‘Sabah Muslims are Umno Malay wannabes’

Raymond Tombung

Sabahans have already 'lost' five territories – Labuan, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Kinabatangan – to the foreigners whose population exceeds the locals.

KOTA KINABALU: Umno leaders in Sabah are working openly to take away whatever little rights Sabahans have left, State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah deputy chairman Awang Ahmad Sah alleged today.

“It is shocking to see them working very hard to deny and further erode the rights of Sabahans.

“They don’t care what happen to us as long as Umno stays in power,” he said, adding that Muslims in Sabah who are not Malays are “trying very hard to be more Malay” than the real Malays from Peninsular Malaysia.

He said most Sabahan Muslims who are in Umno are now behaving as if they will be the last bastion for Umno members in Malaysia.

“Ironically, Sabah Umno members who are not Malays, including KDMs (KadazanDusunMuruts), are supporting Umno as if Umno is their god.

“But they need to realise that the Malays in Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perak, and Penang had rejected Umno in the 2008 election and there is no sign that Umno would regain the Malay support which it lost in that election.

“There is also a strong indication that more Malays in Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Johor and Malacca will reject Umno in the 13th general election.

“Even Daim Zainuddin (former economic adviser) said only three states are safe for BN in the next general election, ” Awang said in a statement criticising Sabah Umno deputy chief Salleh Keruak and Sabah Barisan Nasional secretary-general Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Salleh, who is also State Legislative Assembly speaker, once said that the 20-point agreement was no longer relevant, while Rahman, who is Kota Belud MP, recently stirred the hornets’ nest when he declared Sabah was a unitary state in Malaysia from the beginning of Malaysia’s formation on Sept 16, 1963.

Said Awang: “Why are Salleh and Rahman so willing to distort history? Are they against what their fathers believed?

“Or maybe they are trying very hard to ingratiate themselves to Umno, to [Chief Minister] Musa [Aman] and [Prime Minister] Najib (Tun Razak), to climb up the political ladders?”

‘Five Sabah territories lost’

Awang said it was a relief to know that Barisan Nasional leaders such as Lahad Datu assemblyman Nasrun Mansor had broken ranks with his peers when they urged the government to ensure that only Sabah natives become political representatives.

“It was such a relief to hear Nasrun’s views. He had enough conscience to worry about foreigners with ICs who have outnumbered the locals in some areas and are beginning to demand political representation.

“Most Sabahans don’t even realise that we have already lost five territories.

“We have lost Labuan to the Federal Territory. We have lost Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Kinabatangan to the foreigners whose population has exceeded the locals.

“What assurance can Umno give the Sabahans that the foreigners won’t be able to contest in elections in the near future?

“If we allow Umno-BN to win in the next election, we will lose more territories to the foreigners, such as Karambunai, Tanjung Aru, Petagas, Kawang and Liawan constituencies which are already under serious threat as the foreigners form between 20% and 30% of the voters,” Awang said.

He is also wary that Umno will produce more so-called Malays by awarding MyKads to more foreigners.
He said the Mobile National Registration Department, which is foreigner-friendly, will continue to operate and the agents for these foreigners are actively monitoring the schedule of mobile NRD operations.

“As such we all need to wake up to this reality, and oppose the pro-foreigner attitude of many Sabah Umno leaders, or our future generations will suffer and curse us for our neglect and inaction,” he said.