Sabahans now viewed as corrupt, says veteran politician

KOTA KINABALU: There was a time when Sabah and Sabahans were held in high esteem by federal lawmakers and people in the peninsular, but the situation is different now said veteran politician Karim Ghani.

Karim, who was once a vice-president in the now-defunct United Sabah National Organisation (Usno), said people now viewed Sabahans as ‘corrupt’.

He said Usno, when it was in power in the '70s, commanded much respect in Kuala Lumpur and Sabahans, who were considered rich at that time, and could walk with its head held high.

“Gone are the days when we were well regarded. The situation is different now… now Sabahans are perceived as corrupt people and only looking for projects.

“In the ’70’s when Mustapha Harun (Sabah Chief Minister from 1967 to 1975) wanted a bigger field for a helicopter, KL said no money and Mustapha replied Sabah bayar (Sabah will pay).

“During that time when Malaya had TV and Mustapha also wanted TV in Sabah, KL said no money but Mustapha replied Sabah bayar (Sabah will pay for it),” recounted Karim.

“We had the capacity and money. Every time Sabahans went to KL, we were looked upon as rich people and respectable.

“Now, everything is different. When people in KL know you are from Sabah, their first impression of us is either we are looking for projects or we are corrupt,” he asserted.

“We can see the difference in the treatment now, 40 years ago people in Malaya respected us so much,” he said recalling the glory days of Sabah before Umno stepped in.

Move to revive Usno

Touching on Usno’s political status, he said their first attempt in 2006 to revive Usno had been rejected by the Registrar of Society (ROS) immediately after 12th General Election.

He confessed that based on the current political landscape in the country it was almost unlikely that Usno would be revived.

According to a Borneo Post report, Usno was disbanded by its founder Mustapha Harun, who was Sabah’s third chief minister, after the 1990 general election to make way for Umno’s entry to Sabah.

Usno came to power after winning the 1967 Sabah election. Usno remained in power under Mustapha’s leadership until 1975, and until 1976 under Mohammad Said Keruak’s leadership.

Karim said: “We’ve re-appealed to revive Usno…at this point I have been tasked to gather feedback from former party members and public on what has been achieved in Sabah over the last 20 years since Umno set foot here.”

He said thus far the survey has shown that former members are unhappy and want Usno revived to carry out their political struggle.

courtesy of FMT