Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin comes under fire for comments on poverty in Sabah and inefficient BN leaders.
KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s shocking comments about poverty in Sabah and his comparison of the situation with China and India have come under heavy criticism.
Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMa) deputy president, Daniel John Jambun, hit out at Muhyiddin for drawing comparisons between Sabahans and the poor in China and India.
“Why compare Sabah with India and China. Sabah is a resource-rich state and should be comparable to the economy of Singapore, Brunei, Japan and Taiwan. Only an idiot would say we should not complain for being poor in Malaysia,” said Daniel.
Jambun said Muhyiddin should admit gracefully and humbly that without Sabah and Sarawak’s oil resources, Malaysia will be like some countries in Africa.
“He looks down on us because we are poor but look who is stealing from us?” he asked.
Muhyiddin told Sabahans in a remote town, Tongod, on Thursday that poor Sabahans should be satisfied with their lot because they are not as bad as destitute citizens in China and India.
Last year, the World Bank Report revealed Sabah was the poorest state in Malaysia. According to the report, 40% of Malaysia’s poor were centred in Sabah, which incidentally is an oil and gas hub.
The Sabah government, however, has vehemently disputed the report.
Muhyiddin also made a staggering revelation in Tongod that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government has been unable to do much for the landless and hardcore poor in the country due to lack of information.
Upset Umno leaders
Citing Kinabatangan parliamentary constituency, the deputy prime minister said he had been ignorant until now that the constituency is bigger than Pahang, and was shocked to know that Tongod district itself was bigger than Selangor.
Meanwhile, an Umno state leader here who asked not to be identified for fear of victimisation, told FMT that many Umno members are annoyed at Muhyiddin for also questioning the competency of some of the party’s elected representatives.
“Muhyiddin is undoing the great public relations work being done meticulously by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
“While he may not have ill-intentions, he could have used some other words to explain what he wanted to convey. Use more diplomatic words instead of arrogant-sounding statements,” said the Umno man.
Muhyiddin also came under heavy fire in commentaries in portals and blogs that carried his statement in Tongod.
One reader cited comparative figures between the situation in Malaysia and China.
“Starvation in China? Come on… China is 10 times better than Malaysia now. Old people in China are paid on the average RMB1,000 a month by their government.
“Cars are cheaper, though petrol is more expensive but cost of living is much lower than here. Can you get a plate of noodle for RM1.20 in Malaysia (RMB2.50)?
“Fare for city buses in China is standardised at RMB1 or RM0.465. Can you get that in Malaysia?” the reader asked, adding that minimum salary increment in China is in accordance with inflation, while salary in Malaysia has been flat for the last 20 years, lower than inflation.
Muhiddin is displaying his own ignorance and stupidity. Not knowing the size of the constituency and admitting the government has not done its job to alleviate poverty.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is the BN government has done very little to provide even basic water and electricity to the poor in Sabah. I have been to kampungs like Kg. Tagibang in Sabah that did not have water and electricity since BN took over.
So what do we need BN for? Vote BN OUT in the next general election.
The poor in Sabah must continue to live in misery and must thank their lucky stars that they did not drop dead like flies from starvation. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was thoughtless and rash when he imperiously told the indigent natives in Sabah to stop whining about their condition because the poverty situation, as seen through his distorted prism, is “not as bad as that faced by citizens in China and India”. Presumably, Muhyiddin did some research, or someone equally asinine, whispered into his ears that poverty in those two Asian giants is so horrendous that countless millions are dying daily on the streets. Yet the abject citizens did not complain about their woeful condition whereas the minorities in Sabah are needlessly whining about their plight....more
ReplyDeleteIn one dismissive stroke, Muhyiddin has consigned the destitute in Sabah to the dustbin – and there they must remain and chew their fingers. It is too bad that they have fallen into the poverty trap and cannot get out. Let them rot. The likes of Muhyiddin could not be bothered with these troublesome natives who still have scraps of food to assuage their gnawing hunger. After all, no reports had emerged about Sabahans falling by the wayside and perishing for want of food. No reports means no poverty. But the “ostrich” is wrong. Abject poverty does exist in Sabah and Sarawak – and it has grown worse over the decades. It is just that Muhyiddin and all the federal leaders have buried their heads in the sand and refused to acknowledge the harsh reality.
