KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) marked the third anniversary of its pullout from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and fight for Sabah's autonomy by flying the party's flags along roads statewide
Some party members drove their vehicles with the party's flags.
By making SAPP flags visible all over the place we are reminding the people that SAPPs struggle, especially after ditching BN on Sept 17, 2008, will never waver...we want to tell the people that we are still here fighting," its Deputy President Amde Sidek said in a statement.
He said it was to remind the people about the sacrifice SAPP made after taking the bold decisiou despite its leaders being left jobless and poliiical appointments revoked.
Information Chief Chong Pit Fah said it was also in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebration. He noted that SAPP was also the only party in the country's political history to have moved a motion of no-confidence against a Prime Minister (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) in Parliament.
Meanwhile, its President Datuk Yong Teck Lee, said a "revolution" among young people' thinking may be inevitable if the Federal Government continues toignore the legitimate plights of Sabahans.
"What we see in the mainstream media now (is that) our political leaders induding the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, keep ignoring what is happening.
"Youth unemployment is very serious, gabbing of people’s land(by private companies) is very serious. The people are losing their traditional livelihood and Culture and when they come into the urban area. There are no jobs, they become squrtters, they become hopeless," the former Chief Minister said at the Hari Raya Open House hosted by, SAPP Vice President, Dullie Marie in Petagas, Tuesday.
He said Sabahan youths have migrated to the peninsula in search of betber jobs because most of the jobs in the Sabah Federal civil service were given to Malaysians from the peninsula.
He blamed this on the Federal Government's failure to honour the Borneonisation of the State civil service, which was part of the pre-condition in the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
In the past, he said, Sabah could accept the dispatching of senior officers for the various government deparments and professionals in the various fields from the west (Peninsular Malaysia) which we were lacking.
But today, 48 years after Sabah achieved its independence, he said even junior staff like clerks and computer technicians for school were sent from Kuala Lumpur to work in Sabah.
The State Government he said claimed that it has trained 40,000 ICT technicians over the years, but on the other hand, computer technicians were still being dispatched from peninsula.
According to Yong the continuous exploitation of Sabah's natural resources, especially its oil and gas, had impover is hed Sabah and its people, except for the ruling elites and their cronies.
He cited arecent case of a woman and her daughter found scavenging for food to feed their family.
He said they must go back to the Malaysia Agreement and land refom where by land will be given back to the people, proper human resource training, and employment given to youths here. "Otherwise you will get a radical solution."
Many people, he said, are talking about it especially in the alternative media and social networks such as Facebook. Yong said he is not comfortable with such talk. "Although the number is small, it can grow very fast.
Citing Mindana, Philippines, he said the youth people of Mindanao no longer listen to their political leaders, including the MNLF and MILF who had failed them.
They are now doing things their own way, more radical and more violent he said.
Daily Express
Friday, 16 September 2011
Page 2
"pullout but don't give up fast" otherwise!
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