Why is my race such a big deal, asks Shafie

Shafie reminded the people that in order to topple the Barisan Nasional government, Sabahans must unite.

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah president Shafie Apdal has questioned why his political foes were making such a big deal about his race in the run-up to the 14th general election (GE14).

He said Sabahans had never had any problem with past chief ministers with a similar background.

“They say I am a Bajau PTI (illegal immigrant), that I am a Bajau lanun (pirate).

“If the late Tun Mustapha Datu Harun, a Bajau Ubian, can become chief minister, it is not impossible for me to become one.

“If my uncle, Tun Sakaran Dandai, my mother’s brother, can become chief minister, it is not impossible for the president of Warisan to become one.

“If Harris Salleh can become a chief minister, if Musa Aman can become chief minister, it is not impossible for a Bajau Sabahan to become one,” he added at a meet-the-people event in Menumbok, 145km from here.

Shafie, who is of Bajau descent and from Semporna in Sabah’s east coast, said he was tired of people playing race politics and using scare tactics by mocking Warisan’s party logo, which features a sailboat, as representing a pirate ship.

Some of these people, he said, made it sound as if Warisan was a one-race party when in reality it was represented by all major races in Sabah.

“They say Warisan is a pirate’s party. Do they know, our deputy president is a Kadazan from Penampang, our secretary-general a Dusun from Keningau, our vice-president is a Chinese from Likas, our coordinator in Beaufort is a Bisaya. None of them is a pirate,” he said.

He reminded the people that in order to topple the Barisan Nasional government, Sabahans must unite and put their racist sentiments aside.

In the past, he said Mustapha would not have won if not for the support of Fuad Stephens, just like Harris would not have won without the Kadazans and the Chinese, or Joseph Pairin Kitingan, without the support of Usno.

“Today, Warisan’s support comes not only from Semporna, but also from Menumbok, Beaufort, Pitas, Penampang and all over Sabah.

“This is not a race-based party. A vote for Warisan is not a vote for the Bajau or Chinese, Bisaya, Brunei, Kedayan. The time has come for us to stop squabbling over race and religion,” he said.

Shafie said compared with national parties like DAP and PKR, Warisan had a better chance of overcoming BN in Sabah because no matter how many seats the Pakatan Harapan parties won, it would not be enough to form the state government.

‘Shafie trying to brainwash people’
Meanwhile, a Sabah BN Youth leader has accused Shafie of brainwashing the people by deliberately choosing to ignore the development brought about by the state government under Chief Minister Musa Aman.

Mandut accused Shafie of brainwashing the people by deliberately choosing to ignore the development brought about by the state government.

Acting PBS Youth chief Christopher Mandut said Shafie had in fact no locus standi to criticise Musa and how he governs the state, especially since the chief minister had done a lot to help the rakyat.

Under Musa’s development plan, apart from physical development, the youths, including schoolgoing groups, are not neglected, he said.

“In fact, education has always been among the focus and priority of the Sabah government.

“New schools are being built, while the existing ones are either upgraded or renovated.

“Not just that, the students and pupils’ basic needs, such as school bags and shoes, are given to ease parents’ burdens.

“So is Shafie going to say that such a caring attitude is a bad thing? Or is he anti-development?”

Shafie had previously mocked BN for distributing school bags to children at a gathering in Labuan on Saturday, saying he had never heard of “such festivals” in places like Singapore and Brunei.

Shafie said the only reason such events were necessary was because parents in Sabah could not even afford to purchase basic items for their children.

Mandut said NGOs, the private sector, local leaders and various institutions had pitched in to help the communities.

Government agencies such as Ko-Nelayan, the Rural Development Corporation, Sabah Land Development Board, Yayasan Usaha Maju have also played their roles to reduce poverty.

“Musa recently announced a long-term strategic development plan to eradicate poverty in Sabah by 2035,” Mandut told FMT.

“Dubbed Sabah LEAP 2016-2035, the plan, among others, aims at ensuring all rural areas in the state have electricity and clean water supply as well as achieve zero poverty status by 2035.

“With all these completed and ongoing developments in Sabah, Shafie still opts to ignore these positives and tries hard instead to brainwash Sabahans to refuse BN another mandate in GE14.”

Providing figures, Mandut said the government, under Musa, has reduced the state’s poverty level from 4% in 2014 to 2.9% in 2016.

“Close to 30,000 people were lifted out of poverty in the first half of the year, the Sabah state assembly was told during a sitting last November.

“Musa has a good track record and we believe he will be able to bring Sabah to greater heights.

“Shafie failed to carry out his duties when in power. As a former federal rural and regional development minister, what has he done to reduce poverty in Sabah?”

In his speech during the Warisan gathering in Labuan, Shafie had said that some schools in Sabah were so financially strapped that they needed assistance from their parent-teacher associations.

“It’s not that it is wrong to give away school bags but wouldn’t it be better for parents to have enough so that they could buy these for their children?”

Saying that education was a priority for any responsible government, he added: “What is the point of having modern communications in the cities when schools in rural areas remain dilapidated?”

He said if Warisan was able to form the state government in Sabah, it would set up an education and innovation ministry. -FMT