ReplyDeleteIn years past, Sabah and Sarawak were rich states. They had bountiful resources and natives enjoyed unimpeded rights to their lands. They owned the land and cultivated it for sustenance. They could forage for food in the jungles and no one would chase them away. Then things went horribly wrong when they became part of Peninsular Malaysia. Slowly and inexorably, their customary rights to their land have been taken away and their lands grabbed. Their environment had been defiled as rapacious logging barons moved in and destroyed vast swathes of forest. Even their identity had been erased under a misguided state policy to promote the supremacy of one race and one religion. Today, the natives are mere strangers in their own land. Worse still, they have become impoverished...more
Times have changed and the people of Sabah and Sarawak are not keeping mum. They are fighting back and letting the whole world know the true situation. Muhyiddin cannot shut their mouth or threaten them with dire consequences if they air their grievances in public. He cannot clamp down on all the blogsites and online news portals exposing the dire state of affairs in the two states. His politics of development cannot mask the grim truth about a people reduced to penury. Millions of ringgit have been poured into Sabah and Sarawak to implement projects, but millions more have been siphoned off into the pockets of crooked politicians. In Sarawak, the “white rajah” has milked the state almost dry for over 30 years and is still greedy for more. The simmering unrest in the two states – many times larger than the peninsula – makes for grim news.
ReplyDeleteIt is common knowledge that corruption and incompetence are the twin evils that have been largely responsible for the turn of fortune for Sabah and Sarawak. The former is the poorest followed by the latter. But no state or federal leaders want to admit it until Muhyiddin himself (inadvertently?) dropped a bombshell: “The Barisan Nasional (BN) government has been unable to do much for the landless and hardcore poor… mainly due to the incompetence of its leaders.” These leaders have failed to do their job: they did not go to the ground to listen to the people and “articulate their problems”. Going by Muhyiddin’s damning pronouncement, all the BN elected representatives – from the chief ministers down to the parliamentarians and state assemblymen – have failed the people and must go. They are the cancer that has laid low the two once healthy states.
The natives in Sabah are not complaining about their pitiable condition but crying out for justice. They are not begging for crumbs of bread but asking for a fair share of the fats of the land. They are not enroaching into the homes of the wealthy and powerful but demanding what is justly theirs. It is not good politics to ignore the plea for help. Sabah is growing restless as the people there are beginning to realise that their future is not getting any better with the passing of years. They could have become masters of their own destiny, but the “intruders” have despoiled their land. Everyday, they stare at poverty – and their resolve to stay alive grows stronger. Muhyiddin cannot push them to the wall and not expect them to fight back.
Poverty cannot be wished away or swept under the carpet or trivialised. In every country, there are people who live from hand to mouth. Poverty is the same everywhere – it wears the same dreadful face in India, China and Malaysia. Millions in China are trapped in poverty and millions too eked out a miserable existence in dreary hovels in India. But comparing the poor in Malaysia with those in the two Asian giants does not make sense. Are the poor in India worse off than the poor in Malaysia? Are the destitute over here more well off than their penniless fellow beings in China? Or is Muhyiddin praising the poor in India for their hardy, stoical fibre? Poverty is here to stay and the grumblings will continue. Muhyiddin must put his ears to the belly of the poor and realise how deep is the rumbling of pain – and anger.
What a joke, how can he compare Sabah with China and India. There is no comparison.
ReplyDeletenext time use your common sense before publishing any statement. don't do something that might reveal your ignorance.
ReplyDeleteTidak boleh dibandingkan langsung. China dan India adalah negara yang besar, Sabah hanya sebuah negeri.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with you FMT...The poor at Sabah are getting poorer and there's no doubt about it but we know the fact that the will of change is upon them...When an election is around the corner, promises & grants will be given so that the ruling pact will be staying in power just like in Sarawak, the federal ministers even the PM & DPM went down to ground to gather support as they understand the consequences of losing 2/3 majority. It's undeniable that the people will be satisfied with the goodies given because they appreciate what has been given but do not know the losses by receiving it. Politics is the same everywhere, if we let the them rule for a prolong period of time, it might be too late to realise that they've lost so much. Just look at the insurgents at Libya & Egypt, are we expecting sabahan & sarawakian to be like them, no! Because we are to content with what we have, we cannot change a country within 1,2,5 or even 10 years, because the it has rooted deeply and the will of change is not strong enough. The PR just know how to blame and judge, but they have not shown their capabilities in overturning the government because they don't have the resources and even the media is with the ruling pact! The opposition parties can't even have a proper negotiation, how we expect changes?! All the grouses will be forotten after election and will be revived during upcoing new election. We can blog everything we desired and hope that grouses be heard but still politic corrupts everyone, everything must be leveraged, rich will be richer and poor will be poorer! We hope the good samaritan without political motive propel a new revolution just like Nelson Mandela against apartheid.
ReplyDelete