Sabah New Hope is SAPP

By Hj Amde Sidik - Deputy President of SAPP

SAPP has always been prepared to sit down with other opposition political leaders in the State, no question about it so long as the agenda is to topple the present state government in Sabah.

While at the Federal level, SAPP leaders are supporting all out federal based opposition. It should be better that way, clear division of labour.

For those who are wary and worry should SAPP get a simple majority to form a government, the situation is no better than during PBS government where PBS was whacked left and right, in the end resorted to joining BN; in my view, the scenario is no longer the same. We are in different era.

For a shorter explanation, Federal leaders need Sabah and Sarawak more to form the federal government.

Forty-eight years ago it was just the opposite where Sabah and Sarawak had given freely nearly all their parliamentary seats to enable BN to form the Federal government. Today, if only Sabah and Sarawak voters open their eyes beyond the zincs, blue water tanks and other forms of bribes, the situation could be different. Sabah and Sarawak could have minimized the bullying game by the BN leaders.

Why are we being ignored and even called a fixed deposit? Largely because of our own ignorance and another is for monetary gains. I guarantee there is no real UMNO fighter in Sabah all are but because of the reasons I mentioned above. What have they to prove of their struggle in UMNO? USNO and UNKO, yes. Unfortunately our younger generation doesn’t read this local history of ours anymore except UMNO.

For SAPP, the Chinese image has been shifting well into a multi-racial and multi religious Sabah. Bumiputra membership of the party outnumbered other races. Bumiputra leaders comprised about half of the total numbers of party's leaders, currently at the constituency level - Constituency Liaison Committee (CLC), Bumiputras are dominating the leadership group.

For the first time in the history of the Party that it has a Muslim for Deputy President since its inception 18 eighteen years ago. By its constitution, SAPP has always been a non-racial political party right from the beginning. SAPP doesn’t practice any quota system as many people think. Whilst some find the ideas of a non-quota system unfair, others may find it the most appropriate.

When asked, why isn't the quota system practiced when Sabah has many racial groups, I’m of the opinion that the selection should be based on the ability to lead not because of race and plus connections. Second, we can’t afford to be thinking everything and every time to focus our minds on race and religion. If God wants Sabah to have only one religion, God could have done it a long time ago.

Every religious person says all races are equal but it is the people that make it unequal. Political parties based along racial party lines will one day find it has little followers. It simply is a divisive system, yet our leaders are talking about one Malaysia. Look around - BN component political parties are but based along racial lines.

Our young are actually no longer looking this way, but our leaders very many of them don’t realize, see what we learn from Middle East.

The time has come that we have to chart our political destiny for Sabah and Sarawak and there is no short cut and no easy way out; surely not for faint-hearted leaders.

There is a choice now. Those who don’t want to stay the same, support the opposition political parties and make them win in the General Election. That would be my advice.

Hj Amde Sidik - Deputy President of SAPP
Ibu Pejabat SAPP, Kota Kinabalu
Date: 2 March 2011