SIPITANG: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee said Kuala Lumpur should be blamed for the influx of Along (money lenders) from Semenanjung into Sabah.
He said the "mass exodus" of the Peninsula-based money lending companies in Sabah began after the 1951 Money Lending Act was extended to Sabah several years ago.
"I have written to then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on April 2008 urging him to cancel the plan to extend the Act to Sabah.
"The Prime Minister replied that the move was actually to curb the activities of Along. However, what we are seeing today is the presence of so many of them and some had even opened up their offices here when getting their licence as soon as the Act covered Sabah," he said.
Speaking at the SAPP State-level Aidilfitri celebration here, Yong said it was really sad to see many civil servants around the State having debts and their ATM cards as well as bank passbooks being withheld by moneylenders.
He said the Alongs could also be found operating in small towns aiming hawkers in the Tamu as their victims.
"Actually the Sabah Government can prevent the extension of the Act to Sabah but the Barisan Nasional State Government of today did not do it," he said.
Yong said Sabah already has its Money Lending law known as the Money Lender Ordinance that had been in placed since the colonial lime but Kuala Lumpur was adamant to extend the Federal law to Sabah.
He said the situation reminded him of an attempt by the Federal Government to introduce the Local Government Act to Sabah when he was the Local Government and Housing Minister.
"I rejected the attempt because if it really happened then the people of Sabah will have to pay to go to the toilet because Kuala Lumpur intended to privatise the sewerage works to a company from over there known as Indah Water Konsortium," he said.
On another note, he said, the historical fact about Sabah's independence through the formation of Malaysia must be rectified so that the present and future generation would not be confused. He said Sabah achieved independence when it formed the Federation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963 together with Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya.
Sabah did not achieve independence on Aug 31, 1957 because at that time Malaysia was still not in existence and Sabah then was still known as British North Borneo under the British colonial administration.
"Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman also made a mistake by saying that Sabah had gained independence for 54 years even though it was not the case.
"Fortunately, a senior government officer, that is the State Archives Director, Datuk Tiga Belas corrected Musa by saying that Sabah's independence age is 48 years.
"Tiga Belas'daringness to correct the historical fact must be commended," he said. Yong said that all the BN leaders in Semenanjung were also saying that Malaysia is 54 years old and also leaders from the Pakatan Rakyat, among them Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
In this respect, he said it was really important that this historical fact is corrected.
Earlier, Deputy President Amde Sidek said he found out about 90 per cent of students in one of the higher learning institutions in Sabah could not differentiate between Aug 31 1957 and Sept 16, 1963.
He said the last line of the Sabah's state anthem stated Sabah as an independent state and must not be treated as a colony by Kuala Lumpur.
Daily Express
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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