WARISAN deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking has criticised the Sabah government’s proposal to hold a three-month celebration for the Head of State’s birthday, warning that public funds must not be misused for lengthy festivities.
Leiking took to social media to express concern over the proposal reportedly made by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam, saying such celebrations should not come at the people’s expense.
“At first, I thought maybe Dr Joachim was misquoted. But turns out, the news is real.
“Personally, if the cost of celebrating the Sabah Head of State’s birthday comes from private funds and not from tax collections—which is essentially government money—then there’s no issue.
“But celebrating for three months and using money that comes from taxes paid by the people or from Sabah’s natural resources? Then there’s an issue,” he wrote.
Leiking said the state should prioritise urgent needs instead of prolonged celebrations.
“Please, don’t use taxpayers’ or government money for events that are unnecessarily long. Isn’t there already a single-day celebration and a public holiday for it?
“No need to get angry at me just because I might be one of the two or five people who disagree with using taxpayer money or revenue from Sabah’s resources for such an unnecessarily long celebration—when the government should be focusing on their failed repairs and shortcomings.
“Somehow, I have a funny feeling that even the TYT may not like this crazy proposal by his own government—to celebrate for three months—because it’s unheard of to use the people’s money like this, right?” he added.
Leiking ended his statement by wishing the Head of State a happy birthday.
State government clarifies: Celebrations for a month only
In an immediate response, Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam, clarified that only seven events are planned, all of which will take place within June 2025.
“This is based on the Sabah Cabinet’s decision that the official programme for this year’s celebration will be held on June 21,” he said in Kota Kinabalu.
He also said the number of official events had been reduced from 12 last year to seven this year.
In line with the scaled-down programme, the budget has also been cut by 30% compared to the 2024 celebrations.
“All seven events are customary and have traditionally been part of the official birthday celebration of the Head of State in previous years,” said Joachim.
He expressed hope that the clarification would prevent any further misunderstanding surrounding the nature and scale of this year’s events. – March 27, 2025. – March 27, 2025.
