"Pakatan Plus SAPP" will confiscate BN's 'fixed deposit' in Sabah in 13th GE

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will no longer be a Barisan Nasional (BN) ‘fixed deposit’ after the coming 13th General Election, said Datuk Yong Teck Lee, President of the opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

He said such a notion is based on the growing resentment and dissatisfaction among the majority of the population over present government, especially citing the constant indiscriminate hike in prices of essential consumer items, besides many imbalances in policies affecting Sabah and Sarawak. This includes the fact that prices of goods and prices in Sabah are currently still much higher, as compared to Peninsular Malaysia.

“Prices of goods keep escalating over the years but the people’s salary in Sabah remains stagnant as compared to other states in the country. Unfortunately, the ruling Barisan Nasional leaders are busy engaging in the ‘cold war’ to protect their own selfish interest, rather than that of the people,” he lamented.

Speaking at the Parents’ Night organized by SAPP held at a leading Chinese seafood restaurant here on Saturday, Yong thus reiterated that SAPP is prepared to cooperate with the other opposition parties in Sabah to effectively break-up the BN hegemony in the state, in the next General Election.

“The strength of a coalition like “Pakatan Rakyat Plus SAPP” would not only be able to break-up BN’s hegemony in Sabah, but also to form a new government at both the Federal and the state level,” he proclaimed to a thunderous applauds from the audience.

The term “Pakatan Plus (SAPP)” was first introduced and proposed by DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang during a public forum organized by Sabah DAP in Kian Kok Middle School in late 2008.

Yong continued that the present trend shows that the lower and middle income people in Sabah are beginning to give their support to SAPP, as they truly felt the brunt of BN’s bad governance.

He noted that more and more people started to realize that the BN-led government has failed to make good use of the enormous profits earned from oil and gas export, especially amidst a rising global oil price, to keep the prices of goods down.

“Petronas recently announced a profit of close to RM100 billions where a dividend of RM30 billions was given to the Government, besides RM27 billions being the taxes,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the various oil-producing states namely Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan only received a mere RM4 billions being the 5% oil royalty payment.

“The BN Government could have used the revenues received from Petronas to keep the prices of goods low, in Sabah especially, but it failed to do so,” Yong lamented.

He further lamented that the price of sugar too has been on the rise ever since Felda took over the sugar monopoly in the country from Tan Sri Robert Kuok’s Perlis Pelantations.

He was puzzled with the fact that sugar price was never increased during the era of Perlis Plantations but it has been increased several times since Felda took over the business.

“What’s even more puzzling and dismaying is the fact that Felda is a government agency that is supposed to look after the people’s interest and welfare, instead of focusing on making profit alone,” he contended.


Yong who is a former Chief Minister of Sabah thus reiterated that all the flaws in the present BN administration will be rectified, the moment the

“Pakatan Rakyat Plus SAPP” takes over the helm at both the Federal and the state level.

Earlier, Yong noted that the annual SAPP Parents Night was held in appreciation of the selfless contributions made by the parents, which is also in line with the party’s aspiration and commitment to promote the noble virtue of filial piety among the young generation.

He was also delighted to note that despite having assumed the role of an opposition now, the support given by its members and supporters to the party has not dwindled but increased, as reflected by the increase number of dinner tables for the said occasion, which has increased from 30 tables last year to 70 tables this year.

Among the dignitaries present in the occasion were Yong’s wife Datin Stella Yong, former State Finance Minister Datuk Datuk Mohd. Noor Mansur, SAPP deputy president Datuk Liew Teck Chan who is also the Likas State assemblyman, its Wanita Chief cum Luyang State assemblywoman Melanie Chia, its Advisors Datuk Murshidi Nambi, Datuk Francis Yap and Datuk Paul Wong.

Also in attendance were Sabah PKR delegation led by Datuk James Ghani and Roman Lo who represented PKR Kota Kinabalu division chief, Christina Liew who was away in overseas.

Yong presenting prizes to winners of the “Most Senior Persons” contest, during the function.