Think Like Malaysian

Sabahans today celebrate Malaysia Day with a plea and warning from their chief minister Musa Aman. “Think and do as Malaysians while upholding our respective beliefs, cultures and backgrounds. Being ethnocentric or insular in our thinking will limit us greatly,” he tells his 3.2m people who include Malays, indigenous Kadazandusuns and Muruts, ethnic Chinese and Indians, who join the rest of the 13-state federation’s 28m multi-racial people to celebrate the 49th year of a Malaysian nation. And Musa warns them that “there is no room here for those who want to stir (up) racial sentiments.”

In his Malaysia Day message, the chief minister says the formation of Malaysia has brought the peninsula, Sarawak and Sabah together, even though the peninsula is separated by about 1,600km (1,000 miles) of the South China Sea, from the Borneo island states. “Malaysia continues to thrive and remains a resilient country,” he says. “Let us all take stock of our achievements and strive to do even better in bringing progress for Malaysia in the years to come.” Without giving statistics, Musa says “Malaysia has transformed greatly in many aspects ranging from economic diversity to improvements in healthcare and education, and an overall enhanced standard of living.” “I therefore urge all Malaysians in Sabah to contribute towards our nation building, the progress of Sabah and the overall success of Malaysia,” he says, adding that the strong relationship between Sabah and the federal government “is one of the reasons we see consistent and continued progress.”

Kuala Lumpur has launched massive government, economic and social transformation to turn Malaysia into a developed country by 2020. And it has been giving financial and welfare aid to poor people through its Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia, cheap medical care through 1Malaysia clinics and cutting prices of consumer goods through Kedai Rakyat (people’s shop).

Last week, the education ministry launched the National Education Blueprint for the next 13 years to improve teaching and raise standards. Malaysian educational standards have fallen to near the bottom in international tests because of students’ poor command of English and mathematics. Musa says an education hub in Sandakan and skills training centres elsewhere in the state, such as Kimanis which houses the Sabah oil and gas terminal, offer local youth courses that will make them employable in palm oil and oil and gas industries. He says projects under the Sabah development corridor and his Halatuju programme are on track. His government is “pushing for more spin-offs from palm oil, and oil and gas” that will result in new business and good jobs.

Musa regrets “baseless allegations” of massive illegal logging that could upset his government efforts in sustainable forest management which has been praised by Britain’s Royal Society and other nature societies and environmentalists. “We are always mindful of the need to sustainably develop the state,” he says. “Sabah can hold its head high in environmental and forest conservation, having taken strong measures to protect our natural resources despite the push for development.” – Insight Sabah

Pictures by Ille Tugimin

Sources: Insight Sabah