Datuk Yong Teck Lee & His Demands

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Datuk Yong Teck Lee & His Demands

The Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) and its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee, a brilliant lawyer who studied at London University, has apparently been tempted to dance with the Opposition People’s Justice Party (PKR).

And the ruling United Malay National Organisation’s (Umno) maverick former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Hamzah, whose cousin Tengku Zainal Adlin Tengku Mahmud lives in Sabah, heads the Sabah Tourism Board and is a respected environmentalist, mountaineer, conservationist and naturalist associated with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Yong and his party want to force Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, their former ally, out of office.

They plan to promote a vote of no confidence in his leadership in Parliament.

They would rather have Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Abdullah’s chosen successor, as Prime Minister, or even Razaleigh or Anwar, but not former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Muhammad and his sons Datuk Mokhzani and Datuk Mukhriz.

Sapp has not announced if it is withdrawing from the ruling National Front (BN) Conservative coalition but it is widely believed that PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Abdullah’s longtime political rival, has approached them and so has Razaleigh who is challenging Abdullah for the Umno presidency in December.

Sapp has blamed Abdullah and his Cabinet for failing to resolve Sabah’s “illegal immigrant problem”. This “problem” has been largely blamed on Dr Mahathir and former Chief Ministers the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun and Datuk Seri Harris Salleh.

Since the 1980s, when Sapp members were still in the Sabah United Party (PBS) and earlier still, the Sabah United People’s Party (Berjaya), migrants from Sulu and Mindanao in the Philippines and Sulawesi and Banjarmasin in Indonesia have poured into Sabah via Sandakan and Tawau respectively.

While they have been a source of cheap labour tapped by Sabahan employers including the State Government, they have also contributed to the rise in serious crimes in the State, especially the Filipinos.

Many Filipinos and Indonesians in Sabah also entered the State illegally with help from indigenous Sabahan syndicates which gave them new identities as native Sabahans and Malaysians.

Members of Sapp and PBS as well as the other PBS splinter parties the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Organisation (Upko) and the Sabah People’s United Party (PBRS) have frequently accused the Federal Government in Kuala Lumpur, which controls immigration across international boundaries, of flooding Sabah with illegal immigrants and running the syndicates.

These members, whose fears often approach levels of paranoia, believe that there is a conspiracy emanating from Umno in Kuala Lumpur, to give Sabah to the Filipinos and Indonesians who are mostly Muslims.

Sabahans are 20 percent Chinese (half Christian and half Buddhist), 45 percent Kadazandusun (11 percent Muslim and 34 percent Christian), 18 percent Bajau (all Muslim), 10 percent Brunei (all Muslim) and 7 percent Murut (2 percent Muslim and 5 percent Christian).

This means Sabah is a Christian majority State (49 percent) but an indigenous Muslim majority State (41 percent).

Truth be told, all foreign migration into Sabah is vetted by the top indigenous Sabahan leaders in the Federal Government and in the BN.

The Cabinet always consults the top indigenous Sabahan leaders in the Federal Government and the BN.

Sapp and its above-mentioned allies also want Sabah to receive 20 percent of the country’s oil and gas royalties as a lot of oil and gas is mined in the Borneo State itself.

At present Sabah only receives 5 percent of oil and gas royalties, not unlike Sarawak.

These parties want Sabah and its neighbour Sarawak to be treated much, much more importantly than the Peninsular Malaysian States of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.

They argue that Sabah and Sarawak were not meant to be ordinary States in Malaysia but Special Autonomous Republics not unlike Macau and Hong Kong in China.

Be that as it may, Sabah and Sarawak have always been among the Top Five States in terms of allocation of resources for development ever since they gained independence on September 16, 1963.

And they have much, much more autonomy than the 11 States of Peninsular Malaysia.

No Peninsular Malaysian can dominate Sabah politics or Sarawak politics. The indigenous Malay people of Peninsular Malaysia have no control over Sabah’s politics and administration which is fully in the hands of the indigenous Sabahans - the Kadazandusuns, Bajaus, Bruneis and Muruts.

It is true that during the tenures of Sabah’s first three Chief Ministers, the State (like neighbouring Sarawak), received much more resources for development than Perak, Johor and Selangor (the Top Three States).

