I find the recent spat between Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Maximus Ongkili’s and UMNO Sabah leaders as being a “wayang” which serves no purpose other than politicking.
Ongkili had delivered a speech at PBS’ annual general meeting on 30 June claiming with no holds barred that a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party had given out identification cards (ICs) to undocumented illegal immigrants in Sabah in exchange for their votes. (https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/06/30/bn-party-gave-ics-to-migrants-to-get-votes-claims-ongkili/)
Despite Ongkili not naming the BN component party, leaders from UMNO Sabah such as Salleh Said Keruak and Bung Moktar Radin had quickly issued statements hitting back at Ongkili and defending BN. It looks like UMNO leaders being uneasy as the saying goes “siapa makan cili, dia yang rasa pedas”.
Bung Moktar told PBS not to “play with fire” and had threatened to expose PBS’ mistakes and wrongdoings in his warning to Ongkili to stop making accusations (https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/07/02/dont-stir-the-hornets-nest-bung-warns-ongkili/). Salleh Said Keruak even ended up calling Ongkili ‘mad and ungrateful’ for making such claim as he said that BN had helped Ongkili win elections in the Kota Marudu parliamentary seat back in 2018.
(https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/07/02/former-sabah-cm-hits-back-at-ongkili-labels-him-039ungrateful039).
Both Bung Moktar and Salleh Said Keruak basically were reminding Ongkili and PBS of how PBS used to be a part of BN but left in 2018 after the coalition lost in the 14th general election (GE14) and ran in the 2020 Sabah snap election on its own.
I can’t help but scoff at the “wayang” put up as presently PBS has still chosen to continue to ally with BN and UMNO both in the federal government or the Sabah state government. Since both PBS and UMNO are currently ruling in government, both should give priority in solving the problem of illegal immigration instead of playing politics and pointing fingers at each other.
Furthermore, BN is no angel. Just recently on July 2, Sabah BN had its convention where the face of an individual who is suspected to have obtained his IC through dubious means were prominently featured alongside other Sabah BN leaders such as Bung on the posters and banners.
This individual is none other than Peer Mohamad Kader, the Sabah MIC chairman. MIC is a BN component party. Peer had admitted during the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) that he was an immigrant from Chennai, India, and had obtained his Malaysian citizenship illegally in the 1980s. I wonder how can BN leaders find it acceptable to sit on the same table with such an individual.
I wonder why this individual seems to be immune to action by the authorities. Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor had promised to investigate Peer Mohamad Kader’s background back in January, but till now no results were seen and Peer Mohamad Kader can still roam freely in Sabah and mingle around with Bung and Salleh. I will be raising a question regarding Peer’s status in Parliament in the upcoming sitting to receive an answer once and for all.
Besides that, Hajiji’s silence towards Bung and Salleh’s reaction towards Ongkili’s statement is deafening. Is Hajiji trying to sweep all the controversies rightly raised by Ongkili under the carpet? Hajiji should have at least come out and defend Ongkili, his own GRS coalition colleague.
I still remember the run-up to GE14. Back then, other than BN and Pakatan Harapan (PH), there was also a third political coalition in Sabah known as Gabungan Sabah (GS) consisting of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star), Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (PHRS) and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah (PPRS) which had announced their aim to contest in all 60 state seats and 25 parliamentary seats.
PPRS President, Mohd Arshad Abdul Mualap, stood in the Sekong state seat back in GE14 under the auspice of GS and with the support of politicians such as current Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan and Nominated Assemblyperson Yong Teck Lee, both of whom are now part of GRS coalition. Lo and behold, this Mohd Arshad Abdul Mualap turned out to be the mastermind running a syndicate selling fake identification documents dubbed “kad kebal” or “immunity card” to illegal immigrants in Sabah. (https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2022/06/971572/presiden-parti-politik-dituduh-dalang-kad-kebal)
I still remember how GS ran under the platform of Sabahan for Sabah, “halau PTI”, “Sabah IC for Sabahans” and telling Sabahans that only Sabah based political parties can uphold the rights of Sabahans. This turned out to be false as it turned out that the leader of a Sabah based political parties were the one pawning the rights of Sabahans. I wonder how the likes of Jeffrey Kitingan and Yong Teck Lee end up cooperating politically with Mohd Arshad Abdul Mualap and other individuals outrightly pawning the rights of Sabahans by selling such fake IC.
Perhaps these “Sabah-based leaders” are not really fighting for Sabahans, but merely to enrich themselves at the end of the day at the expense of genuine Sabahan. I just hope PBS doesn’t go down that similar route. Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words. I look forward to seeing what will Ongkili do after giving his speech and panned by people like Bung and Salleh. Will he have the political will to start taking concrete actions and resolve the issue of illegal immigrants with IC in Sabah?