the sense that even if the parties have different ideologies such as to form a coalition government, then the parties must consult each other first.
If it is destined that Usno will win enough seats where Warisan or other parties such as Umno and PPBM will also win seats but it is not enough to create a government alone, then if there are such offers we must consult with those parties first whether they also accept the manifesto or suggestions from Usno. Because if our manifesto and our proposals are not accepted, what is the benefit of creating an agreement or coalition government when we our programmes are not implemented.
If, for example, there is such an agreement, Usno is open to work with any party that wins the election later
Q: What are the three priority issues that you will tackle if your party is elected to power?
A: First, electricity. My experience in Kota Belud, for example, where sometimes there are power outages four or five times a day.
The other is water. If power supply is not stable, then whatever industry you create will not succeed.
If there is no clean water, for example in places where we set up tourism, the tourism industry will not boost there. So that means infrastructure and utilities will be given priority.
The second is the question of illegal immigrants, as mentioned earlier. Until now even though the RCI has been established no final decision has been taken because it may be that the approach is incorrect.
All this while I have never made this statement because I am afraid of being misunderstood.
If I were the Chief Minister, I would call everyone involved in the agricultural industry for example, plantation. I would call the construction industry, I would call the tourism industry and other industries and society as a whole.
And I will have a forum or meeting where I want them to give input because the question now in Malaysia is that we hire foreign workers from Bangladesh, workers from any country that we have signed.
But it should be understood, people come from outside when they come, they are also poor. For example someone from Bangladesh, before he came he had to pawn his land there, he had to sell and borrow money from people.
Then the agent who arranged them will start making profit and sometimes they are deceived with promises of having good jobs and good salary here.
But when they arrive here … three years … four years … they still don’t have extra salary to send home, no place to stay, no food. So the lucky ones are the agents.
In the context of Sabah, for example the agriculture industry, there are no unemployed locals who will work in the plantation. They will not go to the plantation to harvest the palm oil or carry these fruit bunches.
Most of these people are from outside, either Indonesians or Filipinos.
If, for example, the Filipinos who work in each plantation do not have valid documents, then plantation operators can give any amount of wage they please. Maybe the salary is low, and when the salary is low then the people who work there are already certainly not capable.
At the same time, these foreign workers will marry locals or his own people, and when their children grow up, they will have no documents and cannot go to school and so on.
They will grow up not knowing which country they are from. If their father is from Indonesia and their mother from the Philippines or from anywhere here, that is not their fault.
So how do we tackle this? Do we sweep it under the carpet? A solution should be taken from a logical view and not from a political point of view only.
My previous experience when Operation Lalang was carried out in Sandakan, all the Filipinos were arrested.
When these Filipinos who purportedly do not have documents were arrested, the fish market in Sandakan was completely deserted, the coffee shop was deserted. And there were no buyers at the grocery store on the main street because the consumers are outsiders.
Those who catch fish are outsiders, those who buy rice and coffee every day are also outsiders.
If this is done in Kota Kinabalu, I guarantee, if for example the people there are arrested, I am not say that they do not have documents but if they do, try to do such an operation.
Firstly, those who suffer are those who sell coffee, because there are no workers there who can make coffee and deliver the food.
Secondly, there will be nobody sitting for coffee, because those having coffee are ordinary people, not bosses.
So that means the sales industry, grocery stores, eateries, stalls will suffer and the hardest is when there are no fishermen, who sell fish in the market … where to buy fish?
Another thing is what happened to housewives. In foreign countries, housewives do not engage maids, they will do the cleaning themselves.
In Sabah and in Malaysia this has become a culture, when you work in a government department or in a private sector, husband works, wife works and although their salary is not much even when combined, they still want to have maids.
There was once when maids were not brought, couples will quarrel, the husband will work and tell their spouse to take care of the children, the wife will question why she couldn’t work and have no freedom.
Seen from this angle, it also causes harm.
Similarly in the construction industry, who are the people who set up the bricks, who are the people who install the wires, if you investigate you will find that most of them are outsiders whether they have documents or not.
If we look at it from an economic point of view, let the people involved in the economy work because they are the labour force.
