Once again in the Land Below the Wind the sands are shifting with the tides. It concerns the shifting allegiance of the elected members of the State Legislature and the concomitant issue as to which person commands the majority support of the Legislative Assembly to qualify to be appointed as the Chief Minister of the State (CM) had risen.

Political stability is an absolute “MUST” for Sabah to continue and sustain the economic restructuring that CM Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has initiated in 2011/2022. These initiatives need time to be implemented and produce benefits for Sabahans. Any destructive political instability before the next general election can destroy Hajiji’s initiatives and condemn Sabah back to the dark, depressing days of low or negative growth.

AT the first meeting of the first session of the 15th Parliament on Dec 19, 2022, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim won a resounding vote of confidence from the members of the Dewan Rakyat. Most citizens are hoping that with this vote and an anti-hopping law in place, the PM’s coalition government will vigorously combat the devastating economic crisis and also initiate some much-needed institutional reforms.

I WOULD like touch on Sabah’s recent political developments in the context of economic plights of ordinary Sabahans.

ONE can be forgiven for overlooking the need to recap the year behind us. 2022 was characterized – domestically and on the global stage – as lurching from one dumpster fire to another: from the war in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis, to economic recession, food inflation, collapsing asset prices, liquidity squeezes and the stubbornly lingering effects of the pandemic.

It is not often that I can say that I’m glad that I was wrong. In 2018, I acted for Tan Sri Musa Aman and argued before both the High Court and Court of Appeal on the proper interpretation, application and operation of Article 6(7) of the Constitution of the State of Sabah.

WHILE it marks a good starting point for newly minted Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa to provide free sanitary pads at the ministry level, the period poverty issue is just the tip of the iceberg.

The World Bank’s forecast for the world economy has been ominous. It did not mince any word. The warning has been blunt and fearful. Here is the gist. The world economic growth has spiralled downward from 5.7pc in 2021 to a mere 2.9pc in 2022. The picture for 2023 is foreboding and scary.

CERTAIN quarters are calling out Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to “stop behaving like an Opposition leader”, likely triggered by Anwar’s probing of the potential squandering of billions worth of funds, allegedly associated with the previous government.

FOR a person born and raised in Malaysia, there should be no reason for me to fear Islam. As a typical Malaysian of my generation, I grew up with the religion and Muslim classmates and friends.