"It was a biased statement, a 'double standard' if I may say," said Perpaduan Vice President Muariffidin Abdul Malek Chua in a statement here on monday.
Muariffidin who is also Youth Chief and son of the late Datuk Abdul Malek Chua said Lee's urging the people of Borneo to forget their ideology and implement the spirit of Malaysia for Malaysia is completely bias.
"However, I would like to thank him because he know and understand the history of the formation of Malaysia that Sabah and Sarawak are one of the partners to form Malaysia and not one of the states under the federation of Malaya," he said.
"The ideology and spirit of 'Sabah for Sabahans and Sarawak for Sarawakians' (s4s) would not even exist if only the Federal government gives equal development to the people of Sabah and Sarawak, and we all know that is far from reality.
"We, the people of Sabah have been lacking the infrastructure and also development even though Sabah is one of the major contributors to the development of Malaysia.
"We, the people of Sabah have long endured and embraced the spirit of unity and the spirit of 1Malaysia long before that words even existed.
"So, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, for your information, we in Sabah live in peace with so many different races and not once we quarrelled among each other over racial sentiment unlike the peninsula, so don`t teach us about nationalism, we Sabahans and Sarawakians know better than you," he said.
"You talk about equality and yet it was proven otherwise, look at our MyKad for example, it clearly states that Sabah is the 12th state and Sarawak the 13th state, so don`t talk about equality if equality was not even been practised," he added.
"Look at the minimum wage for example, we Sabahans and Sarawakians receive lesser minimum wage compared to the peninsula when in fact out cost of living is higher than those in peninsula because of the lack of infrastructure.
"So, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, if you want us to embrace the spirit of unity then you should embrace it first and understand what unity really means.
"Help us, the people of Sabah and Sarawak, to get equal rights according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963, only then will the true meaning of unity really be realised," he said.
1 Malaysia Foundation Trustee Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye in his Malaysia Day message on sept 16, pointed out that diversity is the country`s strength and recipe for success and that Malaysia Day should rekindle the spirit of patriotism in the hearts of all Malaysians.
Lee hoped East Malaysia would continue to support the country`s social integration so that sustainable progress can continue and was quoted as saying "We need to stop talking about 'Sarawak for Sarawakians' or Sabah For Sabahans', as we are all Malaysians." - DE
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