KOTA KINABALU – Tan Sri Musa Aman may be the villain to some for attempting to topple the Sabah government led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, but the former chief minister still enjoys support from locals grateful for the state’s development under his leadership.
“I woke up this morning and saw that there were not enough Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) posters,” said Golubi G., a resident of Kg Nawoi in Kiulu, Tuaran, as he put up more election materials in front of his home ahead of Musa’s visit to the area recently.
Kiulu PBS candidate Joniston Bangkuai, who arrived minutes later, said preparations were done, but sounded worried when he added: “It seems that not everyone is here, and Musa is already nearby.”
Musa’s stop in Kiulu, a bastion of the once mighty Barisan Nasional, is his second appearance in the Sabah polls campaign. He has, for the most part, kept out of the public eye since losing power in the 2018 general election.
In late July, he claimed majority support in the state assembly. This led to Shafie requesting a dissolution, which was granted by the Sabah governor, and the state will go to the polls tomorrow.
Musa, the state’s longest-serving chief minister, has been accused of ruling with an iron fist in his 15 years in office, and his administration was marred by controversy.
But to his loyalists, Musa was the leader who accelerated the state’s progress, and they pointed to the many malls and mixed-development projects built during his tenure.
For Bangkuai, the former chief minister has improved Kiulu residents’ lot.
He cited a RM300 million allocation to build a road linking the area to Poring in Ranau, and RM46 million to connect it to Tambunan.
Kiulu was also earmarked as an eco-tourism destination, he said, and “more than 300 Kiulu youths were hired by tour operators”.
“Musa announced that Kiulu would be a sub-district, but what happened to that after the change of government?
“This is why PBS, BN and Perikatan Nasional must come into power.”
Musa, addressing Kiulu residents, said he “did not lose” the 2018 elections.
“Actually, I won. But some frogs abandoned us,” he said, referring to assemblymen who defected.
He then trained his sights on Shafie.
“Of all of Sabah’s 15 chief ministers, there is none like Shafie. He is the only one who goes around digging for the mistakes of another chief minister.
“Everyone makes mistakes, including previous chief ministers. But do you see me doing this to the others?”
The crowd broke out in laughter when he suggested that Shafie was obsessed with him.
“Kenapa? Huduh ka saya (Am I ugly)? I’m not even contesting the Sabah elections, so why is he targeting me?”
On September 14, Shafie revealed that two contracts by the state government-linked Yayasan Sabah that are good for 100 years were given to family members of Musa and his younger brother, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, in 2015 and 2018.
“Shafie should be focusing more on his work. Since he took over, what has he done for the state?” said Musa.
“Its economic growth has gone down from 8% in 2017 to 2.5% in 2018. In 2019, it slumped to 0.5%.
“This year, I’m not certain what’s going to happen. Let’s not even look at the Covid-19 pandemic.” – The Vibes, September 25, 2020
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