Between women, youth lies ‘New Sabah’

Back in 2008, an economist dissected the electoral landscape in Sabah based on the 2006 census data and laid the basis for a new Sabah.

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While many facile analyses will attribute the electoral outcome in Sabah to factors that were marginally relevant, the more astute of analysts will see in the turnout figures what this election was really about.

Of particular interest would be the number of first time voters and of even greater significance the spike in the women voter turnout.

It would not be an exaggeration to describe this election as one where women and youth reposed their faith overwhelmingly in Chief Minister Musa Aman. Between women and youths lies the ‘New Sabah’.

The story of this election’s win is as such really the story of how the ‘New Sabah’ came to be and how Musa has laid out a political roadmap to realise its aspirations.

Musa preferred to call this a ‘Covenant of Commitment’. But I would go a step further to call it the ‘ladder of opportunity’.

For the first time in the middle of a high stakes election Musa went on record and expressed his commitment to development.

It is much easier to resort to cheap populism but what I found striking about this election is the creativity with which the “safety of net” has been promised.

Musa’s “covenant of commitment” was a ladder for more citizens to use to cross that much riled “poverty line” through targeted interventions.

The “safety net” that was promised is a trampoline that helps you bounce right back to find your way up that ladder of opportunity.

Education, skills, security

The earliest indicators of the rise of the ‘New Sabah’ came from the Census Board data of rural households.

Between the fall of Harris Salleh’s Berjaya and the re-election of Pairin Kitingan’s PBS, most commentators have ignored what the census data told us in 1985.

In block after block, district after district, when queried over what kind of assistance rural families preferred, one message came out loud and clear – education, skills and security.

Musa’s comments on the rise of the ‘New Sabah’ during the release of Sabah BN’s manifesto for the 13th general election may come as a surprise to many but there is a sound demographic basis to it.

Back in 2008 as an academic exercise, an economist friend had dissected the electoral landscape in Sabah through the prism of the 2006 census data.

It was found that the opportunity exists to materially alter the battleground in Sabah through a platform that emphasized on ‘economic issues’ that can size up to the ‘economic aspirations’ of the ‘New Sabah’.

It is this ‘New Sabah’ that a hunger for job opportunities and infrastructure is shaping a different kind of electoral discourse where development and economic growth are viewed as essential to the ladder of opportunity while concerns over inflation manifest into the desire for a subsidy-oriented safety net.

This is markedly different from the Pakatan Rakyat, SAPP and STAR’s rhetoric.

Selvarajah Somiah is a geologist and freelance writer. He blogs at selvarajasomiah.wordpress.com