Oil royalties and West Malaysia’s old school politicians

With “Maruah Melayu” in the back burner for now, Malaysians are waiting with bated breath – what’s next to shake up, or rather, wake our nation.

The fall of Barisan Nasional in May 2018 broke down a well oiled system of political patronage and a feudalistic party system that kept the elite in power.

With many of the prominent players of the past now being exposed and charged for corruption, the old guards are finding it hard to survive.

Instead of playing the role as a good opposition, many could not last more than a year without the trappings of money and power, and some have joined Pakatan Harapan component parties to salvage their political careers.

While Umno-PAS are now in the same bed, playing the religion and race card, their desperation is obvious.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is now saying the PAS-Umno “national charter” would give full oil royalties to states like Sabah and Sarawak if they come to power.

People like Zahid and Abdul Hadi Awang still think Sabahans live on trees and that we are as gullible as a dumb rock, and easily fall hook, line and sinker on shallow promises.

Where have they been all this time when Najib promised to give back Sabah and Sarawak’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Times have changed. Malaysians feel the power of their votes. East Malaysians are not letting up to get back our rights under MA63, especially with regards to oil royalty, to develop our state.

We are tired of receiving crumbs and being told we are ungrateful from people like DAP’s Ngeh Koo Ham.

Out of step and out of touch, many politicians in the peninsular do not understand the real feelings of East Malaysians when they talk about social contract and Malay rights.

It is a global trend now that people are not giving absolute power to any incumbent government.

Umno-PAS is aware of this, hence their alliance under Muafakat Nasional. “Maruah Melayu” with Umno-PAS pulling the strings in the background talks about exclusivity and not inclusivity.

Race and religion baiting is so old school. It stirs raw emotions for a moment, then slides down to the reality.

We know we can’t do without each other. To prosper thy neighbour and to respect human dignity irrespective of race, religion and gender, might be a better idea for Malaysia “63”.

Whether you set up your own IT malls, boycott Chinese shops and products, you know the power of the economy is not in your hands. It is an exercise in futility and a waste of time.

While the fallout from “Maruah Melayu” is still ongoing and the pathetic and garbled response from the current government is not helping the situation, we need to be aware of the growing sentiments in East Malaysia.

Maruah Melayu and West Malaysians are still grounded in Merdeka ’57, while East Malaysians have always been true to Malaysia ’63.

Our founding fathers believed the nation is for all, and inclusiveness is an important part of nation-building. No one race should be dominant over another or hold others to ransom.

East Malaysians do not agree that only Malays can be prime minister, just as only Malays can be the chief justice. Richard Malanjum, like Barack Obama, became the first non-Malay chief justice, and performed with distinction. It has nothing to do with race.

Meritocracy comes before so called “rights”. With the number of Umno leaders and their cronies being charged in court for corruption, Maruah Melayu needs to wake up to the fact that our Malay leaders have let us down, and they are using the “Malay Dignity Congress” organised by the academics for their own ends.

At the same time, the academics with a list of scrolls to their names should wake up to the fact that they are being used as pawns in a political game.

For West Malaysians who are still not conversant with East Malaysian politics, it is time to learn and understand.

The Pakatan Harapan government’s promise for East Malaysia is contained in its election manifesto. There are many references to MA63 and the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak’s rights.

In October 2018, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong announced a steering committee on MA63 to be chaired by the prime minister. Liew said, “Generally, the opinion within the committee members was to go to the core of the matter, namely the implementation of the MA63 and not go back to the historical aspect of the matter because some of the issues are very much in dispute”.

In addition, Liew announced that a parliamentary select committee (PSC) on the implementation of MA63 will be established in a bid to return the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as enshrined in the agreement.

When debating the constitutional amendment bill in Parliament in April, Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said that MA63 is not a social contract but a United Nations-recognised international document for the formation of Malaysia, and that the rights of Sabah and Sarawak are contained in MA63.

“MA63 is the only legacy from our fathers of Independence, who wanted Malaysia’s prosperity to continue, and is the only official document that gives legitimacy to the existence of Sabah and the formation of Malaysia itself.”

He said MA63 is different from a social contract. It is about the rights of the people of Sabah and is not political material to be gambled with to gain power.
“Muafakat Nasional” leaders should take note.

After committees and debates, we are no nearer in restoring Sabah and Sarawak rights under MA63.

The 20% oil royalty promised by the PH government has fizzled out after lame excuses by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, and differed to a date when there is more money in the federal coffers.

East Malaysians are in total envy when visiting our nation’s capital, seeing the ever expanding development and modern infrastructure, while Sabahans have to endure constant power outages, poor road networks and public transport.

Life is worse in the rural areas. Sabah and Sarawak oil money is being used for nation-building and yet some people are calling us ungrateful for picking up the crumbs.

According to a 2013 report, our neighbours in East Kalimantan face the same issues with regards to oil royalty, receiving 15% profit sharing but still deprived of badly needed infrastructure funds.

Papua and Aceh on the other hand receive 70% in profit-sharing from oil and gas, as well as greater autonomy in their respective regions.

Sabah produces 60% of the nation’s oil and gets 5% oil royalty. The 20% oil royalty promised by PH government has slipped away into the night and will soon be forgotten until the next general election where the promise will be revived to bait the East Malaysians.

The PAS-Umno Muafakat Nasional has started early with loose talk and false promises on oil royalties.

In the words of Stephen King, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us.” - FMT