MUSA AMAN, A LEADER AHEAD OF HIS TIME

BOOK....A coffee-table book chronicles the life and times of a reluctant Chief Minister.

WITH 390 pages, it’s heavy at 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs). Yet the colourful coffee-table book on Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman doesn’t quite do justice to his achievements – by the way such books go.

But 'Leading the way' has served its purpose. It chronicles the life and times of a leader in his own right who stands out as a reluctant politician who in nine short years has brought the resource-rich north Borneo island state onto the threshold of a high-income nation.

The book was launched by Juhar Mahiruddin, Sabah’s Head of State, with much fanfare before 1,000 dinner guests at the Magellen Sutera Resort on March 28; two days before Musa celebrated his 61st birthday.

Joseph Pairin Kitingan, his deputy, paid him a fitting tribute. He described him as a true Malaysian who puts aside racial differences to bring peace and prosperity to his 3.2m people who include Malays, indigenous Kadazan-Dusuns and Muruts, Bajaus, suluks and ethnic Chinese and Indians. Musa is a descendent of Kadazan-Dusuns, Malay and ethnic Chinese.

LAUNCHES....Juhar Mahiruddin, Sabah's Head of State (right), launches Musa's book as Joseph Pairin Kitingan (left) pays tribute to his chief minister.

“He knows that as Chief Minister, he cannot have any ethnic bias,” Pairin said of Musa, adding that it was a relief to him when the rotation of the chief ministership ended in 2003 as he took office. Musa could rid himself of the 'Muslim Bumiputra' tag that came with his office, according to Pairin.

Musa has been the most innovative chief minister with a remarkable foresight. So much so that he was ahead of his time when he launched the Sabah Development Corridor in 2008. It is to bring 105 billion ringgit ($34 billion) of investments and create 900,000 jobs over 18 years.

The SDC has thus given Sabah a head start when Prime Minister Najib Razak launched his massive 1.4-trillion ringgit economic transformation programme in 2010 that will make Malaysia a high income nation in eight years. Average income by 2020 will be about 48,000 ringgit compared to 26,500 ringgit now.

The economy was sluggish when Musa succeeded Chong Kah Kiat as Sabah’s 14th chief minister. But through his three-prong Halatuju economic plan in developing industries from agriculture, tourism and manufacturing to bring his state out of the backwaters of primary exports, Sabah has been chalking up large surpluses year after year.

Sabah’s economic spending has reached an all time high of 4 billion ringgit this year; made possible through prudent financial management and innovative income generation that have added to the state’s reserves of more than 3 billion ringgit. This has earned praise from Malaysia’s Auditor-General Ambrin Buang for 11 straight years.

As a conservationist, Musa is unrivalled as he is praised by Britain’s venerable Royal Society. He has put almost 4m hectares of pristine forests, slightly more than half the size of Sabah, in the Heart of Borneo for conservation.

But the greatest accolade has come from three prime ministers including Najib. They say, with hindsight, that they have made the right decision in having Musa as Sabah’s chief minister. (Insight Sabah- Pictures by Ille Tugimin)

(NOTES : Leading the way - Musa Aman is published by Spirits of Borneo Sendirian Berhad)