It is also true that under subsequent Chief Ministers, Kuala Lumpur slashed the allocations for Sabah and Sarawak.

But this was all done with the approval of those Chief Ministers especially the Bajau chieftain and Sulu Sultan Datu Mustapha and the Brunei chieftain Harris.

These parties also want Kuala Lumpur to return the Federal Territory of Labuan to Sabah despite the fact that most people on the island are happy to live under Federal administration, so long as their Member of Parliament and mayor are indigenous Bruneis and so long as Labuan undergoes sustainable development and modernisation.

Labuan was made a Federal Territory on February 1, 1984 by Harris and Dr Mahathir.

Finally, these parties are grumbling that the mainly Christian Kadazandusun tribe, the biggest indigenous tribe in Sabah is being sidelined from development and has lost the Chief Ministership.

They do not seem to realise that Sabah has always had a Kadazandusun majority in its State Cabinet and State Assembly.

In 1982, Sabah had 16 Members of Parliament. 7 Kadazandusuns, 2 Bajaus, 3 Bruneis, 1 Murut and 3 Chinese.

In 1986, Sabah had 20 Members of Parliament. 10 Kadazandusuns, 3 Bajaus, 1 Brunei, 2 Muruts and 4 Chinese.

In 1976, Sabah had 48 State Assemblymen. 23 Kadazandusuns, 9 Bajaus, 4 Bruneis, 4 Muruts and 8 Chinese.

In 1981, Sabah had 48 State Assemblymen. 23 Kadazandusuns, 8 Bajaus, 5 Bruneis, 4 Muruts and 8 Chinese.

In 1985, Sabah had 48 State Assemblymen. 21 Kadazandusuns, 10 Bajaus, 3 Bruneis, 4 Muruts and 10 Chinese.

Perhaps, what they mean is, the Christian three quarters of the Kadazandusun community is not getting as much benefits from development as the Muslim one quarter of the same community.

That’s not the fault of Kuala Lumpur. Blame should go to the local Kadazandusun leaders themselves, especially the Kadazandusun Chief Ministers.

[The current Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and former Chief Ministers Tan Sri Bernard Dompok and Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan are Kadazandusuns and this community has provided the most number of Chief Ministers in Sabah’s history].

There are 8 BN parties ruling Sabah - Sapp, PBS, Upko, PBRS, LDP, Umno Sabah, MCA Sabah and Gerakan Sabah.

The last 3 are autonomous political franchises from Peninsular Malaysia.

Gerakan Sabah, Sapp and LDP are Chinese-based parties with Kadazandusuns and Muruts inside them.

PBS is an indigenous-based party with Chinese members.

Upko, PBRS and Umno Sabah are indigenous parties. Umno Sabah was the result of the merger of Berjaya and the United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) in 1990.

MCA Sabah and Gerakan Sabah were formed by the Chinese members of Berjaya when the party chose to become the indigenous-only Umno Sabah in 1990.

Umno Sabah is the largest party in Sabah and has provided the State with 4 Chief Ministers - the Murut and Bajau leader Tun Sakaran Dandai (1994), the Bajau leaders Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak (1994-1996) and Datuk Seri Osu Sukam (1999-2001) and the Kadazandusun leader Datuk Seri Musa Aman (2003 onwards).

Umno Sabah has also been represented in the Federal Cabinet since 1990 - by Sakaran (1990-1994), Osu (1994-1999) and Sakaran’s nephew Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (1999 onwards).

Finally, a little bit about Yong.

He was born in Lahad Datu on October 3, 1958 and studied in St Dominic School, Lahad Datu.

He later graduated with a Law degree from London University and practised law in Kota Kinabalu and Labuan.

In 1990, he became Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and PBS Deputy President.

He became Sabah Chief Minister in 1996 and served for 2 years.

He founded Sapp in 1994 after quitting PBS.

In 1990, the then Sabah State Governor the late Tun Said Keruak, a respected Bajau leader from Kota Belud and the father of Yong’s predecessor as Chief Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak made him a Datuk.

Source: http://malaysiana1.blogspot.com/2008/06/datuk-yong-teck-lee-his-demands.html