Several weeks ago, Shafie Apdal's name was revealed as a potential option to be named as prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan and its allies.
While the suggestion seems to have been shelved by the coalition, at least for now, Shafie (above) on Tuesday shared with a group of reporters his vision to see Malaysians living without the racism that is evidenced today, and he gave a glimpse of his plans for Malaysia's economy.
"The first thing we need is to unite the people. The second thing is to recover the economy," he said.
According to the Sabah chief minister, what's happening in Malaysia shows that the country has been divided by issues of race and religion.
"Look now, the debate in Parliament on (the incident regarding) skin colour. Just like what happened in America.
"I mean, after 300 years of independence, the issue of slavery still lingers in their minds. Where ‘black and white’ is still one of the bigger issues for them.
"We don’t want that to happen in our country," Shafie stressed.
He was referring to the incident in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, where Umno's Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim made a remark that touched on the skin colour of DAP’s Batu Kawan MP, Kasthuriraani Patto.
Expressing his disagreement on how Malaysians are racially divided today, Shafie said all must learn to accept one another and stop blaming other races for their own shortfalls.
"If you open your mind, the world is for everyone. We cannot be too (self)-centric."
Shafie said this was why, when he was an Umno vice-president, he had floated the idea that the way forward for Malaysia is to move away from race-based politics.
He said it was already time for the country to go for multiracial parties.
"When I was an Umno vice-president, I realised that for us to move forward for the country is to go for multiracial parties.
"Because, when I go back to Sabah, the people there are all of different races and religions.
"That is the way forward. It (politics) must be issue-driven. There are young people crying for jobs, crying for our help," he stressed.
Borneo - a potential platform to enhance Malaysia's economy
Moving on to the issue of the country's economy today, which has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the president of Warisan said he sees Sabah and Sarawak as having the potential to be developed as an economic hub.
He pointed to the geographically strategic location of the two states as one of the factors.
"Sabah and Sarawak are such big states, which are rich in resources, and they are nearer to Japan and China.
"If we were to develop and use the two states as leverage to compete with either India or Singapore, or the other parts of the world, one can only imagine the cost of sending goods from Sabah to China. That is the way.
"If that leverage is utilised, that can position us as a competitive nation."
However, Shafie admitted that it would not be an easy task to improve the country's economy.
He said Malaysia had been relying on tourism as one of the pillars of its economy, but the coronavirus pandemic had changed the situation.
"It's not an easy task for us to position Malaysia. But nevertheless, as leaders, we must have the will power. If others can do it, don’t tell me we can’t do it.
"But we must spell out clearly which sector, which area that can be enhanced," he elaborated.
Another area that can be further explored is the agriculture industry, Shafie said.
He said this was why he recently laid out an agriculture blueprint for Sabah, which the state would be embarking on soon.
"Because food security is essential. Countries like Singapore, do not have enough land (to grow food crops). It's the same for Japan and Hong Kong.
"But they need food, so where can they grow? Sabah has an abundant amount of land and it is fertile.
"So, if we take that as an advantage, as a leverage for our country to have food security, not only for Malaysia but also for the region and the world, I'm quite sure it would give Malaysia an advantage," Shafie added. - Mkini
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