We look at it from an economic point of view, they contribute to economic development so why are they not given documents.
But when politicians talk about documents, there are still people who make statements like “hey it is to legalise them, their names are given to the electoral so that they can vote later.”
The connotation from him from the beginning is already negative, so why do we not think openly in terms of goodness
If in a foreign country such as now where Joe Biden is a candidate for president of the United States, he took a senator named Kamala Harris.
Kanaka Harris still has a father in India. So if, for example, from the point of view of politicians in Sabah who will say “how can this be he is not from Sabah”.
So we have to be open-minded, not always negative, that is my stance in this matter.
But in the matter of illegal immigrants, in a statement made by Azis Jamman, everyone will curse. If Shafie was the one who made the statement people say “hey, you are the descendant of these group” those who hit out are leaders from PBS, if not Star.
But ask Jeffrey, if for example these people are wrong and you put them in 10 ships and send them off, the people in the Philippines will not accept them because they will say “hey he has no passport, he has no documents, and these are your people you sent here, is our state a dumping ground?”
So how ... what do we do?
That means your mistake, you didn’t control your borders. So you must look at it from the positive point of view i.e. economy.
If the people involved in this matter of goodness are no longer politicians who can speak, that is the reason why I did not make this statement before because people misinterpreted it.
You see that is where the point is. But if Jeffrey speaks, his connotation is “hey we will lose because you have multiplied”.
But what people do not raise now is about how bumiputera who are not from the coast can enter the Kalimatan border, how they can walk across because it is not fenced.
Dayaks from Kalimantan can enter Sipitang, they can enter anywhere but that is not in question.
Those on the coast are questioned, those who make this assumption are people from Malaya.
So among other things, I suggest that if you have any words about this citizenship, whether it is citizenship or what, those who should consider this are our people in Sabah.
The third priority is to reduce unemployment.
This is the question of why Sabahans go to Kuala Lumpur to work, looking for work.
It should also be seen from the angle of the children who go there.
Firstly, do Sabahans go to the Peninsula because they do not want to work here, because they are ashamed to work in restaurants here, in factories carrying weights or whatever, because if they are so shy that they migrated to Kuala Lumpur because they don’t want people in Sabah or their families in the village to see him, do not blame the government.
In other words, they choose jobs.
If they migrate to the peninsula because they want a change from the situation “hey I’m used to Kota Kinabalu, what’s in Kota Kinabalu, it’s better to go to Kuala Lumpur” while at the same time his salary in Sabah is the same as the salary in the peninsula.
If that is part of their criteria for migrating to Peninsular, because he wants to be in red light area, he wants to enjoy after work where he can sit for coffee in a better place, and if that is their wish you cannot blame the government.
But to say that they migrate because there is no longer any food here, it is impossible, because if we really want to work, we will not go hungry.
If the Usno Government takes over, we will see where the children of Sabah are now roaming in Kuala Lumpur.
There is one hotel that I always stay in, which is in Gardens Apartment ... once I asked one individual if he was from Sabah and he said ‘yes’.
I find it amusing when I asked where is he from and he said from Kota Belud and I asked which part of Kota Belud and he said Dudar.
Apparently, he is the brother to one famous individual, Tumatik.
Then I mentioned to him I said “hey, in Sabah, there are many chalets in Rampayan similar to your work place. When I told him about it, he seemed uninterested because he wanted a different working environment not that we don’t have jobs here … they just want different environment.
And there are some who go to the peninsula and marry there. They don’t want to bring their children here.
So we have to look from a perspective at different angles, why Sabahans go there.
If those who really want to work, we can make a policy such as hospitality, all Sabahans must work here, must be given priority.
The same goes for the construction industry. Do you see Bajau, Iranun or Dusun laying bricks … rarely … do you see them doing plastering works … no.
That means jobs are actually there but they don’t want to work that way.
So it is also in plantation, if for example cabbage and vegetable cultivation. If in Ranau you see most are outsiders, either Timorese or Bugis, although the income is lucrative.
So, I will look from that angle. The tourism industry, a service industry can create jobs for children.
And I don’t think you also need high skills. for example, if you work in a hotel, just do bed and cleaning. For skills, the story is different.
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