Yeh urges Chinese in Sabah to unite
Published on: Saturday, November 26, 2022
By: Daily Express
Text Size:
Yeh urges Chinese unity in Sabah
1963: Bunap member Yeh Pao Tzu (pic) reminded Chinese in North Borneo that only through unity could they hope to save their future in the soon-to-be-formed Malaysia.
Yeh, an Executive Committee member of the Sabah Alliance, had earlier announced his resignation from Bunap following attacks in certain newspapers on his being nominated by Bunap as a member to the Federal Parliament once Malaysia materialised in the coming weeks. Yeh explained what happened at the Central Executive Committee meeting of Bunap held on June 17, in connection with nomination of members to Parliament.
Yeh said he left the meeting earlier because he had some important business to deal with and was absent when nomination of members to Parliament and of candidates for the Bukit Padang ward by-election was held. He pointed out that he had suggested Hong Teck Guan, be nominated to the Senate and Peter Lo, YK Wong, Peter Yew and Lee Yuen Hing as members to Parliament.
Yeh said he objected when his name was put forward because he had no time to spare for the responsibility and that a compromise was made the following day that “I should accept the nomination temporarily on the basis that YK Wong could succeed me as the legitimate candidate.”
Yeh called on members in Bunap to work for the interests of the Party and not be made use of by others to disrupt the unity of the two parties – the Democratic Party and United Party – which merged into Bunap after considerable efforts.
JULY 31
Sembulan Community Development Centre
1972: The RM2.5m Community Development Centre in Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu, was opened by Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. The Centre has a conference hall, library and hostels to accommodate 60 people.
AUGUST 1
Manila warned not to use Upko
1967: Dato Donald Stephens warned Manila not to make use of his party, Upko, to further their “baseless” claim to Sabah just because Upko was in the opposition and had differences with the Federal Government. He said as far as Upko was concerned there was no change in its attitude toward the so-called Philippines claim to Sabah. He was responding to remarks by the Philippines’ Consul-General to Singapore Mariano Logarta, who claimed there was strong anti-Malaysia sentiment sweeping Sabah.
Logarta also claimed that Sabah was being treated as a province and its resources being drained. Refuting the allegations, Acting Chief Minister Dato Khoo Siak Chiew said: “We may differ among ourselves in internal matters but the people of Sabah are united as far as the question of rejecting the Philippine claim is concerned.”
Meanwhile, a Malaysian Embassy spokesman clarified that the Federal Government collected RM208m from Sabah but spent RM324m for Sabah’s “federal expenses”. Logarta had claimed that the Federal Government collected RM400m from Sabah.
Ex-Chief Minister undecided about future
1967: Ex-Chief Minister Peter Lo returned from a three-month world tour and told the Press he was still undecided about his future. There was a strong rumour that Lo might be assigned to some foreign mission post, but Mrs Lo said she preferred to be in Sabah. Lo is the Sabah Chinese Association (SCA) President.
First corneal graft in Sabah
1965: A four-man Royal New Zealand Opthalmic team led by Wing Commander Dr Randall Elliot left Sabah after more than 30 operations, including six corneal grafts. It was the first time corneal grafting was being carried out in Sabah and the corneas were sourced from Tokyo and Wellington.
Local eye specialist Dr ER Dingley said all the patients were in satisfactory condition. The Kiwi eye specialist also removed cataracts from 10 patients and did 15 other minor operations. Dr Dingley said the Tokyo corneas were sent by Dr Konyama, who had visited Sabah earlier.
AUGUST 2
Sabahans urged to join Civil Defence
1965: Minister for Sabah Affairs and Civil Defence Dato Donald Stephens urged qualified Sabahans’ to join the Civil Defence Units as officers.
He said he preferred Sabahans to be in charge of local Civil Defence Unit because they would be familiar with local conditions. He said those from Malaya or Singapore might encounter difficulties due to lack of knowledge of local circumstances.
AUGUST 3
Curfew imposed in Tawau
1965: A 24-hour curfew imposed in Tawau the previous day to facilitate checks by security forces was lifted at noon. The curfew covered an area north of Apas Road and between Sin On Road-Tibu River on the west and Maria Road on the north.
Resident found several leaflets in town that was pinned to dollar notes. The leaflets under the banner of tentera National Kalimantan Pasokan Panglima Mohd Salleh depicted a soldier with a bayonet fixed rifle facing a peasant.
Facing possible challenge by PAP in polls
1965: The Alliance machinery throughout Malaysia was being streamlined to meet the challenge posed by Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP).
Minister for Sabah Affairs and Civil Defence Donald Stephens said a meeting was held to gear up the Alliance machinery.
On whether the rift between the Federal Government and PAP leaders could be resolved, Stephens said:
“We are all for Malaysia and Malaysians. If it was not so, we would not have been in Malaysia.”
ADVERTISEMENT
