Two weeks ago on March 25, 2010 I had announced a meeting of Sabahans in the Klang Valley at the Petaling Jaya Civics Centre on April 18, but this has now been postponed to Sunday May 16 at 2 pm at the KL/Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall because of the Hulu Selangor by-election, whose nomination is April 17 and polling April 25.
The idea of a meeting of Sabahans in Klang Valley is the result of my two recent visits to the Sabah interior together with DAP MPs Hiew King Cheu (Kota Kinabalu), Teo Nie Ching (Serdang), Lim Lip Eng (Segambut) and Jimmy Wong, DAP Sabah state Assemblymen for Sri Tanjong, including Kota Belud, Tuaran, Keningau, Tambunan, Sepanggar, Donggongon and Kampong Inobong in Penampang for first-hand information about the neglect of socio-economic rights and development as well as the frustrations of the people of Sabah.
Wherever we went, we encountered concerns about the plight of Sabahans stranded in the Klang Valley, particularly following media reports early this year of homeless Sabahans who had to scavenge for food from garbage bins outside restaurants in the Klang Valley.
Sabahans back home were shocked that Sabah youths, who had gone to the national capital to seek greener pastures, were roaming the streets and relying on food served by NGOs and on leftovers in dustbins for an additional meal. The meeting of Sabahans in the Klang Valley on May 16 will not only discuss this issue but also the whole spectrum of frustrations of Sabahans.
The New Economic Model with the main goal of transforming Malaysia into a high-income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability aims to achieve a per capita GNP of US$17,700 (RM57,348) by 2020.
However, under the Sabah Development Economic Corridor Blueprint 2008-2025, the projected GDP per capita for Sabah in 2020 is only RM11,571 – which is more than five times less than the targeted per capita GNP for Malaysia under the NEM.
Coming on top of the scandal of the degradation and deterioration of Sabah from the richest state to the poorest state in the past five decades, it is most shocking and even outrageous that there is a five-fold difference in the targetted per capita income of Sabahans as compared to Malaysias in ten years’ time in 2020.
This issue undoubtedly will be top on the agenda of the meeting of Sabahans in the Klang Valley in Kuala Lumpur on May 16.
During the debate on the 2009 Supplementary Estimates in Parliament on Monday, I had urged the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to address five “present and urgent issues” to give meaning to the slogans of 1Malaysia and “inclusive growth” and end the marginalization of ordinary Sabahans who had been left out of national development and progress since the formation of Malaysia some five decades ago.
These five priority issues are:
These issues will also be on the agenda of the meeting of Sabahans in the Klang Valley in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, May 16, which is convened by DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu, Hiew King Cheu, assisted and co-ordinated by DAP MPs Teo Nie Ching (Serdang) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut). Contacts and enquiries can also be made through the following:
- 03-79578022 / dap@dapmalaysia.org;
- 088-254987 /sabahdap@hotmail.com